4 Steps to Successfully Open a Sales Call Blog Feature
Steve Bookbinder

By: Steve Bookbinder on October 22nd, 2015

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4 Steps to Successfully Open a Sales Call

Sales Tips | Sales Meetings

According to a study by MarketingSherpa, 79% of leads never convert into sales.

How can this be avoided?

There are obviously many factors, but one of the first which can make a difference is opening your sales call the right way. You can better your chances of closing sales by following these 4 steps when opening a sales call.

Businessman using smartphone

Here are the steps to successfully open a sales call with a prospect:

Step 1: Right Attitude

Approaching that first call with the right attitude is crucial. People are more motivated to take action when they speak to someone who wants to be there to help them solve their problems. Clients want to speak to someone who is informed and professional.

If you have trouble developing the right attitude, here is a distinctive idea for accomplishing this: By thinking like an actor.

An actor will project confidence, creativity, and a lot of energy. In the same way, when you pick up the receiver or enter the room, you should convey happiness and the willingness to help!

Step 2:  Choosing Your First Words Wisely

The attitude with which you say something is just as important as the words that are being said.

Your first words should be said clearly and at a good pace so that they are easily understood and engage the client. It’s also important to keep your sentences short so that you’re not throwing too much information at the person too soon.

Open the call by introducing yourself by stating your first and last name, division, and then continue into your sales question.

Step 3: Asking the Right First Questions

First, you need to determine if your potential customer is really a potential customer for your services. According to a Gleanster Research study only 50% of leads are qualified.

Then you need to find the thing in their life has changed that would make them interested in a solution like your product or service at this time.

Finally, you need to dig in deeper and ask important questions like:

  • What is your current situation or solution you need?
  • How long have you been looking for a solution?
  • Where else have you looked?

Step 4: Giving Good First Answers

Anyone can explain what their company does and why it’s so great, but as a someone who is interested in getting their prospect’s attention, you need to explain how your company’s offering perfectly match the prospect’s needs.

In a few words you must be able to explain the benefits your company will provide for them and not so much the features of your product or service.

The more easily they could see the connection between what they are looking for and what you are selling, the more often you will close sales.

Practicing these 4 steps when opening sales calls will help you progress in the sales process and eventually close more sales.

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About Steve Bookbinder

Steve Bookbinder is the CEO and sales expert at DMTraining. He has delivered more than 5,000 workshops and speeches to clients all over the world and has trained, coached, and managed more than 50,000 salespeople and managers. Steve continuously refreshes his training content to reflect his latest first-hand observations of salespeople across industries and regions. Through him, participants in his workshops and coaching sessions learn the best practices of today’s most successful sellers and managers across industries. Steve understands that sales is a competitive game. To outperform competitors and our own personal best results, we need to out-prospect, out-qualify, out-present and out-negotiate everyone else, not merely know how to sell. Through his specialty programs in Pipeline Management, Personal Marketing, Great First Meetings, 2nd-level Questioning, Sales Negotiating, and Sales Coaching, Steve trains sales teams to master the skills they need to overcome the challenges they face in today’s world… and keep improving results year over year.

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