subject: 10 Essential Phone Prospecting Tips for Network Marketers by:Albert Torres [print this page] 10 Essential Phone Prospecting Tips for Network Marketers
Calling up people adds personal touch in business, whether its an initial call or a follow-up. Establishing your credibility on the phone is a breeze by keeping a courteous conversation. For your prospects, youre not just a salesman anymore, but a friend they can place their confidence in.
Here are 10 Essential Phone Prospecting Tips for Network Marketers.
1. Prime Up Before Dialing
It is very important to setup yourself physically, mentally and emotionally before every call. This is the foundation of your phone conversation, so lets discuss this thoroughly.
Prepare physically
Be conscious of your posture, your facial expressions, the tone of your voice, even the way you are dressed. Looking good by getting out of that sloppy house clothes and into a more casual but professional outfit, actually makes you feel equipped. If you feel good, then you do well.
Prepare mentally
Do you have your list of questions with you? Have you researched about your prospect so you know what he or she will find interesting? These are just some of the things that will make or break that phone call if you are not prepared mentally.
Do a background research about your prospect so it would be easier for you to connect. Prepare an educated yet polite rebuttal in case you encounter an objection or negative feedback. An initial phone call will have a different set of questions from a follow-up.
Prepare emotionally
If you are angry or frustrated, find ways to release that stress first. No matter how much you try to fake a cheerful conversation, negative emotions will always find its way to the other end of the line.
2. Be Clear About Your Goal and Connect
You know that the goal is NOT to sell. Neither is it to recruit that person. Your goal for this phone call is to establish trust and build a relationship. A sales pitch will instantly drive your prospect away. Get to know him. Let him talk about himself, what led him to his job, etc. Letting your prospect open up will be advantageous to you. This lets you discover things you have in common with your prospect and allows your relationship to warm up.
Remember, if you start with a sales pitch he sees you as a salesman. Think about this for a moment: You are more likely interested in buying a really cool laptop when you see a very good friend use it than seeing and reading about it on print ads. Obviously, its because you trust your friend more than a stranger bombarding you with sales pitches.
3. Common Courtesy
Phone skills are not really a secret kept in a dungeon and guarded by dragons. Its just common courtesy. Courtesy simply means how to treat people with consideration and respect.
-Introduce yourself, fighting the urge to jump into your sales pitch.
-Use your prospects name, but not annoyingly all the time.
-If your prospect has a professional title like Doctor, Engineer, or Architect, it is respectful to use those titles, unless he asks you to call him by his first name.
-Let your prospect talk without you interrupting him. People usually give closing signals and when you see this opportunity, wait half a second before you share your thoughts.
-Thank You comes a long way.
4. Choice of Words
Your choice of words reflects who you are. Your prospect can get a pretty clear picture if you are professional, experienced, educated, and most especially sincere. Make sure you keep a very positive conversation by using positive words.
For example, Im sure you DONT want to spend the rest of your life being tied down, can be improved with, Im sure you WANT ample amount of time to spend with your family and to do the things that fulfill you. Scientifically, our brain edits negative words like dont or not; so, DONT come home late registers as come home late. Think positive and active words.
Another example is putting a positive spin on terms. For example, instead of saying, You will spend $100, you can say, Your investment on this training will only be $100. The word investment is a positive word because it means you have something to gain back.
5. Time and Timing
Calling when you know your prospect may be having lunch or in the middle of something important only makes your call annoying instead of inviting. Set an appointment at a better time if your client seems distracted. When a person is distracted, you only waste both your times because he cant absorb what good opportunity youre offering him.
Another aspect of timing is giving information to your prospect at the right time. If you answer his question about your offer too soon or too late, you lose the momentum; therefore, you lose a prospect.
Set a specific duration for your phone call. A 15-minute call is good enough to get to know your prospect. If its not enough because your client sounds like he has more to share, then take it as a very assuring signal and set another schedule.
Conversation is also like dancing. You have to keep in tempo with your client. A fast-talking person will probably want you to speed up your speech, too. A person who talks slowly means he carefully takes in what he hears so speak slowly and clearly as well.
The next 5 Essential Phone Prospecting Tips for Network Marketers are critical:
6. The Prospect Dominates, You Control
You want your prospect to dominate the conversation, because after all, the opportunity youre offering is about and for him. However, because you are the interviewer, you control which way the conversation goes. You are the driver. You turn the ignition on and you drive where you want to go.
7. Charm, Dont Chase
In the art and romance of wooing, even a girl swept off her feet by Prince Charming gets annoyed when Prince Charming follows her anywhere all the time. You dont chase a prospect. Rather, you charm a prospect. Leave some mystery. Chasing a client pushes him away from you. Charming one draws him to you and wants more.
8. Sincerity is the Key.
No matter how overly positive your choice of words are, how your smile is up to your ears, or how charming you are, insincerity can be smelled by people from a mile. Be the person who really wants to help, not just a top-notch salesman because of a memorized effective sales pitch.
9. Practice
Grab a friend the patient ones, nice ones, even the irate once. The only way you can prepare for anything is by practicing.
A great way to monitor how youre doing is to record yourself when you practice with a friend. Listen if you are dominating the conversation, or if you need some more zest in your tone. Until you hear yourself, you will never know what to improve on.
10. Pick-up the Phone and Dial
Delaying the time when you will finally call a prospect only delays moving forward. Any successful person knows by heart how valuable time is, and that procrastination only adds to your anxiety or your worries. Calling up clients are worth your time and effort and will give you gratifying results.
Phone calls are definitely one of the ways you can generate leads to your MLM business. It is very personal and thoughtful. Other means of effectively getting leads also exist, and taking advantage of these ways will surely benefit you.
These 10 Essential Phone Prospecting Tips for Network Marketers make a BluePrint, which will enable any marketer to become and expert in prospecting on the phone as long as they are practiced.
