The Top Questions Asked by Sales Reps

There are some questions that simple Q&A searches don’t always provide answers to. To address some of these questions, we’ve compiled a list of common sales FAQs from a variety of sources: our own experience at XANT, sales forums on LinkedIn, and general internet searches. To help answer these questions, we reached out to our sales managers. Below are the top four questions we’ve found along with some helpful hints provided by the experts.

 1. What happens when a lead actually returns your call?

Our sales reps here at XANT always view the person they are currently on the phone with as their top priority. On occasion a lead, or someone the rep is working with, will call while they are on the phone. Our reps don’t hang up with the person on the phone or put them on hold, instead they do one of two things: stay on the line and alert one of the managers that can take the call instead or they send an email immediately telling the caller that they are on the phone, saw their calling coming in and will return their call as soon as they are available.

We’ve found that this method is the most effective in maintaining professional relationships and maximize productivity.

 2. What do you do when you have a vulgar and angry customer yelling at you? 

It’s bound to happen eventually – people have bad days and like to take it out on a seemingly anonymous person via the phone. What really shows how much of a professional you are is how you handle an irate customer. At XANT, we have a few different ways of handling this particular situation. One of our sales reps said it’s important to try to understand the anger and validate it, saying this can help disarm some of the anger. The most important thing which every sales professional can agree on is to keep a cool and level head.

If these methods don’t work and the customer cannot be calmed down, it is best to hand the phone off to a manager. That’s what they’re there for – to provide additional support to the reps.

 3. What is an effective subject line in an email?

This can be a tricky one. The biggest rule of subject lines is to not be misleading. If you aren’t honest, all you’ll get is a huge number of unsubscribes. Instead, try to capture the leads attention with a “powerful truth”. One way is to test your headlines and see which one gets the best results. (Check out this article for a full list of tips for optimizing email subject lines.)

 4. How personal do you get with a client while still maintaining professionalism?

Building a good rapport and relationship with a client is important, but it’s equally vital not to share too much of your personal life with them. Many of our reps voiced the same opinion that you only share as much as the client does, not more. Unless a more personal relationship develops with the client, try and keep it friendly and professional. Keep conversations within safe topics like sports or current events to build a cordial relationship. It’s important to remember that customers like to buy things from people they like, so be real with them! Look for opportunities for ‘WOW!’ factors once they are clients, ensuring happy customers for the future. (Check out this article on how to look for ‘WOW!’ opportunities.)

What are some other questions or tips you’ve learned from working in the inside sales industry? We’d love to hear them. Leave a comment in the box below!

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