5 Practical Sales Tips to Make You a Better Closer

    1. Listen & Respond If you happen to be on the phone with a potential lead, then one of the absolute most important points to remember is to be a good listener. This comes naturally to some people; others have to work really hard to stop themselves from constantly trying to “handle” the person with whom they are speaking and control the conversation—especially salespersons. This doesn’t mean that you have to become introverted and never assert what you want to say; it simply means that you have to listen to what someone is saying, and then give a helpful response, based on what they are telling you that they need.   2. Avoid Templates First off, there are definitely circumstances that necessitate the use of templates for things like mass email campaigns. Basically, if you are targeting a large number of people for the same thing, then it’s …

Make More Sales by Avoiding These 5 Mistakes

Entrepreneurs have all types of personalities. Some are brilliantly charismatic, some excel at reading people to know how to approach them, some are hopelessly introverted or antisocial, and some entrepreneurs simply don’t know what can be potentially disheartening to people, making it very difficult for them to interact with clients. That’s where these tips can be helpful—a few of the most common mistakes we make when dealing with new clients. 1. Promising something you’re not sure you can deliver. When you have a potential sale on the line who will probably buy from you if you meet one condition, the temptation to promise to meet that condition is strong, even if you have no confidence that you’ll actually be able to do it. You think, “They’ll probably stay with our business, even when they find out we can’t deliver what they need.” Think again. 2. Making them wait for you …

The 4 Most Used Recordings for Your Phone System

To set up a great phone system means adding brief audio messages in the right places for your callers to provide information, direct them to the correct person, and even hold their attention so the caller doesn’t hang up before they reach you. These messages come in the form of greetings and announcements that make your business sound and function like a professional phone system. Educate yourself on what each kind of message is called and how it is used, with this quick reference guide of phone system audio sections. 1. Welcome Greeting The Welcome Greeting is an optional greeting that you would place as an initial message for callers which they hear as soon as your system picks up. This audio section is where you can include a basic, “Hello. Thank you for calling,” and a quick identification of your company if you like. The Welcome Greeting is not …

New Buzzwords in Phone System Technology

Out of all the trending buzzwords in phone system technology, these are some of the most discussed among businesses. The buzz surrounding professional phone systems is, admittedly, not the most exciting buzz, but if you are a business, the following features and terms are good to be aware of. Virtual Phone Number Phone numbers are prevalent in all of our daily lives, and we have a good understanding of how they work. Virtual phone numbers, though basically no different from normal phone numbers, have only recently become commonly recognized. A virtual phone number is simply a phone number that is not assigned to a specific phone or device but that you can register and own in the same way as a conventional one, as well as dial it to reach someone. Further explanation of virtual phone numbers can be found in this post: https://talkroute.com/is-a-virtual-phone-number-the-same-as-a-standard-number/ On-Premises Phone System This is something …

What to Do When Your Service Provider Won’t Port Your Number

    Phone number ports usually go pretty smoothly, letting your number seamlessly transfer to the new carrier without issue. There can be complications sometimes, though, and one of those complications is when your old carrier just will not release the number to your new carrier. In most cases this can be remedied with a little support from your new service provider, but if the old provider persistently refuses to release your number, this is what you can do.     Contact the porting agent at your new provider. This may or may not apply to you, as it depends on who your new provider is and whether or not they have a porting department to provide direct support throughout the porting process. If you are porting a number into Talkroute, an agent will be there to assist you with any issue that may arise, as well as provide updates …

SMS Guide for Business: What Not to Send in a Text

SMS is quickly becoming a pervasive tool used by businesses, and that’s not only for company to client, but also for employees to message each other. With all these messages flying around, it’s good to give yourself some personal guidelines as to what is acceptable to send in a work text, and what you should never, ever send to a colleague or client. There are no written rules for this (unless your company has its own stated rules for work texting), so these are only common sense suggestions, and some of these may actually be acceptable for you, depending on the situation. It’s good to have some rules. It’s just like when you meet a new romantic interest. Even if you don’t intend to say anything off-color to this person you’ve just met, you may inadvertently send a text that is construed as inappropriate. Most of us have found ourselves …

10 Essential Quotes from Veteran Business Owners

    When you’re starting a new business, you need advice from experienced entrepreneurs who have been in the game. You can scour the Internet for endless articles about how to approach running a small business, or you can look right here for a condensed version with the bullet points of successful entrepreneurship. The following are a few gems of wisdom from seasoned business owners that you can use to fuel your own small business or startup.   1. “Get into good habits early on, such as creating meeting agendas, sticking to meeting times, and walking away with actionable plans.” —Jennifer Mak   2. “Give your employees the right education: Our sales per square foot is above the industry’s average, and that’s due to our extensive training program. If your staff is trained appropriately, they can offer better service and be more efficient.” —Christi Rudolph   3. “Stay away from …

Finding Your Own Rhythm to Get More Work Done

Business owners and professionals of any kind all want to figure out how to be more productive. The best way to be productive and grow your business or career is not to simply white-knuckle it, by forcing yourself to do more work (though that is necessary at times); the best way to achieve high productivity that leads to success is to find your own rhythm. That’s when the work becomes less miserable, and more of a natural flow. Trial & Error Not everyone works in the same way. Instead of completing daily tasks the way you always have because that’s what you know and that’s what you’re used to, the better way is to make a conscious effort to find out how you work best by trying multiple ways of breaking up and organizing your tasks and projects. For example, you might need more breaks than other people between tasks, …

7 Steps to Being a Huge Success with a Small Team

    The truth is that many small businesses don’t quite have as many people on their team as they would like to have because they’re, well… small (and growing). In the ideal situation, it’s great to have one employee for every position, who performs his or her duties unencumbered by extracurricular tasks, but the reality is that much of the time, everyone has to pitch in to cover unmanned positions. This could cause serious problems, however, if not done carefully. The following are a few suggestions for managing a team of employees who are carrying the workload of multiple people.   1. Rigorous Organization When everyone has multiple responsibilities going on at the same, organization is paramount. Who is doing what (down to the smallest task), how long each job takes, how much attention or emphasis should be given to each responsibility, etc.—this should all be worked out in …

Business Phone Systems Traditional vs. Virtual

Business Phone Systems: Traditional vs. Virtual

    The easiest way to understand a virtual phone system is to think of it as a traditional office phone system, with all the features, but without all the equipment. Virtual phone systems have been around for a while now, but many people still have some trepidation about them because they don’t really understand what it is. To clear this up, what follows are a variety of features you find with any professional phone system and how they are handled in traditional vs. virtual systems.   Multiple Live Call Management   Traditional System: A local PBX system is required to facilitate multiple lines, or otherwise a phone for each line. These are connected by hard lines and linked together within an on-site network, normally installed and maintained by an outside contractor.   Virtual System: Talkroute provides a unique “call stacking” feature not available with most virtual phone service providers. …