How to Effectively Personalize Your Sales Calls

Summary: 

• Practicing rather than reading your sales script verbatim ensures the call feels more like a personalized conversation, avoiding the impression of talking "at" the prospect.
• Conducting research on the lead and their company beforehand enables a more tailored approach to the sales call, making use of resources like LinkedIn and Google to gather information.
• Incorporating personal details and references to the lead's company or recent events in your sales script can significantly enhance the call's personalized feel right from the start.
• Maintaining an updated record of all communications with each lead helps avoid repetition and shows your investment in the relationship, contributing to a more professional and personalized interaction.
• Asking insightful questions not only demonstrates genuine interest in the lead's needs and challenges but also aids in identifying how your product can offer a solution, emphasizing a personalized, solution-based sales approach.
• Utilizing the lead's and their company's name during the conversation fosters engagement and attentiveness, leveraging the psychological impact of hearing one's own name to personalize the call further.

Successful sales calls hinge upon your ability to connect with leads.

To do that, you can't sounded like a scripted robot - you need to personalize your sales calls. Succeed and your contacts will feel like you're speaking to them and their unique needs. Fail and you come off sounding like you only care about a sale.

Of course, it's easy to recommend personalizing a sales call, but pulling it off without sounding forced can be a challenge.

So today, we'll look at a few effective ways of personalizing your sales calls.

1. Practice Your Script, Don't Read From It

It's good to have a script, but you should practice it and use it as a guide, rather than reading it word for word. Do that and you'll sound, well... like you're reading from a script.

A sales call should feel like a conversation. Scripts make people feel like you're talking "at" them, rather than "to" them.

2. Do Your Homework

It's much harder to make a sales call feel personal if you don't know a thing about the person on the other end of the line.

Before you get in touch with a lead, do your best to find out what you can about them and their company. LinkedIn is an excellent resource for this, as you can quickly look up companies and employees at those companies. A simple Google search is another.

Better yet, work lead qualification into your lead generation process. Whether you purchase leads or generate your own, it's a great idea to have leads answer questions that can help navigate your sales calls.

3. Add Personal Details to Your Script

After you've done some research, you'll have information that you can add to your script and reference during the call.

For example, you could comment on a recent piece of news about the company, or something you saw or read on their website. You can mention a common connection you have. Or, if you qualified your lead, you can talk about their responses and needs.

Try to do this early in the call so that it starts on the right note.

4. Keep Track of Contact History with Each Lead

It sounds unprofessional if you open a call the same way that you did the last time, or if you ignore previous contacts via phone or email.

Whenever you have any communication with a lead, whether it's a call, email, or instant message, note it and include important details - or use a CRM like PhoneBurner that does this for you.

Review these details before your call begins, so it's clear to your contact that you value the relationship.

5. Ask Questions

One of the best methods for showing interest in someone is asking them questions and paying attention to their answers. It's also a fantastic way to determine how your product can help them.

Good salespeople take a solution-based approach. That requires taking the time to understand the position your contact is in today, what they want, what they worry about, and what their ideal solution looks like.

So before you start "selling" have some questions ready that will move the conversation forward in a way that's sure to resonate.

6. Use the Person's Name / Company Name

This is personalization 101, but many salespeople fail to take advantage of it.

Now, you don't want to overdo or force it, but using your contact's name and (if applicable) company name is a good way to personalize the conversation.

It also results in more focused and active listening, so it can be helpful when asking questions.

Instead of, "what kind of logistics software are you guys using" try "what kind of logistics software are you using at [company name]?"

Instead of, "how many call are you making per day," go with "how many calls are you making per day, [name]?"

People have an affinity for hearing their own name, and are more engaged when they hear it. So use that to your advantage when it can be done naturally.

Wrapping Up How to Effectively Personalize Your Sales Calls…

Having sales calls that feel personal is vital. The more effectively you can do it, the more likely you are to make a connection, and ultimately a sale. Build out an effective sales call process, then personalize your sales calls with these tips:

• Practice your script but don't read it.
• Research, or qualify the lead before you make the call.
• Include personal details within your sales script.
• Keep a good record of any contact you have with a lead.
• Use questions to learn more about leads and demonstrate interest.
• Use the contact's name occasionally during the conversation.

What do you do to personalize your sales calls? Chime in below...