Introducing the Salesperson’s Best Tool: The Telephone!

Years ago, I saw a terrific comic strip. The scene was an office, with a man holding up the receiver of a phone stating: “Check this thing out. It works just like email, but you can talk with the person.” I saw this about 1998 or so, and I thought it was brilliant. At the time, email was starting to gain a lot of traction in business communication, but it was still a unique tool. Not every business had email yet, but the buzz was there. I attended a seminar called “Get out of Voicemail Jail”, and it was all about this crazy concept of using email to prospect for new customers. What? Email a prospect? Like a cold call?

Today email is the most common form of communicating in business. Whether marketing mass emails, attempting to schedule appointments, or following up on proposals, most salespeople use email to communicate with customers and prospects. How many emails do you receive that are from strangers blindly marketing to you or constantly copying you and 30 other people on topics that mean nothing to you?

In addition, we’ve had two generations (Millennials and Generation Z) join the workforce since verbal communication had no longer been prominent. They use email or text messaging for virtually all forms of communication. In a recent study by LinkedIn and Ranstad, over half of Generation Z workers claimed to use technology to resolve conflict over phone or in-person conversations. Many of your customers may be receiving text messages letting them know that their construction plans may be getting delayed by four months or that their pricing has increase by 10% - topics that should only be delivered by a human.

Let’s reflect on that comic strip I saw 20 or so years ago: “It works just like email, but you can talk with the person.” Perfect!

In today’s world of continuous issues, disappointed customers, and a population that is tired of looking at their monitors or screens, great salespeople call their customers. If you’re not, you should be.

Below are six thoughts and ideas about how salespeople today can get the most out of using your phone.

1. Whenever there is an issue or potential of a customer being unhappy, call. This is critical. Do not deliver bad news or try to resolve issues without talking to the upset person or people. There is a plethora of information shared in a voice that doesn’t get communicated in written words. Empathy, hostility, desperation, and appreciation can’t be read, they must be heard.
2. Use the phone or voicemail to enhance other forms of communication. If you’re going to mail a case study or email a link to an article to a customer, call and let them know. If you must leave a voicemail, that’s ok. You’ll increase your acceptance rate by 25% - 50% with a simple call.
3. Call to say thank you and ask if they need anything. I know a very successful salesperson that calls a different customer every morning at 8:15 just to thank them for their business and ask if there is anything he can do for them. That’s it. No requests or pitches.
4. Call direct lines. Hardly anyone calls direct lines anymore. Guess what? Most of your prospects are answering their direct lines!
5. Keep it brief. I take calls from certain people because I know it will only take one or two minutes, and I avoid other callers because of the opposite outcome.
6. Don’t feel like you have to use Zoom or Teams (or whatever) for every call. Even if you’re scheduling a quick call on the calendar, just add to the subject line: “I will call you at ….”

With a simple call, salespeople can communicate empathy, resolve issues, express appreciation, and build stronger relationships with customers. In the end, successful sales are built on connections, not just transactions.