Successful First B2B Sales Phone Calls

The first sales phone call is often the hardest because you don’t know what to expect. Here are some tips to get quick results.

Focus on Your Objectives

Your goal should be to determine whether there’s a sales opportunity and to create the next steps to move the sale forward.

Get Permission to Give Your 30-Second Pitch

Begin in a way that gives you permission to talk briefly about what your company does and how you can help them. Your 30-second pitch needs to be tailored to the relevant industry.

Assume the Contact Appreciates the Value Your Call Provides

Try not to ask the contact if they have time to talk – it’s better not to give someone an opportunity to end the call before they learn the value of talking with you.

Ask Open-Ended Questions that Qualify the Contact

You need to know whether the individual you’re talking to has the authority to make a decision, so ask about their responsibilities, then you can ask about their needs. Ensure your questions require more than one-word answers. An additional advantage to asking questions rather than spouting service features is that you engage your contact. People like to talk about their problems and opportunities!

Sample questions could be:

• What are the challenges you’re experiencing?
• What strategies have you tried to address these?
• How have they worked for you?

Schedule the Next Call

You could ask for their email address so you can send an email summarising what’s been discussed, and a proposal. You should also set a firm appointment to follow up. You can send them a calendar invite, which helps ensure it’s on their calendar and makes it more likely you’ll make contact the second time. This gives you the opportunity to make the next play to move the sale over the finish line.

Do you have any tips for that first B2B sales call?

Adapted from an article by Bob Davies, raintoday.com