When thinking about a phone call, there’s one thing that’s apparent. And that is the lack of time you have to reach your goal. However, you have to know that goal to be able to reach it. Here, we want to get some time to speak with somebody when we’re actually making those outbound phone calls.
So, as we’re calling, we’re going through the steps and focusing on our goals. In this step, we want TIME to discuss things with them.
How do we do this? We’re prepared! We’ve called, and we know it’s the customer. In the process of making a phone call this is where it can get a little tricky. You have to choose your words wisely, because one mistake could throw off your master plan.
Beginning with saying “Hi! Is this Tim?” when you make a call is a great place to start. You haven’t introduced yourself, but it’s a natural reaction for them to respond with yes. Now, you get your opening and say “Hi! This is…” and respond with your name.
What you actually want to do is get a bit of time to speak with them. So, you look for the authorization.
How do we do that? It’s simple! Say “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time”, and word it that way specifically. This is because we want to get the answer “no”. That answer is specifically what we’re looking for! It’s something we can work with!
When you get a phone call and the last name gets tripped over, it sounds like they don’t really know you and it feels like a telemarketer situation. Because of this, you definitely DON’T want to ask “Did I catch you at a good time?” because once again, the natural response would be “no”. It’s important to keep in mind that wording is very important here because of this!
Many times people say no before they say yes, because let’s be honest, “no” is non-committal. It’s just what will come out of people’s mouths first.
So, remember, we’re wording it a particular way on PURPOSE to get a particular answer.
If they say “yeah, it’s a bad time”, they still don’t know who you are. It leaves room for the customer to still be intrigued to find out who it is they’re talking to.
This is ALSO something we can work with! You can respond by saying “What I’d like to cover is important, but not urgent. Would later today or tomorrow be a better time for you?”
This makes you PREPARED to make the call! Then, when you actually make the call, you confirm it’s them and now you have authorization to speak to the caller!
As the COO | Partner of Phone Ninjas, Chris delivers leadership, coaching, and mentorship to 55 team members providing software sales and phone skills coaching. He fosters powerful partnerships and collaborations with leaders across various business sectors, establishing expectations, communicating vision, and escalating performance to maximize productivity and effectiveness.
Chris is an innovation-driven business executive with over 25 years of experience delivering leadership to teams of up to 75 overseeing development, launch, and sale of website lead acquisition, reconditioning process software systems, and technology that support automotive dealerships across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
