5 ways to improve your sales calls and CLOSE the deal, and 5 mistakes you might be making that could be costing you the deal!
Stick around to the end of this blog and I will give you a SIXTH bonus tip!
Sales calls can be tough as registered dietitians because, let’s be honest, we are not taught how to do sales as registered dietitians. When you’re in a clinical setting or long-term care setting, you don’t have to sell the patient to come and be there, they’re already there! On the flip side, if you want to succeed with online nutrition coaching, sales are part of the job whether you like it or not.
I was on two calls last night, one for our Registered Dietitian 90 Day Business Ignition Program, and one for our 12 month I Believe Mastermind students. We were talking all about objections, so I have tips for sales calls FRESH in my brain!
- What you do BEFORE the sales call. In our mastermind we have an entire ritual dedicated to this portion called the Pre-Frame Routine that we go through with a prospective client before they even get on the phone. I’ll have to keep this part short and sweet for this blog, and the full version is LENGTHY and something we teach inside of our group. So, back to my question of what you do before your sales call. I already know what you do, it’s what I used to do! I used to get nervous, I used to get freaked out, I used to get uncomfortable. I would freak out and worry about whether they would like me. But listen. You MUST control what you do before the sales call. As Tony Robbins says, if you want to change your psychology you need to change your physiology. Stand up! Walk around! Pump your fist! Get amped up! I used to stand up before a call and say “I CAN DO THIS! They need me!” as loud as I could as many times as possible. Do some pushups, whatever you want to do. Just get your blood flowing and get moving. Don’t stay static.
- Sell them what they want, give them what they need! I used to outsell all the personal trainers in the gym and I was a Registered Dietitian. We would have consults where the clients would come in and say they want to tone up, lose X amount of pounds, and feel comfortable in their skin. The personal trainers would use a million different anatomy terms and create overwhelm and confusion for the client. I would come in and avoid all those fancy anatomy terms that Mrs. Jones didn’t care about. I would ask her what areas she wanted to fix, then we would go fix those exact areas! I SOLD her what she wanted and gave her what she needed. So, on your sales calls, figure out what they want! Why are they on the phone with you? It’s not for macros, it’s not for meal plans, it’s not for random tactics. It’s a deeper reason.
- You’re not asking WHY enough! You’re not figuring out WHY they are here. Take my mock call with Mrs. Jones for example. “Hey Mrs. Jones, what brings you in today?” Mrs. Jones then tells you she wants to improve her energy. “Great! Let me tell you all about my program and how I can do that.” WRONG! I mean that in a loving way, but it’s not about you. It’s about your client. You’re probably making the big mistake of talking too much about yourself and what you can do, vs making it about them. In our Mastermind we call it peeling back the onion. Pull those layers back and discover why they are there. In a clinical setting as a dietitian, we must fight for acknowledgment and recognition from our patients. Naturally, when you first get on sales calls, you feel like you have to prove your worth and your knowledge. It’s actually the complete opposite. You have to build your client up instead and make the sales call all about them.
- It’s not WHAT you say, it’s HOW you say it. 90% of communication is nonverbal. Which means that 90% of communication has nothing to do with what you say, but instead HOW you are actually saying it. The biggest component of that is body language. Sitting far away, slouched over is a big sign of disrespect. Sitting forward and upright is a sign that I’m interested in this conversation with you. Another huge part of it is vocal tonality, especially on your sales calls. Are you speaking authoritative? If you’ve ever seen me on one of my Facebook Lives, I’m LOUD, I’m energetic, I’m authoritative. I’m making sure that my voice commands my thoughts and expressions to my viewers. On a sales call you have to use your voice. You can’t be mumbling or murmuring whatsoever. Do you think your prospective client will purchase from you if you don’t sound confident in what you are offering? Of course not! It starts with HOW you say it. When I do role plays and have my clients practice their sales calls with me, I have them show me their pitch. It’s generally a vocal tonality shift that drops, which is a sign that you are seeking someone else’s approval. Now, I’m not telling you to scream and shout or be someone you’re not, but more than likely you need to raise your vocal tonality at least slightly. You will notice a huge difference not only in your voice, but in your confidence. I’ve been selling coaching services for 12 years, I started when I was 18 and I’m 30 years old now. The number one thing I’ve learned is that people buy confidence. You could have the best product in the world but if you are not confident on your sales calls, they will not buy from you.
- You didn’t ASK for the sale! You did all the work. You got to know them, you peeled the onion, you were loud and commanding, you discovered why they were there. You even built emotional connection with this prospect. Then you didn’t ask for the sale, but you MUST! You have to have a direct offer. I lost so many sales early on in my career because I would give them all my coaching package options and then ask, “Which do you think?” This is called an implied offer, and the client would go home and think about which would be best for them. I rarely saw that person again. Once I shifted to making hard, direct offers, that’s when I started making the sale. You should be offering only 2 options. Option A or option B. Don’t give them a MENU of offers, that is too confusing, and they will leave. Make your offer direct. When you ask for the sale, it needs to be a direct offer.
BONUS TIP! You have to love sales! If you love sales, that means you love to serve. And if you tell yourself you don’t like sales; you’re going to be bad at it. That’s the cold hard truth. That goes for anything! If you tell yourself you don’t love your partner, you’re going to have a terrible relationship. If you tell yourself you don’t like leg day, you won’t like leg day and you’ll skip it. You become whatever you put inside of your mind. So, you have to get really good at saying, “I love sales because I love to serve people.” If you cannot sell, you cannot serve.
When people pay for something, they pay attention. FREE doesn’t get the job done for you OR your client! When something is free, the clients will put in half effort. Think about it! If you’ve ever had anything given to you for free in life, did you value it or take care of it? Probably not! But if you invested into something or paid a lot of money, you took it seriously and committed to it.
Get sold on YOU and you will be able to serve MORE people in this world!
