Automation has been proven incredibly important in sales. It helps boost sales productivity. Sales reps become more focused on selling since they are free from performing repetitive, time-consuming tasks that can otherwise be automated. It also reduces the risk of manual or human error, and a lot of tasks are performed more consistently and more efficiently.
Statistics seem to agree as well. Sales force automation can lead to a 30% increase in deal closures, an 18% reduction in sales cycle, and a 14% reduction in sales administration time. B2B marketers have also increased their sales pipeline contribution by an average of 10% with sales automation. And brands have seen a 225% increase in the volume of prospects that converted to sales opportunities with lead nurturing sales automation.
There are a lot of daily tasks that you can automate to achieve peak sales performance. One of these tasks is making phone calls—something all sales reps do several times in a day, every day of the week.
Making calls can eat up a lot of a sales rep’s time. This is where automation comes in really handy. It can help sales reps manage their time when making calls.
So are you ready to begin automating your sales cools? The first thing you should do is get the right CRM for the job. In fact, the right CRM will be your strongest ally for sales calls automation. A CRM like Lucrativ has artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities that allow you to run your daily tasks, such as your sales call, on autopilot; streamline complex processes; and improve efficiency. It can also be fully customized depending on your business model and goals. Lucrativ can perform the way you want it to… so you and your team can also perform at your peak.
Once you have your CRM fully integrated, you can begin making those calls. Remember these tips to make your automated sales calls successful:
1. Make a smart call list
What’s a smart call list? It’s a list of numbers that you want to prioritize. It’s your priority list. Your CRM can suggest who to call first based on your lead scoring (you have to set up a lead scoring system beforehand) with a list lead. Lucrativ can automatically generate this list using its data analyzing capabilities. It sorts based on the quality of the leads. You can have a VIP Lead List, for example, which are the high-quality leads that you should engage first. You can likewise create a custom call list on your own.
2. Know when to call
It’s always difficult to nail the timing of a sales call. You need to call when the time is good for your prospect (so you don’t waste your time too!), but knowing when that is can be tricky. You may consider these findings on the best time(s) of day to make sales calls:
- Wednesdays and Thursdays remain the best days of the week to call prospects
- The best time to call a prospect is between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The second best time is between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
- The worst times to call is between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Of course, these stats are never true for everybody. You may have to go through some trial-and-error with your prospects to determine the best time to contact them. You can also “follow” your buyer’s journey. Say, for example, that a prospect tends to visit your website Wednesdays afternoon. (Website cookies allow you to track your prospect’s activities on your site.) This may be a good time to call him/her then. This is a hyper-personalization tactic.
A power dialer is basically a tool that (literally) acts as a dialer for a sales rep. It dials a contact number one at a time, following a sequence. When a call ends, it automatically dials the next. If a caller doesn’t pick up, you can leave a message. It drops the call if a number is busy or disconnected, and it then moves on to the next call. But even though calls are automated, the sales rep still has control over the calls.
You may also just opt to click-to-call. Go to the contact profile of a client or prospect on your CRM. Click on his number to make a call.
4. Turn “local presence” on
Simply turn this feature (on your CRM) on and start making calls. The system will automatically match the caller ID number with the same area code or a nearby area code of the location you are calling. It sounds neat but, more importantly, it adds up to your pick-up rate!
5. Group your calls
Classify your calls by grouping calls with similar goals together. For example: you may groups calls for appointment-setting calls together, then group calls for follow-ups together, and so on. By managing your calls this way, your mind is not jumping from one message to another. Your mind is focused on one messaging/goal for each group of calls. This makes your more efficient and effective in your calls.
6. Use voicemail
While it’s always recommended to take a customer’s call, the reality is you can’t be sure that you’re free to receive calls all the time. The voicemail feature helps you to never miss out on any opportunity. Receive voicemail messages when you’re unable to take a call. Lucrativ’s voicemail takes calls and records caller messages for you.
You may also use a voice message drop. Record your own greeting and send—or drop— that message to the prospect's voicemail mailbox with one simple click.
7. Have a callback reminder
So a prospect called while you’re unable to take the call, and the call went straight to voicemail. That’s fine for as long as you make sure to call back. But when you're overwhelmed by a long list of phone calls to make, it’s easy to forget to make callbacks. Having a callback reminder is extremely useful: 80% of unanswered calls are forgotten or abandoned. So you don't miss any sales opportunity, set a callback time and a reminder on your CRM to return a client’s call.
8. Monitor and record all calls
Every time you connect or engage with a lead, the activity must be recorded for monitoring. Track all your sales calls and record what happened. Did you successfully connect? Were you sent to voicemail? Was it a bad number? Having a record of all activities specific to a lead will help you in your next steps and strategies.
With these tips, you are sure to maximize sales call automation. However, your message is still most important. It will still need to resonate with the prospect, so remember to:
- Get to know the prospect. Never call without getting relevant information on the person you’re calling, what he does, and who he works for.
- Build genuine rapport with prospects when calling them—even if it’s a cold call. Always sound sincere. Actively listen to what they have to say.
- Discover what they need, then communicate on how you can help them. This is how you add value to your call!
Photos by bruce mars from Pexels
