The Secret Sauce of Tele-Selling: 7 Ways to Use the Pause to Sell More

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The Secret Sauce of Tele-Selling: 7 Ways to Use the Pause to Sell More

Written by Jim Domanski

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Breaking Out of Phone Mail Jail

THE PROBLEM “I’m sorry, I’m out of my office. Would you please leave your name and number and I’ll return your call as soon as I can.” How many of us are still waiting for our reply? Several of you have asked for help in getting your phone calls returned. Most prospects don’t call back 85 percent of the time. We know that the Economic Buyer, who has authority to release funds, is typically difficult to reach. With the average office worker getting 190 messages a day, it’s easy to understand why phone calls aren’t returned by other buyers. Technology has made our selling lives both easier and more challenging. Voice mail is a challenge that forces us to redefine our telephone strategies.

CREATE INTEREST If a customer doesn’t need your product or service immediately, the probability of getting a reply is slim to none. How can you increase your odds of success? Treat each phone call you make as a sales call (no pun intended). Each sales call has an objective and so does a phone call. The objective could be for an appointment or the return call. You have about 10 seconds before your customer decides if he is interested in you. Prepare what you are going to say. Your message should spark interest and include what you can do for your customer. Present the benefit so it sounds interesting and worth the time to make the return call. This requires you to do research to know what is interesting for this customer.

CHANGE THE PROCEDURE Other strategies exist for getting appointments. Just leave a message which says “I’ve been trying to set up an appointment with you. I know how busy you are. If June 6 at 10:00 WON’T work for you, please call me at (your phone number).” When you arrive on June 6 at 10:00 and the receptionist says, “Do you have an appointment?” you can say “Yes.” Try to do this with sales calls that are geographically close to confirmed appointments. You still run the risk of a buyer not reconfirming. At least you won’t make a special trip to his location.

GET THROUGH THE FIRST TIME Since most prospects return calls to suppliers they know, another strategy is to always get referrals. Selling in the 90s is not only about who you know. It’s about getting to know the people who know the people you want to know. This is the principle of networking which states that each person knows about 250 other people. Each one of your customers could be a member of a trade organization, a religious institution or sports facility. Who knows the prospect you are trying to meet? Ask THEM to call the prospect for you to say you will be calling. That introduction will increase the probability that your prospect will return your call or take your call! Whenever you are calling a referral, ALWAYS tell the receptionist “John Doe asked me to call Mr. Prospect.” If the secretary screens calls, she will have mentioned the person who referred you to the prospect.

GET HELP Sometimes there is even a phone screener before you get to voice mail. Enlist the help of the phone screener and you can actually speak to your prospect. Explain to the screener that “I have been playing phone tag with John Doe. Can you see if he can speak with me for a few minutes about the benefit to him or his company?” This has been successful for me after leaving numerous voice mails that went unreturned.

CHANGE TIMES Another strategy is to call when your prospect has to answer his own phone. Most screeners are out before 8 AM and after 5 PM. Some prospects are still at their desks at lunch time when the screener is out. Calling at these times gives you higher probability that the prospect will actually pick up his phone since the secretary is out.

Always keep trying. This is one area where persistence does pay off. You should not leave 10 messages a day (unless you do want to look like a pest). Trying at different times with different strategies should eventually get you speaking to the right prospect.

The telephone is an audio medium. It relies on the sounds you make with your words and with the tone of your voice to persuade the client. However, just as powerful are the sounds you don’t make. Used wisely and strategically, the pause – and the moment of silence it creates- can be used to your advantage when tele selling.

The Power of the Pause

The pause in tele-selling has far more impact than the pause in field selling because telephone selling is a non face-to-face medium and relies on audible clues. The pause gets greater attention because it creates a gap in the flow of a conversation. Think of listening to the radio in your car. You are driving down the highway and suddenly the chatter stops for a moment or two. Immediately you notice it. Same thing in tele-sales.

7 Pause Applications

The pause draws attention and focus and you should use it with deliberate thought in these seven areas of your call.

1. After you use the client’s name. There is nothing sweeter than the sound of our names and when a client hears his or her name, he tends to listen closely to the next 15-20 words. It’s a habit that has been honed into us from birth. By pausing a second or so after using the person’s name you double the impact and benefit of the pause. Clients focus and listen carefully. This approach is particularly effective with opening statements.

2. After you ask a question. When you ask a question let the client respond. Sales trainers have taught this for ages but it particularly significant in tele-sales. Silence on the telephone is perceived as three to six times longer than it is compared to field sales. It creates a gap that can feel awkward and uncomfortable for the client – AND for you. The tendency is for either you or the client to fill that gap. You need to discipline yourself and keep ‘mum’ and you need the patience to let the customer fill the void.

3. After a trial close. Because you cannot see the client’s expression, you need to compensate by asking trial closes like, “Does that make sense?’ or “Are you following?” Then pause to allow the question to sink in and to let the client respond. Let the silence do its magic and listen closely to hear the tone of the client’s response. If it is hesitant and unsure, stop and go back by saying, “Jeannie, I hear some hesitancy there.”

4. After you hear an objection. Use the pause after the client tosses out an objection. By remaining silence for a second or two a couple of things are achieved. First, it gives you time to process the objection and develop an appropriate response strategy. Secondly, it suggests to the client that you are giving the objection fair analysis. They like that; makes them feel important while at the same time, it positions you as thoughtful and respectful; not slick and off the cuff.

5. After handling the objection. Similarly, use the pause after you answer the objection. If you respond to a price or product objection, conclude by asking, “Does that answer your question?” Pause. Wait for the response. Listen to the tone. Evaluate it. Respond accordingly.

6. After you make a key point. It is wise to use the pause after you mention a key feature or aspect of your product. This allows that feature, fact, or offer to sink in which in turn, creates a sense of significance. It’s kind of like verbal underlining. The pause will often get the client to comment further and reveal buying signals.

7. After you close. As a salesperson, you should know that the pause – the silence – after a close or an advance is powerful. The gap gives the client time to evaluate all that she has heard but the ensuing silence also creates that all-important tension whereby the client wants to ‘fill the gap.’ Let it work for you. File your nails or doodle but wait it out.

The pause is the secret sauce of tele selling, no question about it. It is a technique or tool that you can use deliberate to create an effect. It gets your client to listen, to open up, to respond, and to learn. Use it liberally on all your tele-sales calls.

If you liked this article, click here for more resources on cold calling and prospecting.

Jim Domanski
		About the author:
		Jim Domanski is president of Teleconcepts Consulting and works with B to B companies and individuals who struggle to use the telephone more effectively to sell and market their products. The author of three books on B to B tele-sales, Jim has worked over 17 years with companies big and small throughout the US, Canada and parts of Europe. Featured in such publications as Selling Power, Advertising Age, The Financial Post and Sales and Marketing Magazine, Jim has also appeared on television and radio regarding B to B tele-sales. Visit his website at www.teleconceptsconsulting.com and download your FREE special Report “The 9 Voice Mail Blunders and What You Can Do About Them.”