The 5 Phone Techniques Top Reps Use to Crush Their Quotas

In an era of email, social media, and text, connecting with prospects by phone seems almost quaint. Many reps view phone selling as outdated and ineffective. But those who dismiss the phone do so at their own peril.

Research shows that 92% of all customer interactions still happen over the phone (Source: ICMI). And a study by sales strategist Marc Wayshak found that 41% of reps who struggled to hit quota felt they didn‘t make enough calls.

Simply put, phone skills remain essential for sales success. And the very best reps wield the phone like a precision instrument, consistently using proven techniques to engage prospects and close more deals.

What exactly are these elite sellers doing differently? Let‘s break down the five phone techniques they‘ve mastered that average reps haven‘t:

1. They say the opposite of what‘s expected

Prospects have been conditioned to expect typical "salesy" behavior when reps call. The fake enthusiasm, the canned pitch, the clumsy attempts to build rapport. Top reps flip the script by doing the opposite.

Instead of:
"Hi Sarah, this is Jason with ABC Company and I‘m so excited to talk to you today! Is now a bad time?"

They say:
"Hi Sarah, Jason here from ABC Company. You‘re probably not expecting my call – most people I talk to aren‘t too excited to hear from salespeople [chuckle]. Honestly, I‘m not even sure if what we do would be a fit for you. But I‘ve been studying your industry and noticed a few key challenges that many companies like yours are struggling with. I wanted to see if those are issues you‘re grappling with as well, and if so, to share a couple suggestions that have helped our clients. Would you be open to chatting for a few minutes?"

See the difference? The second opener is disarming, empathetic, and focused on the prospect‘s world, not the rep‘s agenda. It paves the way for authentic conversation.

2. They‘re provocative

Conventional sales wisdom preaches the value of being agreeable and likable. But the top reps know that provocative messaging is far more powerful.

They look for opportunities to respectfully challenge prospects‘ beliefs, highlight emerging threats, or call out sub-optimal processes. The goal isn‘t to be contrarian but to spark reflection and engagement.

Some examples:

• "Other IT leaders I‘ve spoken with recently are really concerned about the rise of AI-based cyber attacks. Is that something that‘s on your radar, or are you pretty confident in your current defenses?"
• "I noticed on your website that you emphasize rapid shipping as a differentiator. How has that held up with the supply chain issues of the last couple years? Most companies I talk to are struggling to maintain delivery speed without costs going through the roof."
• "Your employee reviews on Glassdoor are honestly pretty alarming, especially the comments about lack of training and outdated equipment. Those seem like major red flags for productivity and retention. How are you planning to address those issues before they impact the business even more?"

Bold? Sure. But this type of candid, thought-provoking commentary grabs prospects‘ attention and positions the rep as an expert worth engaging.

3. They have contingencies ready

Even interested prospects will often try to wrap up sales calls quickly. Top reps anticipate and sidestep these conversation-ending attempts with well-prepared contingencies.

Prospect objection: "You know, this sounds interesting but I just don‘t have time right now. Can you send me an email with some more info?"

Rep contingency: "I totally understand, I know how crazy busy you must be. Here‘s an idea: Why don‘t we book a 15 minute call next Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss this further? That way I can send you a brief agenda to review beforehand and we can make the most of the time. I‘m wide open both afternoons, would 2pm on Tuesday or 10am on Wednesday work better for you?"

Prospect objection: "I appreciate you reaching out, but we‘re just not looking to make any changes in this area right now."

Rep contingency: "No problem at all, I certainly don‘t want to be pushy. If you‘re open to it though, I‘d love to still send you a quick email with a couple of resources. That way, if your priorities change in the future, you‘ll have our best practices guide and case studies on hand. I‘ll also include a link to my calendar so if you ever want to bounce around ideas, you can book a 15 minute brainstorm with me directly. Does that sound okay?"

Having these contingencies prepared and practiced enables reps to gracefully extend conversations that would otherwise end abruptly.

4. They do their homework

With just a few minutes of research, reps can gather valuable intel to tailor their outreach to each prospect. Top sellers make this homework a non-negotiable part of their pre-call planning.

Some key things they look for:

• The prospect‘s role and how long they‘ve been in it (LinkedIn)
• Their career history and progression (LinkedIn)
• Key initiatives the company has announced recently (press releases, news articles)
• Major wins/losses in their market (industry blogs, analyst reports)
• How they compare to competitors (product reviews, forums)
• Potential trigger events (job postings indicating growth, funding announcements, new C-suite hires)

Armed with these insights, reps can then craft customized talk tracks and probing questions that demonstrate genuine interest and credibility. A generic pitch simply can‘t compare.

5. They make responding easy

Even well-executed calls and voicemails often fail to drive next steps because the rep asks the prospect to do too much. Callbacks, lengthy email replies, or complex scheduling all require more effort than most buyers are willing to expend, no matter how intrigued they are.

Top phone sellers make engagement easy by suggesting simple, frictionless next steps and always following up via email. For example:

"Thanks so much for your time Sarah. I‘ll send you a quick email recap of what we discussed. If you can reply back with a thumbs up or thumbs down on whether it makes sense to talk further, that would be great. I‘ll also include a link to book a 15 minute follow up if you want to dive deeper on any of this."

"Hi Mike, sorry I missed you. I know you must be juggling a lot so I‘ll keep this brief. I‘m sending over a short video that walks through how we‘ve helped companies like yours address the inventory challenges I mentioned. It‘s only 2 minutes long. If you like what you see, just hit reply and let me know. I‘ll be happy to set up a quick call to discuss further. Talk to you soon!"

Removing barriers to response, however small, can dramatically increase the odds of keeping the conversation going. The best reps never leave that to chance.

Bringing it all together

The phone is still one of the most powerful weapons in a seller‘s arsenal. But like any weapon, it must be wielded with skill and precision to achieve maximum impact. By employing these five proven techniques, top reps set themselves apart from the pack and consistently crush their numbers:

Technique	Typical Rep	Top Rep
1. Opener	Overly enthusiastic, salesy	Calm, understanding, other-focused
2. Messaging	Agreeable, generic	Provocative, thought-provoking
3. Objection handling	Gives up easily	Has contingencies to extend convo
4. Pre-call planning	Wings it	Researches to personalize outreach
5. Next steps	Asks for too much	Makes responding easy and follows up

If you‘re not happy with your phone results, don‘t blame the medium. Instead, master it. Incorporate these techniques into your own sales approach and watch your conversations, pipeline, and closed deals soar.

Because in the words of famed salesman Zig Ziglar, "Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation."

With the right skills, you can create that opportunity on every call. The rest is up to you.