How to Convince a Customer Over The Phone
You’re on the phone with a potential customer or customer and you’re trying to convince them to buy your product, and they want to buy it but they’re reluctant. Do they buy it or not? Will they accept your offer or not? How to make a successful phone call with the client?
Is persuasion a talent or an acquired skill? Some people have a natural ability to persuade others, but others must train and develop themselves to be able to deliver persuasive presentations, either way, you will benefit from learning some powerful persuasion techniques in how to persuade a customer over the phone that will help you improve your success rate, and open you up Wide action doors.
How to make a successful customer phone call in 7 steps
The study of persuasion is a huge field, with hundreds of studies and many years of research going into how we can improve our ability to convince others of what we want. In the next section, we’ll give you some of the best advice researchers have come up with.
1. “Yes” course in persuading the customer over the phone
As human beings, we like consistency, something that is ingrained in our collective consciousness and interaction patterns. Therefore, if you ask a few questions before asking the person about your offer, questions that you know for certain that the answer to is “yes”, the chance that they will respond with “yes” to what you are proposing will increase by a large percentage.
For example, John recalled hearing from a colleague that the CEO of the company he was making an offer to had gone to Holland on vacation with her fiancé. We’ll show you how he can use this to his advantage:
Katie, did you have a fun summer? I heard you went on vacation to Holland?”
“Yes, I actually went there, it was a great vacation! Thank you for your question”.
“I’m glad to hear that. Did Tim go with you?”
“Yeah, and we had a great time. The Netherlands is very beautiful.
“I agree with you on this. Now, tell me, do you think my offer will be beneficial to your company?”
Katie has already entered the “yes” circle, so there is a good chance that she will answer your question “yes” as well.
2. To borrow the authority of experts
If you are an outstanding leader in your field, the caller will trust you based solely on your reputation and authority, but if you are not yet known as an expert in the field, you can use the authority of others to persuade the other party.
You can borrow the authority of experts by quoting them or things they said, and using their name in the conversation. Proxy trust is a very powerful persuasion tool.
3. Support your statement with solid facts.
Emotion plays the main role in people making their decisions, but they feel anxious after making the decision, and they try to prove to themselves and others that they made the right logical choice.
You can use this to your advantage to make your argument more persuasive. Google important numbers and facts to back up your arguments during a conversation. These facts are what your customers will think about as they make a decision, and they will repeat them to others when they want to make sure they are making the right decision. In addition, you will appear knowledgeable and their confidence in you will increase.
4. The power of questions
Ask questions. Questions build intimacy and communication between you and your client, and make people feel that you are interested in what they have to say, and they will accept what you suggest later with a more open heart. Take mental or physical notes from their answers, and use those personal details while explaining your idea to convince them. This will make your task much easier.
5. Use appropriate words.
Use relative conjunctions such as “because, for that reason, and accordingly.” Studies show that our brain is trained to accept statements that come after these conjunctions as facts, even if they are not true. For example, in one famous study, the experimenter stood in line to copy paper, and asked everyone in the line, “Excuse me, I have five pages. Can I use the copier because I’m in a hurry?” 94% of those standing agreed to his request.
In the next line, he said to the waiting people: “Sorry, I have five pages. May I use the copier?” Only 60% of those standing agreed.
You might think that the difference was due to the reason he gave, but the following experiment proved that this is not true.
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier because I have to make some copies?”
93% of those standing accepted his request, even though the reason he gave was bullshit, all the people standing in line are waiting to use the copier because they have to copy some paper too! However, only 1% fewer people turned him down than when he gave an actual reason – because he used the word because.
6- The “Cialdini Exchange” base
Robert Cialdini was a master of persuasion and even wrote an entire book called Influence: The Power of Persuasion, and one of his best techniques is Exchange.
Humans, by their very nature, do not like to feel that they are indebted to anyone, that they did not want the same favor. If you open the door for me, I will feel obligated to pick up your pen if it falls to the floor.
Doing the person you’re talking to a favor, even if it’s a small one, like giving them useful advice or telling them you’ll check their account status just for them, will make them more eager to return the favor. When you ask him if he’d like to buy something or partner with you on a certain project, he’ll be more inclined to agree now.
7. Social proof
Your clients are always trying to find out what other participants in their field are doing, we are all afraid of making the wrong decision, and knowing that others have made similar choices to us is an excellent remedy for indecision and fear.
How can you use this to your advantage? If their competitors are already doing the same thing you’re offering them, mention this. If leading companies in their industries are using this solution – tell them.
They will accept your offer much more easily if they know that there are others who have made the same choice.
Persuasion is a powerful tool that will help you grow your business. Practice using these techniques, watch the results, and be amazed at the positive results you can achieve after making just a few simple changes in your conversations.