Your Guide to Successfully Improving and Evaluating Your Team's Zoom Sales Calls

No matter how many new technologies and avenues for communication arrive on the market, nothing has proven to be more effective in building relationships with prospective and current clients than a simple phone call. And yet, we here at Sebastian Lane have witnessed, time and time again, how certain sales reps can either neglect to grasp the importance of phone interactions or repeat the same mistakes during calls with clients and prospects without resolving to change their strategy.

If your sales team is struggling with holding successful sales calls, standing out from the competition, or closing deals with prospective clients altogether, here are a few tips for implementing a proven and repeatable sales process to get the most out of each phone interaction.

LEAD WITH A THOROUGH PLAN OF ACTION

Before each call with a prospective and current client, encourage your sales team to understand exactly what they need to bring to the table, not only for what is necessary to close a deal but also for how to respond to potential questions and objections. Remind your team that a successful call is not solely a race to close a deal with a new client. The journey is always more important than the destination.

Building relationships with clients can be a slow and challenging process, one that requires an immense amount of patience, an empathetic understanding of a client’s wants and needs, and the ability to quickly think on one’s feet.

Before each call, a salesperson should ideally have an action plan in mind that factors for several different outcomes, as well as anticipated questions and responses. This plan should be informed by common interactions encountered in previous calls, along with relevant information unique to the prospect or client on the other end of the line.

What are the most frequently asked questions that arise in these calls? What are the most effective responses that often help lead to closing a deal? And how do these questions and answers intersect with the needs of this specific client or prospect?

ADOPT A STORYTELLING NATURE

A common flaw of unsuccessful sales calls is a lack of client relatability. When a client or prospect feels as though a call lacks personality, connection, or relevance to their unique experience, your sales team will inevitably struggle to close the deal.

This can be amended by adopting a storytelling ethos for sales calls. By nature, every sale, and every lead-up to a sale is, fundamentally, a story worth telling. At least, to a very specific audience (i.e. the people on the other end of the line). Maybe these stories are not worthy of a film or novel, but with the right language, and sense of enthusiasm, your sales team has the power to leave clients and prospects enraptured with the idea of adopting your product or service.

Provide your sales team with the tools needed to paint a picture for clients and prospects. A picture in which potential buyers can envision how using your product or service can provide lasting value and ultimately make their lives easier.

SET NEXT STEPS

Even if a sales call has concluded with a major deal and secured a future client, the story does not necessarily end there. Before ending a call, your sales reps should always ensure that a follow-up is on the table and should craft a list of the next steps to take.

Make sure that your sales team has the information and tools necessary to develop a strong follow-up strategy. If one call was about closing the deal, the next should be about ensuring client satisfaction and making inroads toward building a lasting relationship. Remind your sales team that even a simple, personable follow-up can go a long way with a new or returning client, especially in the wake of a successful and memorable first call.

RECORD AND REVIEW YOUR CALLS

Each call is an opportunity to get better, no matter your sales team’s closing rate. And the most effective way to learn from these calls is through a professional review. Combing through recent sales calls can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of specific sales reps while also highlighting the efficiency of your sales process as a whole.

Here are a few questions to keep in mind during reviews of sales calls:

Was the goal of the call reasonably achieved?
How involved was the client in the process?
What were the key moments of the call that most contributed to the end result of the call?
Was the sales pitch effective?
How was the energy of the sales rep?
Was the sales rep able to connect with the client or prospect beyond a surface level?
What corrective actions can be taken next time?

At times, the answers to these questions may not be entirely clear, especially when analyzed in a vacuum. Sebastian Lane Consulting can help review sales calls recorded via Zoom and provide feedback and ideas for improvement. If preferred, we can even conduct mock calls for sales reps to practice their pitching.

Looking to improve your closing rates and client satisfaction or develop a new and improved sales process at a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house sales manager? Get in touch with our office today to learn more.

If you are interested in outsourced sales management services for your firm, we here at Sebastian Lane can help point you in the right direction. Feel free to reach out for further information, resources, and recommendations. Call Sebastian Lane Consulting at 443-534-6783 or email us at jesse@sebastianlaneconsulting.com.

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