We all know that the Internet connects everyone on this planet instantaneously. Social media like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn are being used multiple times a day to catch up on the latest news, find out what your friends are doing, get attention and to market yourself. Yet there exists one device more powerful than all of that—the phone.
The phone is more powerful than all of these other technological developments. This is because at some point in everyone’s career they will use the phone to reach the right person, close a sale, follow-up with a customer or to handle a customer inquiry. The phone is money, and everyone has one. In fact, there are more cell phones on the planet than people, with an estimated 7.8 billion devices! In the USA alone there are just under one trillion phone calls per year!
You spend more time with your phone than any other device, and it’s close to you than even your kids. And the same holds true for the people that can help you take your life, your ideas and your financial condition to the next level. Before you dismiss this all as obvious, consider that 65% of adults even sleep with their phones nearby!
The phone is a powerful business weapon, whether it’s for making contacts with customers or making cold calls to get new customers. The phone is necessary and integral to your success and for a number of reasons most people are terrible at using it. In fact, Salesforce suggests that 92% of all customers use the phone before making a purchase and 85% claim to be dissatisfied with the interaction.
But like me, you may have been made to believe that you couldn’t sell your products over the phone—Which isn’t true, of course. Being in front of someone is the most effective way, but it’s very expensive and can cost as much as 8X more than a call and almost impossible to scale out because of the time it takes. Calls are immediate and powerful if you can get the right person on the phone and know how to use that time effectively.
According to Pew Research over 46% of adults only have cell phones and no longer use a home or office phone. Combine that with the fact that over 50% of eCommerce traffic comes from mobile devices and it’s clear that the future of connecting with people directly is over the phone, especially in the business world.
At the age of 26 I was shown how to use the telephone to effectively qualify leads, reduce time spent pitching new prospects, determine decision-makers, and how to keep my pipeline full with appointments. After getting just the introduction to proper phone use my income immediately doubled; I went from making $3,500 per month to over $8,000.
Mobile shopping is now the dominant way customers find products and according to Google 70% of mobile searchers use the ‘call button’ when attempting to make a purchase. Here are 3 tips on how to handle phone calls properly and help you increase your business immediately.
- Time is a Killer. You cannot spend time with small talk and chat with prospects. That’s the old-school mentality—you must get in and get out. You may only have 2 minutes to get an appointment, find out who the decision-maker is and find out their needs. Use your time effectively.
- Voice Inflection and Tone. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. There are ways to say things so that a customer never forgets you and your pitch—they are called hooks and tone control.
- Words Matter. One wrong word on the phone can blow your chance. You can no longer say things like, “I hope I’m not bothering you taking time talking about…”.
No matter what you do for a living, at some point in your career you will rely on a phone to either introduce yourself or get an appointment. Other than your commitment and attitude about success, the telephone itself will be one of the single most important tools you use in building your brand, your company, and your revenues.
