What Is a Sales Mock Up Call
Learn about this valuable practice.
How to ramp up a new SDR effectively?
How to train the specific skills of an SDR without having to risk losing a customer?
These questions might be in your head if you, as the manager or team leader of a sales team, want to develop and train your sales team.
A very simple and easy way is a role play – also known as a mock up call.
How to train the specific skills of an SDR without having to risk losing a customer?
These questions might be in your head if you, as the manager or team leader of a sales team, want to develop and train your sales team.
A very simple and easy way is a role play – also known as a mock up call.
What Is a Sales Mock Up Call?
In sales, a mock up call is a practice sales call.
A manager or interviewer will play through a sales call scenario with a rep while assuming the role of a prospect or client to assess their skills, provide them with situational practice, and pinpoint areas for growth.
Because a mock call represents a real situation, it's very effective to train specific scenarios with your sales reps to train them for cold calling specific.
A mock up call has many benefits, such as learning how to handle different objections, applying new strategies and skills, or gaining more confidence.
In whatever you want your SDRs to get better in. A mock up session can help to overcome specific challenges that an SDR has. Additionally, for inexperienced sales reps mock ups can help a new SDR to get a foot in the door and to get comfortable with this outreach method.
And as a sales manager, you want to provide training under real conditions without risking losing a sale. This is what makes this method highly effective and applied by many sales teams.
A manager or interviewer will play through a sales call scenario with a rep while assuming the role of a prospect or client to assess their skills, provide them with situational practice, and pinpoint areas for growth.
Because a mock call represents a real situation, it's very effective to train specific scenarios with your sales reps to train them for cold calling specific.
A mock up call has many benefits, such as learning how to handle different objections, applying new strategies and skills, or gaining more confidence.
In whatever you want your SDRs to get better in. A mock up session can help to overcome specific challenges that an SDR has. Additionally, for inexperienced sales reps mock ups can help a new SDR to get a foot in the door and to get comfortable with this outreach method.
And as a sales manager, you want to provide training under real conditions without risking losing a sale. This is what makes this method highly effective and applied by many sales teams.
How to Execute a Mock Up Call
1. Define the goals and situation
Before the actual mock up call starts, it's recommended to set goals or outcomes that the SDR should achieve.
For example, The goal is to overcome certain objections that prospects can confront with the SDR.
After the goals are defined, and it's clear why the mock up should be conducted, the roles and conditions need to be defined.
There's on one side the prospect role and on the other side the SDR role.
Questions that should be considered are:
Who is the prospect? (name, company, background info)
What is the role and position of the prospect?
What are his daily tasks?
Which challenges is the prospect facing?
Tip:
If the SDR is new to cold calling, it's important to define the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and to give them a clear understanding of the products or services of your company.
2. Change the environment
If the sales rep is still unfamiliar with cold calling, it can be helpful to provide a quiet and low-traffic space in your office to avoid interruptions. For remote working sales reps this means finding a quiet place at home or in a co-working space where no other people can interrupt the SDR.
Also important: the sales rep should already use the equipment that is required to do cold calling later on in the day-to-day operations. This makes the SDR gets used in working with headsets/microphones, software, etc.
After the first mock up calls are made, and the sales rep could get familiar with cold calling or the specific task, the environment can be changed. This means the salesperson can be in the office where other SDRs are and where the sales calls are usually conducted.
3. Start the mock up call
Let each call go as it may. Analyze how your salespeople respond when they are agitated or made to work harder.
You can't stop every now and again to give suggestions, compliments, or criticisms because these calls need to be as realistic as possible if you want to get the most out of them.
Once more, your SDRs are receiving these calls in order to advance their professions and gain experience. When they make a genuine sales call, they won't have you watching over their shoulder providing in-the-moment intelligence. Give them room to succeed or fail as they naturally would. Following the exercise, you'll have time to offer sage advice.
4. Record the call
The call recording will benefit both you and your reps greatly. It helps to have the caller's real content in front of you when you offer praise and criticism. You don't have to rely on memory for your evaluation or take copious notes throughout the process that can obstruct the exercise's flow.
Having a clear guide for where they need to make the biggest improvements can also be beneficial for reps. It's helpful for them to clearly understand the words they used most successfully, the queries and subjects that caused them to stumble, and the phrases they should avoid using while speaking to actual prospects.
You can use a CRM to record sales, though sometimes you'll need to use a separate call recording program depending on your CRM.
5. Increase the difficulty slightly
As your salespeople continue to develop their abilities and take on new responsibilities, your mock calls should grow increasingly difficult and high-stakes. Keep that pattern in mind, as overselling or underselling a rep's aptitudes during a mock call won't do much to advance their development.
Before the actual mock up call starts, it's recommended to set goals or outcomes that the SDR should achieve.
For example, The goal is to overcome certain objections that prospects can confront with the SDR.
After the goals are defined, and it's clear why the mock up should be conducted, the roles and conditions need to be defined.
There's on one side the prospect role and on the other side the SDR role.
Questions that should be considered are:
Who is the prospect? (name, company, background info)
What is the role and position of the prospect?
What are his daily tasks?
Which challenges is the prospect facing?
Tip:
If the SDR is new to cold calling, it's important to define the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and to give them a clear understanding of the products or services of your company.
2. Change the environment
If the sales rep is still unfamiliar with cold calling, it can be helpful to provide a quiet and low-traffic space in your office to avoid interruptions. For remote working sales reps this means finding a quiet place at home or in a co-working space where no other people can interrupt the SDR.
Also important: the sales rep should already use the equipment that is required to do cold calling later on in the day-to-day operations. This makes the SDR gets used in working with headsets/microphones, software, etc.
After the first mock up calls are made, and the sales rep could get familiar with cold calling or the specific task, the environment can be changed. This means the salesperson can be in the office where other SDRs are and where the sales calls are usually conducted.
3. Start the mock up call
Let each call go as it may. Analyze how your salespeople respond when they are agitated or made to work harder.
You can't stop every now and again to give suggestions, compliments, or criticisms because these calls need to be as realistic as possible if you want to get the most out of them.
Once more, your SDRs are receiving these calls in order to advance their professions and gain experience. When they make a genuine sales call, they won't have you watching over their shoulder providing in-the-moment intelligence. Give them room to succeed or fail as they naturally would. Following the exercise, you'll have time to offer sage advice.
4. Record the call
The call recording will benefit both you and your reps greatly. It helps to have the caller's real content in front of you when you offer praise and criticism. You don't have to rely on memory for your evaluation or take copious notes throughout the process that can obstruct the exercise's flow.
Having a clear guide for where they need to make the biggest improvements can also be beneficial for reps. It's helpful for them to clearly understand the words they used most successfully, the queries and subjects that caused them to stumble, and the phrases they should avoid using while speaking to actual prospects.
You can use a CRM to record sales, though sometimes you'll need to use a separate call recording program depending on your CRM.
5. Increase the difficulty slightly
As your salespeople continue to develop their abilities and take on new responsibilities, your mock calls should grow increasingly difficult and high-stakes. Keep that pattern in mind, as overselling or underselling a rep's aptitudes during a mock call won't do much to advance their development.
Mock Call Methods
Here are some typical cold calls reps may run into that you can practice beforehand:
The Classic Cold Call
The basic sales call is used as a "cold mock call" to train sales representatives on general cold call scripts.
The first unexpected call to a potential customer is referred to as a "cold call." The goal of this kind of simulation call is to help the trainee or beginner become comfortable with the details of a sales call.
Sales representatives can practice introducing themselves, identifying customer problems, resolving objections, and rapidly getting to the point.
But a mock call can also be conducted for further sales calls the SDRs of your sales team have to face.
The Follow-Up Call
After the first outreach to a prospect comes the follow up call.
A mock up call can help to give the sales reps the skills to get information about the prospect and simultaneously have an interactive conversation. Also, the SDR can learn how to ask for specific things without being too intrusive.
The Appointment-Setting Call
Usually, the first call with a prospect is to get warm by learning more about them and their pain point. Asking for an appointment for a demo call is often done in the follow-up calls with the prospect when chances are higher that they will be interested in it.
This call will have the content that the rep is planning to offer the client. Learning how to overcome objections is a crucial part at this stage and can be easily done in a mock up call.
The Warm Call
A warm call is when the prospect is already aware of your company. Often warm leads are generated through newsletters, free trials, type from, etc.
A mock up call should train the SDR to get the conversation going by considering the way how the lead was generated. This means if the lead signed up for a free trial, it's important to talk about the lead's experience with it, questions, and how the product or service can help to solve the lead's problems.
Personalization with the given info the SDR can have is a crucial point.
The Classic Cold Call
The basic sales call is used as a "cold mock call" to train sales representatives on general cold call scripts.
The first unexpected call to a potential customer is referred to as a "cold call." The goal of this kind of simulation call is to help the trainee or beginner become comfortable with the details of a sales call.
Sales representatives can practice introducing themselves, identifying customer problems, resolving objections, and rapidly getting to the point.
But a mock call can also be conducted for further sales calls the SDRs of your sales team have to face.
The Follow-Up Call
After the first outreach to a prospect comes the follow up call.
A mock up call can help to give the sales reps the skills to get information about the prospect and simultaneously have an interactive conversation. Also, the SDR can learn how to ask for specific things without being too intrusive.
The Appointment-Setting Call
Usually, the first call with a prospect is to get warm by learning more about them and their pain point. Asking for an appointment for a demo call is often done in the follow-up calls with the prospect when chances are higher that they will be interested in it.
This call will have the content that the rep is planning to offer the client. Learning how to overcome objections is a crucial part at this stage and can be easily done in a mock up call.
The Warm Call
A warm call is when the prospect is already aware of your company. Often warm leads are generated through newsletters, free trials, type from, etc.
A mock up call should train the SDR to get the conversation going by considering the way how the lead was generated. This means if the lead signed up for a free trial, it's important to talk about the lead's experience with it, questions, and how the product or service can help to solve the lead's problems.
Personalization with the given info the SDR can have is a crucial point.
Conclusion
Mock up calls are a great way to train new SDRs and to continue developing your sales rep's skills.
The advantage is they don't require much time since you, as the manager/team leader, already have the info about ICP, customers' pain points, etc.
If you're looking for SDRs experienced in cold calling, be sure to get in touch.
The advantage is they don't require much time since you, as the manager/team leader, already have the info about ICP, customers' pain points, etc.
If you're looking for SDRs experienced in cold calling, be sure to get in touch.
Post by Mattes Wöstemeier.
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