I must admit, I am not a natural salesperson. When I had my first sales job in Espirit @ Crown Prince Hotel several years back, I resigned after a week vowing never to be a retail salesperson again.
And needless to say, I don't enjoy sales call too. It should be the fear of rejection that is holding me back and seeing it as a dread whenever I have to do sales call. And being your own boss means that you have to overcome the fear and even handle sales calls successfully to sell your business and yourself!
Here's a few tips that i find useful:
- Prepare yourself mentally by being positive and knowing what to say when you make the call. Smile and the person over the phone will "see" it and you won't want to receive a call from a bored, unsure or negative sounding person yourself.
- Introduce yourself. It irks me when people rattle off without me knowing who they are.
- State the purpose of your call and check whether it is a good time to speak with them. Once again, it can be irritating to be interrupted by a sales call when you're busy. I rather have the person call me back when I am in a more relaxed mode. If not, no sales will be made anyway.
- Do not take rejection personally. Find out the reason if you can by listening well. Remember that people are busy and there may well be many reasons why the person is turning down the sales or proposal.
- Review what went well and what can be improved and call again. Move on with improvements!
Now, I have one more important sales call to make. The lady has rejected us several times and she has been real busy with her new shop opening. It's time to practise what I've mentioned above!
Read more tips here: Successful Sales Calls Tips!
