Years ago, Stan Billue – the top inside sales trainer at the time – made a claim that every sales rep could double their income in 90 days by doing one thing. Intrigued (and highly skeptical), I listened to what he said next, and then challenged myself to do it. His advice was:
Record and listen to your calls, every day, for 90 days.
So I did. And 90 days later, I had indeed doubled my sales, and my commission. I was sold on the technique, and have since made it the cornerstone of my training and consulting practice. Why? Because it works! Nothing will make you more aware of all the areas you need improvement in (or of exactly how to improve), more than listening to yourself in action with a prospect.
With many people using cell phones these days for at least a portion of the calls they make, I get many requests of the best way to record calls using a cell phone. I was reading The Week magazine the other day, and they listed the following “Best apps” for cell phone recording. I thought you’d want to know about them:
Automatic Call Recorder Pro really is “automatic. The app records either every call or those from specific contacts. “You simply set it and forget it while it records your calls in the background.” ($7 Android only)
TapeACall Pro is a recording app that provides “just about every feature you could want,” including savable MP3 files. The setup for each call takes a moment, and the app costs $10, plus $8 a year for unlimited recording. “But if you do a lot of recording, it’s well worth it.”
Call Recording by NoNotes is a free app that offers most standard features plus built-in voice transcription, making it handy for recording interviews.
Call Record might annoy you with its ads, but for a free app, it’s “about as good as you’re going to get,” and can record every call automatically. As with all recording apps, be alert to state laws restricting recording.
What Stan said all those years ago is still true today: If you want to double your income in 90 days, then make a commitment to recording and reviewing your calls every day. And now, with these apps, you no longer have any excuse not to.