Keep making calls to close more sales

This article was included in the October 25th, 2016 issue of the LACRM Newsletter.

Sales calls tend to get a bad rap nowadays and while the content of a typical call has changed over the years, what hasn’t changed is its effectiveness as a follow up method. You’ve invested time and energy into generating good leads, so why not finish it off with proactive, well-timed follow ups? Kevin Albrecht, Sales and Marketing Manager at Red Elephant, knows the value of jumping on the phone, and even attributes much of his company’s growth to consistent follow up calls:

“It sounds so simple, but schedule a chunk of non-negotiable time on your calendar to be on the phone. There is so much to do day-to-day that it is easy to not make time for these calls, but sales are all about following up, following up, and following up some more. So many people want to stay behind their computers, and as entrepreneurs, we can get so lost in what we are doing and the products we are creating that we forget about this.

But we grew so fast because we knew we had to get on the phones. You can absolutely sell through webinars, through online marketing but you still have to hit the phones to really make the sale. And once we’re on the phone, we make sure we are helping our potential clients get as much value as possible and be of service to them. We find great clients by being authentic, and our best clients appreciate us for that!”

-Kevin Albrecht, Sales and Marketing Manager at Red Elephant

How can the CRM help?

A good follow up call is one that is well-timed and well-informed. With a CRM, you know exactly who to call, when to call, and what you should mention during this call. Every contact has their own page in the CRM for you to enter notes about previous calls, schedule future tasks, and keep track of what the next steps should be. So all you need in front of you is that contact’s page to make the most effective sales call!

Tip to try: It’s easy to forget about making calls when you’re tied up with the day-to-day activities of keeping a business running smoothly, so stop forgetting by blocking off a few hours every couple of days on your calendar for calls. This ensures that you are making time for your follow ups, but be sure to not give yourself an out by constantly working over this scheduled phone session! By having this ‘non-negotiable time’ saved on your calendar for your sales calls, you can make sure no one’s slipping through the cracks and close more sales!

One thing that comes in handy when scheduling your ‘phone time’ is to know your closing rate. Your closing rate lets you know approximately how many people you can call in a given amount of time, and allows you to adjust the amount of time you block off for calls appropriately. Your pipelines in the CRM should give you a good headstart on this as it lets you know how many touches it takes to close a sale. Click here for a tutorial on how you can use your pipeline report to calculate a closing rate.