Hello? What to do when a buyer won't return your sales call

When a buyer doesn’t return my sales calls, I ask two questions. Did I sound friendly? Did I do a good job of communicating the value of my offer?

Recently, Riley Croft, an account executive at The Kennickell Group in Georgia made 43 calls to suspects and prospects in a day. He recorded himself as he called. Riley said, “After every call, I challenged myself to sound friendlier. By the end of the day, I sounded better and much more like a person who you would want to call back.” Here’s a challenge for you. When you pick up the phone . . .

How can you sound more likeable?
How can you sound more trustworthy?
How can you sound more competent?

You’re good now. You’ll be better if you are already smiling before you dial and you’re mentally expecting good things to happen.

Demonstrate respect for buyers by starting calls asking prospects and customers if they have time to talk. Often enough, the prospect says, “No, I’m busy.” When that happens, I call again. Sometimes, I catch the buyer and we talk. Other times, I never can reach them again. In either case, I know if I make enough dials I will talk to interested buyers. For the record, Melissa Siegel, a New York buyer, says few salespeople ask this question and she would like it if they did.

Carl Neuscheler with Graytor Printing in New Jersey is a 35-year veteran in the industry. His philosophical approach to calling has served him well throughout his career. He said, “If you pester people, you un-sell them. I ask buyers how often they would like me to call or e-mail. Once they tell me what they want, I do it. Once a month, I send a sample out. I often get return calls because the sample hits a nerve and buyers will tell me they called because I was persistent.”

Be polite, pleasant, persistent and relevant.