So youre in business. Whether it is micro, small, medium, or enterprise; you know the one key element you need to succeed in your business sales.

Sales calls that you control are what all salespeople want. I am a big believer that questioning is the most important skill for sales professionals. In order to stay in control of your sales calls, whether by phone or in person, you need to be the one asking questions most of the time.

To be the one asking questions most of the time, you have to get to questioning right from the start of your sales calls. This issue's tip is about how to make this transition quickly with finesse, whether you are calling by phone or are in person.

The other day I received a call from a telemarketer selling a website "starter kit" for small businesses. If you are reading this right now, then you undoubtedly know that I have a website. Normally, I would quickly get the telemarketer off the line so I could get back to showing people how to make more money. But this call got my attention because I thought that this might be a potential service that I could recommend to my clients. So I decided to listen to this sales pitch to evaluate the offering and the approach that the telemarketer used.

Immediately establish rapport on cold-calls by matching your prospect's voice qualities - tone, pace, and emotion. Matching the emotion, or mood, of your prospect is key. If you begin your call sounding excited when she is not, you will be immediately branded as a salesperson, and the prospect's guard will be way up.

Your sales structure for outbound calls can be summarised using the well know acronym AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) we will explore at a high level what should be happening during a telemarketing call.

Open The Call Then Set Your Agenda

Hello. I'm looking for Sharon Morgen?

Sharon DREW Morgen.

What? Sharon Morgen?

No. Sharon DREW

Um. Hello. Are you Mrs. Drew?

Ms. Morgen. That's me. Is this a sales call?

Um. Hello. No. I'm with XYZ bank and I'm giving you a service call.

Regarding what? I don't do business with you. And you're not supposed to be making a telemarketing call on me. So what type of service are you offering for free?

Well, it's not for free. But we thought you'd like to know about our new banking services.

Ah. So it IS a sales call.

I had to really look at things a little different
when I started calling people. Now I am not a
telemarketer. I call people only when they request it.

The problem is, they usually dont remember filling
out the form or they dont remember why I am calling.
Most of the time, I get polite people but on occasions,
it's pure hell.

Its like these people should think that their phone
is off limits to everyone. I even got some people
filling out my form with the name who Cares. What
kind of a name is that. How am I suppose to reply
to that?

I got a confession to make! The little communication device used
to scare me to death!

I would pick ip up and dial a prospect and when the phone rings
my heart would start pounding wishing that the recipient does, to
pick the phone up. When the phone is picked, guess what?

My home business was rationalised and crippled by the fear of
phone. The telephone is a very essential tool to expose your
business. Some persons have become millionaires due to using
the phone proficiently.

Using the telephone as an effective sales and customer service tool begins before you ever pick up the receiver to answer the telephone or make an appointment or sales call. When you reach for a ringing telephone, you need to put a smile on our faces and then greet people with the same enthusiasm youd show them in-person. People can hear a smile, cant they?

It happens all the time, you hear someone over the telephone and you make a generalization about the person you are speaking with. It may not be fair and it is akin to judging a book by its cover, but it's true nevertheless.

Within 60 seconds, people will make assumptions about one's education, background, ability and personality based on their voice alone.