1. Don't make cold calls. An unsolicited phone call is easiest tip-off to a prospect that you are a salesperson. How do you react when strangers call you by phone? Instead, develop an information- and trust-based marketing plan that influences prospects to CALL YOU. You do this by offering educational, valuable information that helps your target market address key problems and opportunities related to your area of expertise. You offer this information in any number of ways: seminars, your web site, newsletters, audio programs, videos, articles, and publications.

2. Only give your business card to a prospect if asked. Otherwise, you will be perceived as somebody with something to sell.

3. For business prospects, do research prior to any meeting. Learn everything you can about prospect's organization and situation.

4. Consider getting videotaped to see how you really come across in meetings. I have videotaped a number of IT professionals in mock prospect meetings, and experience is almost always illuminating!

5. Make sure that during meetings with prospects, 75% of your sentences are questions. Ask questions to understand prospect's situation, what it is costing him or her, how long they have had problem, what else they have tried, what will happen if they don't do anything, and numerous other questions to help you thoroughly understand issues.

6. Listen closely, with your undivided attention. Turn off your cell phone and pager, and eliminate any interruptions. Otherwise, you give your prospect impression that they are not important now, and will not be important if they hire you.

7. Try to adapt your style to prospect's style in order to build rapport and make them feel comfortable. Sense their mood, how fast or slow they talk, whether they focus on business or technical issues, and their body language.

8. Make eye contact. Don't look down, or at other things in room.

9. Empathize by stepping into prospect's shoes. Nothing is more powerful than to be able to reflect back prospect's frustration with his or her problem. Similarly, instead of saying, "Here is what you should do…." say, "If I were in your shoes, I would…"

10. Focus on specific business results, not technology. Your prospect wants a result that will help his or her situation. Technology is a means to that end. If you focus on result prospect wants to achieve, then you can have an open and honest discussion about whether you can get that result.

11. Do not make prospect feel stupid. For instance, if client is not tech-savvy, don't use jargon. One client of mine developed an IT glossary to give to prospects, which was a great way to make them feel comfortable.

www.vitalvortal.co.uk

Sales does not have a very nice image. Salesmen ringing up out of blue to sell their latest product, untrained or unenthusiastic sales staff knocking at your door, are some of images that spring to mind.

But service doesn't need to be like that in order to make sale.

What is Customer Service?

"Customer Service is supply of that which satisfies consumer need and want"

This is about providing a physical product plus all individual tasks that make up entire process. Please do not confuse service with sales, as they are totally different.

"Sales is use of language and presentation in order to persuade customers to buy"

Elements of customer service

Availability of item

After sales service

Handling of orders

Reliability or quality

Most organisations employ people to handle customer calls, emails and to wait on customer's needs The functions are to:

§be there when customers contact company

§provide timely and accurate service

§support sales organisation

All of this is designed for one purpose - Customer Retention

Who is customer?

We usually think of customers as people outside of our company. It could be agreed that a customer is a person who purchases. Another definition could be someone with whom we have dealings.

Customers fall into external and internal types:

External customers

These are lifeblood of every organisation. We deal with them every day, either face to face or via telephone. You may have heard sayings like ‘the customer is king' or ‘customers are our no 1 priority'. Well, it's true, because without them there would be no sales, no company and no job.

Internal customers

These people work inside your company. Although they are not traditional customers, they rely on us to provide services and help within organisation in order to get their work done. It is vital that they are treated well, not only because we have to work together, but if we upset one another next time we require each others services, either party could be reluctant to carry out their duties, which could effect business as a whole. Not professional behaviour at all. And if work is held up because of conflict, eventual loser is always customer.

Worth and Price

Businesses need to make a profit in order to survive. Assuming that products are of excellent quality, have been tested and market research has been done, clearly establishing a need and want, then all we need to do is to sell. However, there is one obstacle - customer.

Every person will consider what product is worth to them before purchasing. The price has to be just right before they will buy. One definition of price could be:

The price is sum, consideration or sacrifice given in exchange for goods and services.

An organisation will price a product and that price would suggest it's worth to company. But, imagine customer likes product, but not price - customer now thinks product isn't worth purchasing at that price. In other words, Something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The customer may have been put off purchase because price was too high. This means a balance needs to be made between price and benefits/features of product.

The company can either lower price and produce more sales that way, or it can make product more attractive by e.g. adding more functionality or re-designing to make it unique in some way, this way product can maintain it's current price. Either way, customer will be satisfied.

Personal selling is about communicating with people, and knowing something about ways in which they can react in different situations will help you to approach them, and find out whether their a serious purchaser, require more information or just browsing. Let's assume for a moment that we know how to sell effectively. Businesses have external visitors that contact them by different means. They will:

·use telephone to enquire about products ·visit company website

We will tackle these in order.

1. Handling inbound calls