“YES” is not the only sign that your prospect is interested with your product or service.
Buying signals are either physical or verbal signs that a prospect sends to indicate their interest. If you’re a salesperson, you must learn to know and identify the buying signals of your prospect in order to know what to say to your prospects when engaging them into a conversation and sound more natural over the phone.
When doing lead generation, you can tell if prospects are ready to purchase through the tone of their voice or nonverbal signals. These are called “buying signals” and as a sales rep, you need to be able to read them.
Closing a sale is all about the right timing with the right person. Here’s how to increase your close ratio.
So how can you tell of the prospect is ready to buy? Here are some words or phrases that will give you clues if the customer is ready to move forward and buy from you.
When prospect says “YES”
Some prospects will tell you directly if they’re interested or not. If they say “Yes”, there is no need to convince them anymore. If the customer gives you this signal, all you need to do is to gather as much information about their current setup for you to know how you can help them provide a solution for their problem
The prospect asks questions about your product before you can even present it.
Interested prospects tend to ask questions. Sometimes, they would even interrupt while you’re introducing your product. When prospects initiate the conversation, they are more likely to be interested.
Related: How Many Call Attempts Should You do Before You Surrender a Lead?
The prospects ask, “How much does it cost?”
Don’t confuse this as a price objection. A prospect asking for a price is telling you they are interested in buying your product. If you have the information handy, inform the prospect right away and set up for an appointment with your Consultant.
How to handle this question from the prospect
“Our price depends on the number of people who will be using it. If you want, I can have one of my Consultant give you a follow up call to discuss this further with you (Check for prospect’s availability).”
However, if you don’t have information about the price, you can inform the prospect
“I don’t have that information with me right now. Here’s what I can do for you, I can have one of my Consultant give you a follow up call to discuss this further with you (Check for the availability of the prospect).”
Then, gather as much information about their current setup so that your Consultant would know what to prepare during the follow up call.
Related: How to Defend Your Price
When prospects provide volunteered information even if you didn’t ask for it.
Examples of volunteered information:
- “We’re working with XYZ Company but we’re having issues with their service.”
- “What we’re using right now is outdated and we’re looking for a more updated product.”
- We’re having issues with our software right now. We can’t (enumerate all things they can’t do)
When prospects use words such as:
- We might consider…
- We’re evaluating what’s available in the market.
- We’re looking to upgrade
- We’re currently in the market for…
The customer will let you know when they are ready to buy. It is the salesperson’s job to listen actively for signals. Listening to prospects is one major component in telemarketing. Salespeople should recognize these buying signals and respond appropriately to improve your awareness of the different buying signals and start responding appropriately with your prospects and eventually close a sale.
