At a national sales meeting I did on Smart Calling prospecting for outside sales reps, Gary Farnam gave me a list of his takeaways from the session, along with some of the things he always does on his calls. Good stuff

1. After a face-to-face sales call, while everything is still fresh in your mind, phone your own voice mail to debrief the call and review the important points and next steps

2. Set your Primary Objective for your calls at the best-imaginable level. Think big

3. Your call objectives should be in writing. You will be more committed to the

4. Build an index of questions, and answers that you can call upon when needed.

5. Don’t ask, “Is now a good time to talk?” It rarely is unless they see a reason.

6. Don’t be afraid to listen to, erase, and rerecord your voice mail message. It’s almost always better the second time.

7. When you leave a voice mail message, mirror the voice level and tone that you hear.

8. Don’t skip asking questions that you think you already know the answers to.

9. Take extensive notes when you’re questioning. It forces you to listen, and you’ll be glad you did when you prepare for the next call.

10. Don’t fall in love with your assumptions and use them to prove how smart you are. Use them to question.

11.Points are much more powerful if the customer says them than if you say them. Develop questions to get them to say what you’d like.