7 Questions to Test Your Phone Sales Skills

Your company’s decision to record calls–or not to–is a big one.

Call recording is, quite simply, the best and only way to determine if your team is selling effectively on the phone. It is also really the only way to figure out if they’re even polite.

So…let’s say you’re recording calls…what questions should you ask about phone performance? What elements of the phone call are critical?

Here are 7 questions that will test your phone sales skills. You should listen to call recordings and then ask these questions.

1) Can the caller ‘hear you smile’ when you answer the phone?

Listen to the call recording. Ask yourself if it sounds like you’re smiling when you answer the phone. You can audibily hear a smile.

This smile makes a difference, and may determine how the caller reacts to you.

Did you know that a caller decides in less than 2 seconds if they like ther person that answered the phone? And keep in mind we are FAR more likely to buy things from people we like then people we don’t.

Answering with a smile is better than answering with a frown.

2) Do you clearly introduce yourself and your company when you answer the phone?

Have you ever called a business and you simply can’t understand the employee on the phone. Maybe they mumble their name or the company’s name. Or, perhaps they say it so quickly that you can’t understand them.

Don’t do that.

Imagine the position this puts the caller in. It is incredibly awkward.

State the your name and the name of your company very clearly and slowly when you answer the phone.

3) Do you ask for the caller’s name early in the call?

Within about 15 seconds, you should ask the caller what his or her name is.

Why?

Because it is pretty hard to have a decent conversation with a person when you don’t know that person’s name. Asking for the name is a critical element of the call. Our name is the most important word to us.

Use it.

So how do you ask for it?

Try something like, “Who am I speaking to?” or “What’s your name sir?” or “Are you a current customer….No?…okay, what’s your name?”

Generally the caller will gladly reveal his or her first name.

4) If you’re asked for a price early in the call, do you ask a few clarifying questions before providing the price?

Don’t give the price immediately. Providing a price too quickly commoditizes the action and makes it all about price.

The interaction shouldn’t be about price. It should, rather, be about your product or service.

5) Do you clearly explain the features and benefits of your product or service?

Studies show that clearly explaining the features and benefits of your product, increases the likelihood that the caller will buy from you.

And when you’re explaining the features and benefits, make sure that you use descriptive words. For example, instead of saying “we have a swimming pool,” you should say, “we have a crystal clear swimming pool.”

6) Do you ask directly for the business?

This is critical.

In about 80% of the calls we analyze, the caller will ask for a price, the employee will give the price, and then the interaction will end. The employee never even asks for the appointment, for the sale, or for the next step (whatever it is).

That’s stunning.

Remember that the caller called you. Don’t be afraid to ask them for the business in a very direct way.

7) If the caller doesn’t buy or set an appointment immediately, do you attempt to overcome the objection and persist?

Research shows that this is the most important element of the phone call.

If someone says that they’re not interested, what do you do? Most of the time (over 95%) the employee gives up. They don’t ask for the business again. They don’t provide more features and more benefits.

They. Simply. Give. Up.

Well, they shouldn’t.

Data shows that simply persisting increases the likelihood of a purchase by 12.6 TIMES.