At Best Reception, we have over 15 years’ worth of experience, handling calls from a range of different businesses. Therefore, identifying sales callers has become second nature to us. How you handle a sales caller is vital and it can determine how well you manage calls overall. Therefore, it is important to identify these types of callers early, in order to handle these correctly. Here at Best Reception, we have identified several different techniques and methods to help us determine this early in the call, saving valuable time.
"Can I speak to the person who deals with…."
One of the ways you can identify a cold caller is by listening for certain phrases that may be said. Quite commonly, cold callers are reading from a script so it can be quite easy to identify the more you speak with them. The typical sales caller would normally ask who the best person would be for the department they are looking to introduce their services to. This can be an indication that the individual is calling from a company who have no business relationship with your organisation. As well as this, the typical sales caller will normally decline to leave their return contact details. This is also an indication that the sales caller is not genuine as it is likely they are calling from an outbound line.
"Are you currently working with us or is this an introductory call?"
You can also identify a cold caller is by asking more in-depth questions which will result in the caller revealing their intention of the call. One of the questions that we at Best Reception ask is if the caller is currently working with the company they are attempting to speak with. From their response, we can determine if the caller is attempting to introduce their services or if they are genuine. As well as this, another question we use is if their call is a speculative call. This means if they are looking to fulfil a need at the organisation that was not being advertised. If the response is yes, then it becomes clear that the individual is looking to introduce and sell their services to your organisation and create a business relationship.
What sales callers ask
- "Am I speaking to the owner of the business?"
- "Who would be the best person to speak with regarding...?"
- "I’m looking to introduce my services."
What Best Reception asks
- "Is this a speculative call?"
- "Do you currently work with us?"
- "Are you looking to introduce your services?"
Helping our receptionists identify cold callers
As previously mentioned, different approaches can be used to help identify a potential sales caller. When training our staff, we train specifically on identifying this type of caller. We have created a table specifically for identifying this category of callers which has proved to be beneficial. This details each scenario that may take place. It is recommended to listen out for certain phrases that the caller will say, especially their opening sentence. For example, if they open the call by asking to speak with someone to introduce their service, it is guaranteed they are a sales caller, and you can then follow the sales screening process.
As well as this you should listen out for how they introduce the start of the call and depending on what they ask you can move to the second approach of the call handling process and start asking more detailed questions, and from there you would be able to handle the sales caller and follow the sales screening process which a lot of our clients find helpful.
At Best Reception, we offer a sales screening process to our clients, allowing them to block certain sales callers that they do not wish to hear from. Our clients can provide us with a list of companies they do not wish to receive calls from and add to this when they wish, or we can use a ‘soft sales’ approach where we will send over all messages, apart from those companies that we have specifically been asked to block.
It can prove beneficial applying different approaches when screening sales callers. By utilising these approaches, you will save valuable time and allow yourself to focus on your current workload. At Best Reception, we can screen your sales call for free of charge (within certain call plans.) If you would like help with monitoring your sales calls, please see here for further information.
