2 Small Changes You Can Make When Answering the Phone to Double Your Sales

Most sales script methods focus on your active conversations with clients. The focus is on when you are calling on a prospect what questions do you ask that will lead you to a sale. These methods are an essential part of any business owner's toolbox but will be rendered useless when you don't answer the phone correctly. Tragically many business owners and sales professionals ruin the hard work that they accomplished on their initial call by poor follow up techniques. Good follow up doesn't mean you have to call the prospect daily for a year as that would be a waste of time. One aspect of follow up that many professionals miss is how they answer the phone when a prospect is calling them back. This small part of the sales process is one that kills many a professionals sales and they don't even know it! I invite you to consider the following when answering your phone:

Poor Answering Technique: "Hello?"

This is probably the WORST way to answer the phone. It shows almost no effort and doesn't reveal your professionalism. Picture your initial call with a prospect, one where you asked interest peaking questions, found out their pain points, and where you took the time to focus on their needs. Now the prospect calls you back and you answer "hello?" The prospect will be left thinking "who did I speak to before?". After you have established yourself as the professional of choice you don't want to let a poor way of answering the phone kill the sales opportunity.

Good Answering Technique: "Good [time of day greeting], this is [your name], how can I help you?"

I invite you to say the first technique out loud compared with the second. Yes the second one does take a few seconds longer to utter, but what is a sale worth to you? When you answer the phone with "Good morning, this is John, how can I help you?" you sound like a true professional. You sound like the professional who is worthy of getting that prospect to invest in your product or service. As you consider the method in which you answer the phone I invite you to consider that putting in the elements of a greeting and a question can add sales monthly to your business.