by Don Sanders

How often are you frustrated by prospects and customers who do not return your calls? An unreturned call feels like just another form of selling rejection. Due to the proliferation of annoying telephone solicitors, it has become even more difficult for people in sales to make contact with prospects by phone.

Let the evidence speak for itself: more than 50 million Americans have recently signed up for the government’s nationwide “No Call” list, proving that many of us deplore receiving calls from strangers trying to sell us something. To move your telephone selling forward, you must distance yourself from the role of telephone solicitor and learn some simple techniques that will help you leave a favorable impression with your target audience.

Three-call Strategy
For starters, it is important to track how many calls you are making to each new prospect. We recommend that new prospects be called no fewer than three times. This is because, with so many diversions today, the practice of making just one call to connect with someone will not be sufficient. Messages frequently do not get delivered or the person you are calling is so preoccupied that he or she can’t focus on your call. Ninety percent of the time, a second call is needed to attract the minimal amount of attention. The power of the third call is to let your prospect know that you mean business but are not a pest. Never drop a prospect from your list until you have made at least three calls to him.

Here is the story of a distributor who used the three-call program to perfection:

“My name is Ben and I have experienced phone-call reluctance most of my life. During the follow-up-call stage, I am unsure about how many attempts I should make to reach someone. This uncertainty spurred me to develop a plan in order to be more productive. First, I would call any new prospect I met three times. By keeping a running log in my day planner of each call made to a new prospect, I have increased my new customer base, while cutting down on time wasted on chasing bad prospects. It may seem strange, but I motivate and discipline myself by thinking of my favorite childhood television program, ‘The Three Stooges.’ If I don’t make three, I know I am a stooge!”

Etiquette that Works
Another important telephone tactic is to use a low-key approach when calling anyone. The last thing in the world a prospect needs or wants is to be called by a high-pressure salesperson. After all, this is one of the reasons why the No Call list was created. Before starting any conversation, always ask permission to speak with that person. If it’s granted, proceed with your conversation. If the person says that she is busy, ask when a better time would be to call again.

Once you've determined that your prospect is willing to talk to you, be cheerful and continue with your planned conversation. Make sure that you ask positive questions. In other words, keep the subjects light, remembering to never bring up issues such as politics or religion, unless the other person introduces them. But, even then, proceed with extreme caution and move away from those and other “red flag” topics as soon as possible.

Other good topics are, of course, you and the prospect and how your partnership will benefit them, but don’t get carried away. Part of selling is selling yourself, so telling prospects about yourself, your interests and personal history is an integral part of selling. We all want to know about those with whom we are dealing; it creates trust and fosters long-lasting relationships. However, talking about yourself too much is a big no-no. Refrain from telling people your life history and remember to ask them about themselves. In their answers, look for common threads in your own life that you can relate to and discuss together.

Once you’ve learned about your new customer on a personal level, as well as initiating the business discussion, you have to have a pleasant exit strategy. Try to end your conversations in a positive way. For example, even when calling someone with bad news about an order, end the call by reassuring the person that you will do a better job the next time out.

By incorporating these suggestions into every phone call, you will become a person with whom prospects and customers enjoy visiting. Once you’re “in the door” you’ll be that much closer to gleaning the information you need to close a sale.

The Release Call
Sometimes, unfortunately, despite your practiced and perfected telephone technique, some prospects continue to be evasive or won’t engage with you at all. One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is refusing or not knowing when to let prospects go. Many distributors waste hundreds of hours a year chasing people who will never be a buyer. Save precious selling time by leaving “dead” prospects what we call a release message. If you have called an old customer or prospect several times and they have not called back, release them with voicemail. On weekends or during off business hours, leave your prospect this voicemail message:

“Prospect’s name, I have called a few times and have not heard back from you. I don’t want to be a pest; so if you’ve moved on from our deal or are no longer interested, I understand. However, if you are still interested, please give me a call. If I don’t hear back, I want you to know that I appreciate your past interest and business.”

You will be amazed at the number of people who will call you back after you leave a message similar to this one.

Now it’s time to begin believing in your ability to be effective on the telephone. The ideas mentioned here, as well as other techniques you may have learned from others, can and should be used to improve your call-back ratio. Be aware, too, of “scripts” that callers use on you and incorporate that language into your own selling style. By doing so, you will improve your skills and put an end to phone rejection.

Let the phone make you, not break you.