Telephone sales, or telemarketing, are an outspread, efficient, and valuable method for making contact with prospects and closing sales. Telemarketing is also an effective method for selling new or supplemental products and services to existing buyers.
Today’s telemarketer, nonetheless, must break through more “communication clutter” than ever before. You’re not only grappling with information from other telemarketers for prospects’ attention, but also with advertising, news broadcasts, and a large number of other marketing communications practices.
By its very nature, telemarketing produces a one of a kind selling environment. You’re solely dependent on the words you use and the tone in your voice.
It’s very important to realize that telemarketing is not a total sales strategy. Instead, it’s just one technique of performing the sales procedure. And, as is true with other selling procedures, success in closing sales over the telephone is dependent on finding qualified prospects to call.
Below are telemarketing tips that are verified best practices in the telemarketing business. Upon reviewing each of these telemarketing tips, try to identify the top three telemarketing tips that will most reward your business then apply them.
Telemarketing Guidelines from Impressive Telemarketers
Consider each of the following telemarketing pointers to boost your sales and bottom line – revenue:
- You have just a few seconds to make a quality initial impression on the phone. Your careful preparation for the call can enhance your chances of having a conversation with a prospect rather than hearing that typical dial tone.
- Always be respectful and professional. Bear in mind, you’re a sales specialist who just happens to use the phone to advertise.
- Be honest at all times. People will feel insincerity on the phone even though they can’t see your facial expressions or other non-verbal communication clues such as hand gestures, head nods, and body posture.
- Keep your work area neat – it’ll keep you focused and organized.
- Dress like a sales professional even if your prospects will never see you.
- Keep a mirror handy so you can check to see if you’re smiling during calls.
- There is no need to practice on prospects with a few warm-up calls at the beginning of the day or week; role play with someone if you need to, or just talk out loud in an imaginary discussion to warm up.
- Meeting annual objectives requires setting and meeting daily objectives. Record your progress on a daily basis.
- Keep records of the contacts you make for future reference and note dates for follow-up.
- Keep track of your victory rate in getting through to the decision maker or closing a sale. This will help you identify and modify any negatives in your method or approach.
- Use your best main major selling time, the hours your customers are most easily reached by phone, and are the most responsive-for selling activities only (Experience will swiftly, quickly, and rapidly let you know when your customers are most receptive!). Conduct homework, research, planning, or other administrative activities at other times.
- Use past experiences to help you prepare for and react to present/current situations. For example, if you persistently meet the same objection to buying what you’re offering, brainstorm all the different ways you might meet this objection so you’ll be prepared the next time it pops up.
- Form a draft for the call to keep you on track but in no way read directly from it. Write the script as you talk. That way, when you vary from the script, your words and phrases will be consistent. As you write your script remember all these great telemarketing suggestions.
- Consider using introductory or follow-up letters, product fliers, or other marketing supplies.
- Use other “communication” tools as necessary to support your telephone sales including cellular phones, fax machines, hands-free headsets, email, etc. For example, part of your selling method may be to offer prospects a product information sheet by fax or email.
- End calls in a timely fashion, but with courtesy, when it becomes evident that a prospect is either not qualified for your product (you’re selling a dating service and the prospect is married) or the prospect is not going to buy. Your time on the phone is dear – spend it selling!
In addition to the previous telemarketing tips, we encourage you to focus your discussion with your prospective client on what they need and what they want.
DO NOT try to persuade them of what they need or want. Instead, ask probing questions and let them tell you. Once you know what they are looking for, you can suggest the perfect product match.
