Permission To Sell? You Already Have It.

We have all heard a telephone associate say, "Before I let you go, can I tell you about a promotion we're offering?" Doesn't that question make you a little itchy, just reading this article? That is what permission questions do on the phone as well. Some say, "It's the only polite way to begin selling." The only thing we know for sure is that a single permission question can eliminate up to 80% of your prospective clients from buying. That's because eight of ten callers will be off the phone before we can say, "Have a nice day."

Why do we train our telephone agents to ask permission?
Unless this is a union requirement or a state commission demand, there is no need for this unproductive step. We already have permission to speak with the caller. We are speaking to the caller. No matter what the offer is going to be, we just tell them about it, why it is valuable for them to have it, and ask them to purchase it. Permission isn't necessary anywhere in this process. By the way, phrases like, "Before I let you go," or "While I have you on the phone," are also counterproductive. They remind the caller he doesn't really need to stay on the line any longer. We recommend avoiding these catch phrases.

Should we ask permission when telemarketing?
This should take place up front, in the first few sentences. A telephone salesperson may say, "It will take me no more than ninety seconds to tell you about this great way to reduce wrinkles, and you'll be glad you listened. Okay?" Beyond that, there is no need to ask any additional permission to tell callers about other offers. We already have permission. We will cover best practices for telemarketing and peaking buyers' interest in an upcoming newsletter.

One of the best ways to improve offer rates (the average number of times that telephone associates offer a product on each call) is to take away permission questions. They make it more difficult for callers to take advantage of great products, and they dramatically reduce the number of potential sales available to the telephone associate.