Insights
Tips for telemarketing
In the current climate, telemarketers need to work harder than ever to speak with potential prospects on the phone and secure a deal.
We wanted to share with you some do’s and don’ts to help you with your telemarketing!
DO’S
1. HAVE A PLAN
As Benjamin Franklin said – “By Failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. It is so important to make sure you plan ahead – ensuring you have a clear strategy in place will benefit you in the long run. Make sure you have every bit of information you need to be confident on your call – you don’t want to be caught off-guard.
2. HAVE A SCRIPT
Having a script is important as it gives you a baseline of what to speak about. Your script should be your best friend when it comes to telemarketing. Although, you shouldn’t read directly from your script – it should be there to aid you in ensuring you’re having the right conversations.
3. HANDLING THE GATEKEEPER
One of the many challenges you will face as a telemarketer is getting through to the decision maker in question. Gatekeepers have been taught not to put you through to the Directors and decision makers in the company, but there are ways around this such as – treat them with respect and recognise the value that they have within the company. Ultimately they are what are standing between you and the decision maker so make sure you don’t make them feel like you believe they are below anyone – because they aren’t!
4. BE PREPARED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION
Although you have a script to help aid you in your pitch, you should always adapt to each prospect you’re speaking with – they may have concerns and questions and require more information than your basic script contains, make sure you’re happy to chat with them and address any concerns they have.
5. ALWAYS SET AN ACTION
I’ve made a call – now I’m done, right? WRONG! You should always set the required actions for after the call – this could be a follow up call, sending some information or getting in touch in 6 months’ time, whatever the action is – SET IT!
DON’TS
1. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED
Telemarketing is a tough job – even if you feel like you aren’t having the best conversations or you’re not getting through to people, KEEP AT IT! Practice makes perfect! Just because you’re not speaking to decision makers or getting any leads/sales now, doesn’t mean you never will!
2. DON’T LET THE PROSPECT TAKE CONTROL OF THE CALL
It’s always good to mirror how the prospect is responding to the call for example if they sound chatty and want to talk about general things that’s absolutely fine as it builds good rapport – however, do not let the prospect de-rail you from your goal of turning the prospect into a lead/sale.
3. DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE
What do you do when you’re having a good day for leads/sales? Do you get comfortable and slack off for the rest of the week? The answer to this question should be no! You should never get too comfortable when it comes to your results in telemarketing – you get out of it what you put in, you need to stay consistent as results can always vary.
4. DON’T FAIL TO FOLLOW UP
It is important to always follow up with anyone you speak with – whether it is the next day, next week, next month or next year. Some new telemarketers believe that following up doesn’t work and will not bring in any results but we can assure you it makes all the difference. You never know when a company’s situation or opinions will change.
5. DON’T TAKE YOUR TRAINING FOR GRANTED
Always make sure that you take every piece of training offered to you – it is going to help you so much in your goal of becoming a brilliant telemarketer. Also make sure you take in all the information given to you at the training, it will be your biggest asset!
We hope that these tips can help you succeed in becoming an excellent telemarketer. If you would like outsourced support for your lead generation, please get in touch with us through our contact page.