Actionable Tips for The Art And Science of the Sales Call

Sales calls are more than just a conversation. They are very much a component of a process that is designed to sell. Therefore, they are something that must be monitored, measured, analyzed, and improved.

Like most things involving human interaction however, sales conversations are both an art and a science. There are both tangible and intangible factors that contribute to successful sales conversations.

The scientific part of sales calls includes measurable factors like call length, talk time, talk ratios, and even the time of day a call is placed at.

The artistic portion of a sales call include things like tone of voice, enthusiasm, wording, and questions.

To up your skills in both the art and science of the sales call, here are some actionable tips you can start using today:

Sales Call Science

Lead response time

The speed with which sales teams must respond to leads is very much a science. Data has shown time and time again that the optimal lead response time is five minutes or less. After that, the likelihood of a sales rep qualifying an inbound lead drops 21 times.

To speed up their lead response times, sales teams should use sales dialers with real-time functionality that grant them the ability to instantly receive, route and respond to inbound leads. Inbound leads and a quick response rate result in hot sales call after hot call.

Sales cadence length

Sales cadences are all the rage. They give sales reps the ability to manage emails, calls, texts, and other forms of outreach across hundreds at individuals, and ensure that they give each personalized attention. Sales cadences are commonly used to establish contact with a prospect and generate a conversation.

The truth is that many sales cadences end too soon. TOPO found that the most effective sales sequences contain 12-16 touches spread over 3 to 4 weeks. Revenue.io data further shows that reps are behind on their daily sales dials. Sales benchmark data shows that B2B technology sales reps average 35 dials per day

We believe this is far too little. Our data shows that a rep that averages 60 dials per day will beat their peers.

Sales call times

There’s no point in making phone calls if you can’t connect. Before COVID, Revenue.io analysis of sales calls showed that call answer rates peak between 10 and 11:30 am in the time zone of the call recipient.

This means that reps making phone calls should schedule their days so they can perform dials in the mid-to-late morning to optimize their answer rates and speak with more prospects. With COVID, this window has expanded to cover the hours between 10 am and 3 pm.

Sales Call Art

Ask the right questions

If you’re not asking the right questions in sales, your chances of success are far lower. Questions, especially discovery questions, are the key to uncovering the true wants, needs, and desires of your buyers.

Asking the right questions is an art. You need to know the right timing, the right flow, and exactly what to ask to get the right answer. Open-ended sales questions (no yes or no answers), as well as the proper follow-up questions (can you tell me why, what do you think of that, etc.) are the key

Tone of voice and mirroring

To sell to your prospects, you need to connect. To connect, you must relate to them on a personal level. Many sales reps find success with mirroring techniques. They match the tonalities, pace, and word usage of the prospects they are speaking with. Other reps find that if they use the opposite personality type to certain prospects, they win deals.

Regardless, knowing what to mirroring, tone to use, and words to say are arts, and it takes a lot of experience.

Empathy

When to comes down to it, most people just don’t want to be sold to. They want to be understood, cared about, and helped. That’s why empathy is so important. When you stop selling and start trying to help your prospects, you may find yourself to be far more successful.

Empathy is an art in the way that it cannot be faked. Prospects can immediately detect fake empathy and it will turn them off. Real empathy must be built and developed, but it’s worth it.