Stratton Oakmont Sales Training Manual
Stratton Oakmont Schulungshandbuch für Vertrieb
Phone Skills
Telefonkompetenzen
Phone Skills
Telefonkompetenzen
Your voice is your most powerful tool when selling over the phone. Unlike face-to-face sales, clients cannot see your expressions or body language - they can only hear you. How you sound directly impacts your success rate.
Your voice is your most powerful tool when selling over the phone. Unlike face-to-face sales, clients cannot see your expressions or body language - they can only hear you. How you sound directly impacts your success rate.
Breath Control: Practice deep breathing from your diaphragm, not your chest. Take deep breaths before calls to center yourself and project confidence.
Enunciation Drills: Practice tongue twisters daily to improve clarity. "The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" and "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" are excellent for this purpose.
Pitch Variation: Monotone voices lose listeners' attention. Practice raising and lowering your pitch naturally during conversations. Record yourself and listen for areas where you sound flat.
Pacing: Most brokers speak too quickly when nervous. Practice slowing down your speech, especially when explaining complex financial concepts. Use strategic pauses for emphasis.
Voice Strength: Project from your diaphragm, not your throat. This prevents voice strain during long calling sessions and adds authority to your tone.
Be prepared before dialing. Have your script, prospect information, and objection responses ready. Never fumble through papers while on a call.
Stand up when making important calls. Your posture affects your voice; standing improves your energy and projection.
Smile while speaking. Though they can't see you, clients can hear a smile in your voice. Keep a small mirror at your desk as a reminder.
Never interrupt the prospect. Let them finish speaking, even if their objection is one you've heard a thousand times. This demonstrates respect and builds rapport.
Use the prospect's name. Not excessively, but strategically at key points in the conversation, particularly when asking for the order.
Always confirm contact information. Verify phone numbers, spelling of names, and mailing addresses for follow-up materials.
Control the pace of the conversation. Don't allow long silences or let the prospect dictate the entire flow. Maintain leadership position while being respectful.
Avoid industry jargon with new clients. Speak in clear, compelling language that conveys benefits without alienating the prospect with terminology they may not understand.
Keep detailed call notes. Document every interaction with specific details for follow-up calls. Reference previous conversations to build continuity and show attentiveness.
End every call with a clear next step. Whether it's sending information, scheduling a follow-up call, or confirming an order, always establish what happens next.
Poor qualification. Not determining if the prospect has the financial capacity or interest to invest.
Solution: Ask qualifying questions early in the conversation without being intrusive.
Excessive talking. Dominating the conversation without learning about the client's needs.
Solution: Maintain a 60/40 listening-to-talking ratio. Ask open-ended questions.
Inadequate objection handling. Becoming defensive or argumentative when facing resistance.
Solution: Acknowledge concerns, provide context, and redirect to benefits with the "feel, felt, found" technique.
Reading directly from scripts. Sounding robotic and impersonal.
Solution: Internalize key points and customize delivery for each prospect.
Calling without a strategy. Winging it without clear objectives.
Solution: Define specific goals for each call: appointment, information gathering, or closing.
Failing to build rapport. Rushing to the pitch without establishing connection.
Solution: Spend the first 30 seconds making a personal connection before transitioning to business.
Neglecting to ask for the sale. Ending calls without a clear closing attempt.
Solution: Develop multiple closing techniques and practice transitioning naturally to them.
Using filler words. Overuse of "um," "like," and "you know."
Solution: Practice eliminating these through recording calls and conscious awareness.
Lack of enthusiasm. Projecting fatigue or boredom, especially after multiple rejections.
Solution: Take short breaks between calls, use positive visualization, and maintain physical energy.
Poor follow-through. Failing to deliver on promises made during calls.
Solution: Document all commitments and prioritize their completion after the call.
Inconsistent calling patterns. Sporadic calling instead of systematic prospecting.
Solution: Establish daily calling blocks and adhere to them regardless of results.
Fear of rejection. Allowing previous rejections to affect confidence on new calls.
Solution: Develop a pre-call ritual to reset mentally and emotionally before each dial.
Call blocks. Schedule uninterrupted 90-minute calling sessions for maximum effectiveness. Take 15-minute breaks between blocks.
The 3-second rule. After dialing, prepare yourself mentally in the 3 seconds before they answer. Visualize success.
Pattern interrupts. Use unexpected statements or questions to break through the prospect's preconceived resistance to sales calls.
Voice mirroring. Subtly match the prospect's speaking pace and tone to build unconscious rapport.
Strategic silence. After asking for the order, remain silent. The first person to speak after the closing question often loses the psychological advantage.
Benefit stacking. Present benefits in groups of three for maximum impact and memorability.
Storytelling. Use brief success stories about similar clients to illustrate potential outcomes.
Trial closes. Use small agreement questions throughout the call to build momentum toward the final close.
Assumptive language. Phrase questions and statements with the assumption that the prospect will move forward: "When we set up your account..." rather than "If you decide to invest..."
The callback strategy. When facing strong resistance, sometimes the best approach is to politely end the call and schedule a specific time to call back, giving the prospect time to consider.