As a newcomer in foreign trade, we inevitably have to make phone calls to foreign customers, such as SKYPE or QQ video voice. As a newcomer, I will definitely feel a bit nervous at the beginning. Many beginners are afraid of making calls and answering foreign calls, but the reason is simply because of poor English, fear of not understanding, and fear of making a fool of themselves? Sometimes when I receive a phone call, my mind goes blank and I can only say a few words' YES, NO, Thank you '. Is your ability really like this? Can we overcome this mentality? What should we do?
As a novice in foreign trade, I would prefer to proactively call customers? Don't wait for the customer to call you, why? Because you have the initiative to call the customer and control it, you can fully prepare the materials, practice how to say each sentence, and then call them and ask them questions. The content of the call involves several aspects:
1. Greetings or finding people, everyone can say a few words.
2. It's not difficult to ask the questions you want, including price, delivery time, and payment terms.
3. Some of the issues that both of you have encountered are slightly complex.
4. BYEBYE. When it comes to professional knowledge that you don't understand, you can think about it, write it down, organize your thoughts after making a phone call, reply to an email to the customer, review the content, and communicate any unclear information.
After reading my few words, everyone is definitely not satisfied. Of course, it's easier said than done, and it's always impossible to improve your internal skills without putting in a lot of effort.
The following points are shared by experienced individuals, and you can learn from them:
one
Familiarize oneself with the product
We need to be very familiar with our products first. For example, when making clothing, we should be familiar with the style, color, size, fabric, production process, processing technology, and so on, which requires a very long process. So we must pay attention and try our best to learn more and understand more;
However, not all salespeople are able to understand everything. In this situation, there is no need to be too nervous, as many customers won't ask you about one aspect. They only care about whether they are satisfied with the samples you sent, whether your bulk goods are delivered on time after being satisfied, and how the freight situation is (such as some small buyers, building their own stores, etc.); I won't ask too many technical parameter questions.
two
Speaking is not equal to being able to communicate well with customers
Perhaps our spoken English is really good, but sometimes when we receive customer calls in the cold or even when we are fully prepared, we still feel nervous and incoherent.
How to solve it? The key is to adjust your mindset!
Based on familiarity with the product, suggest not to be nervous when making or answering phone calls. You can tell yourself this: Customers are also human beings, but their skin color and nationality are different from ours. What is there to be afraid of? Even if I am a small salesperson and he is a major foreign purchaser, everyone is equal. You first need to look up to yourself and value yourself. We just have different roles in our work, so we should show respect to our clients instead of fear; Moreover, many foreign clients are very friendly.
three
Sincere, composed, enthusiastic, and appropriate
When talking to customers on the phone, whether they have met or not, whether they are old or new customers, whether they are big buyers or small retailers, whether they have a good temper or are irritable, we should give them a sincere, calm, enthusiastic, and appropriate attitude.
Pay attention to the tone, speed, and emotional expression of your speech. Be sincere and not artificial; Be calm and not flashy; In front of you, no matter what kind of customer, everyone is equal. You should all provide enthusiastic and appropriate service. Because in daily life, we also constantly play the role of customers. If we encounter a customer service representative with a bad attitude and poor professional knowledge, what are our feelings? No matter how good his product is, we will lose confidence in it due to its service.
So, we must be responsible for the company's interests and our own customers. Although I work hard, I don't have any business commissions and only receive a dead salary. When I'm tired, I really don't have the motivation to resign. But when I look back, I've worked hard and accumulated what I've learned. The sediment in my heart is something that money cannot exchange.
four
What preparations should be made before calling the customer?
Normally, before I make a phone call to a client, I use a notebook to list the content I want to talk about on this call one by one.
List one, two, three, and four questions, with blank lines between each question, and explain them to the customer one by one. While making the phone call, take notes with your right hand, and record every word the customer says and their keywords one by one.
After speaking on the phone, immediately categorize and organize. The email that needs to be sent should be kept by oneself, and the problem that needs to be solved immediately should be solved; It's best not to put it on hold for too long. Because sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to call clients, sometimes I talk about a few pages of paper, and after finishing, I feel so sleepy that I fall asleep. As a result, I can't remember the next day; So, the keywords must be labeled well, and if the most important points cannot be completed in a timely manner, they should also be highlighted;
five
What if the customer suddenly calls?
For this issue, I should be most grateful to my Canadian client, whose orders were completed through the phone from beginning to end. I send emails to him and he hardly responds. He always calls me after receiving emails. Sometimes during my working hours, sometimes during my bedtime preparation. Every time the phone rings, I instinctively search for paper and pen nearby.
On the day the order was confirmed, I was not in the office and all the information was not at hand. He suddenly called and said a lot. The problem is that we have over 100 styles, some of which correspond to different sleeve lengths, static colors, and printed colors. If we place an order verbally, we are really worried about making mistakes; But I understand his temper and he won't tell me through email, so I quickly took a pen and recorded it.
When he placed an order, he didn't provide the item number, only the English name I gave him, which was a bit complicated. Fortunately, I have read those materials many times, and I have created all the strange English names, so when he spoke, I probably knew what they were.
Hanging up the phone, I quickly returned to the office with my notebook and took out the materials I had previously provided him, corresponding to the internal information he had just called and sorted them out one by one. After sorting out the order, I sent him an email. I think this is very important. Even if the customer talks to you on the phone and you trust each other for a long time, it is still necessary for you to send them information such as orders and say 'Yes' before arranging, in order to avoid future disputes without evidence. I have suffered this loss before, so I have to be considerate.
So, what I want to say here is: you must be calm! If you don't calm down, customers will doubt your professionalism and the professionalism of your company's products.
Finally:
The choice of phone time is due to the differences in time difference and customs, and the different working hours. The best time to call customers is from Tuesday to Thursday. If you only choose to call customers on a single day, then choose Wednesday.
Most countries start the week on Monday, and according to our experience, Monday has not yet entered the working state. Friday is the last day of the week (Middle Eastern countries start off on Friday), so it is not appropriate to call customers on the first and last days of work because customers either have not entered the working state or are ready to rest.
So the best time is from Tuesday to Thursday, when the client is already in a working state. Additionally, it is best to choose a specific time from 10:30 to 11 in the client's country; 00 or 15:00-16:00.