7 Quick Phone Sales Tips to Win Your Next Call

The business world may be going digital, but that doesn’t mean you should take every traditional sales tactic out of your toolbox. Few options beat the personal connection you can make over the phone—provided you do it well.

Spoiler: Preparation and focusing on building a solid relationship with the client will make the sales call go great.

Phone Sales Tips to Keep in Mind

1. Prepare a script

Prepare a script to stay on track and deliver a meaningful pitch. Calls won’t always stick to the script—and that’s ok. Think of the script as a foundation you can build off of as the call goes on.

When preparing the script, think about how you’d have this conversation in person. Start by making a connection on a personal level, then get into key talking points, including their strategy, challenges, and how you can help them solve them. Open the door to questions and eventually end the call by outlining the next steps.

Once you have your guardrails in place, run through it a few times. While your script is there to guide you, you don’t want to make it obvious that you memorized it. Instead, get comfortable with it and find a natural flow.

2. Get to know your contact

Understanding the prospect company is important, but so is getting to know the decision maker themselves.

The first step is to make sure you have accurate contact information. Key contacts in the media industry change regularly. Instead of manually confirming contact information, use an ad sales intelligence platform to keep contact data clean.

After identifying the key leader you want to call, consider the following questions:

• ​Do you have any hobbies in common?
• ​What business connections do you have in common?
• ​Are there recent business developments they’ve been involved with?
• ​Do they have buying power or will you have to loop in other parties in the future?
• ​Where do they live and when’s the best time to call?

With professional networks, online branding, prospecting tools, and CRM information more accessible than ever, you have everything you need to do your homework ahead of a call and make it as valuable as possible. Prepare talking points and your strategy with this information.

3. Ask (and answer) the right questions

You created an agenda—ideally one that focuses on one pain point. But remember, this call is about how you can help the prospect. Come prepared with questions that will guide the conversation.

Choose a handful of questions that will help you get to know the potential advertiser and make them feel listened to and cared about. Be curious, not just enthusiastic. You could ask about:

• ​Past successes
• ​Which new formats they’re most excited to introduce into their strategy
• ​Their opinions on the latest trends like the shift to in-house marketing

Take your agenda and put yourself in their shoes. Consider how you could bring up the topic with a question instead of pushing your own motivations.

Be prepared for the questions they have for you, such as:

• ​How do you stack up against the competition?
• ​Pricing details
• ​More information about a certain feature

The more you prepare for questions, the more beneficial the call will be. Your goal is to make them feel listened to and cared for while also using their answers as fuel for future conversations.

4. Be mindful of your words

When business buzzwords are used too many times in a meeting, your prospects might roll their eyes. Avoid buzzwords by replacing them with specific language that speaks to their market and products.

Use words that drive your points home with as little confusion as possible. You want to impress them with your product or service, not your vocabulary.

5. Prepare a voicemail

Not every prospect is going to pick up the phone, even if you have a call schedule. Always have a voicemail ready—think of this as a 30-second version of the same pitch you planned to give on the call.

Don’t just say, “Hey, I’m sorry I missed you. Give me a call back when you’re free.” Instead, build off previous conversations (if any) and let them know what you’re calling for and why they should call you back. A good voicemail that strikes a chord could be the difference between a call back or never hearing from them.

6. Send a follow-up email

Always send a follow-up email. As soon as possible after your call, send a quick message that summarizes the call, key talking points, and next steps. If you promised additional materials or there were questions you couldn’t answer live, highlight those as well. Use this as an opportunity to continue the conversation and keep pushing toward the sale.

7. Build the relationship

Closing deals will always rely, to some degree, on your ability to build relationships. You can use all of the tips above, but if you can’t connect with them, you’ll have a hard time closing the deal—and even if you do, you’ll likely struggle to upsell and grow the account.

Phone Sales Tips to Sell for Today’s Business World

In a business world dominated by technology, it can be easy to abandon more traditional sales tactics in favor of ones that take all of your interactions online.

Technology is making the sales process more effective and efficient, but there’s still something to say about picking up the phone and giving a prospect a call. These phone sales tips will make sure these interactions are valuable and help you win new business in 2022 and beyond.