TeleSelling

Barriers to "connecting" with the customer or prospect

The telephone creates unique barriers to selling and communicating.. Because persuasion is primarily function, somehow you have to compensate for not being face-to-face. You must therefore be highly skilled to succeed. 

You've Got Less Time Typically you will be given less time than the amount extended to your field counterparts. This is just the nature of the medium you are dealing with. 

No Eye Contact Your prospects will have many distractions. You have no eye contact with them, so you have only your skills to depend on to keep them focused on your conversation. 

No Threshold Image When a field salesperson walks over the threshold, there is an image immediately established. You have to create that image by utilizing your skills, common sense and good judgment. 

To effectively communicate your ideas over the telephone, you must be a consultative seller...,not a peddler. Clients buy services from peddlers once, maybe twice. There is no relationship, no connective tissue, no rapport. 

You are not selling something, but rather a way to accomplish specific objectives the person has.. 

Your call was probably an interruption. Your client is not mentally prepared...as he or she might be in advance of a face-to-face sales call. You cannot "present" your product. He or she cannot see you. You cannot see him or her. Time is limited. People often are able to express impatience or low patience by telephone. It is difficult to describe detail, or to get into the type of detail you might want to in order to make your sales presentation. People will "test" you because they feel that the telephone "protects" them. Misunderstandings are likely and difficult to work out. And, buyers will sometimes float an irrefutable objection your way. 

All this leads to a perceived hesitation to get into "benefits" selling. In today's telephone selling environment, you have to earn the right to advance with the customer or prospect.