Telemarketing companies can make themselves more competitive to retain and recruit new business through a wide variety of strategies. After all, the best way to convince someone to use your services is to show them the result of past success with other clients. You’ll prove that you know how to help them generate more sales.
However, cold calling is emotionally difficult for agents. Merely handing an agent a list of telephone numbers to call and some instructions on what type of results you expect is a recipe for failure. Chances are good that the agent will be nervous, and this uncertainty will be reflected in their voice. They will face one rejection after another. If they do happen to make any sales, it will be based on random luck.
10 Tips to Try Today
Here are 10 tips ways to help telemarketing callers dramatically improve their rate of success:
1. Leverage technology.
One way of improving sales is to use technology like predictive dialer. Before an agent makes a call, information will show up on their screen with a script. The agent will feel much more confident when they know what to say if someone answers the phone. Moreover, if agents are working on behalf of different clients during their shift, the software can be set up to show different scripts.
2. Clean up the list.
The better the list, the more likely the agent will use their time well. Lists can often contain incorrect information, resulting in wasted time and frustration. They can also be vague about the prospect. It’s going to be difficult for an agent to build enough rapport with a prospect if they have no idea about the prospect. A clean list will be accurate; target the right people; and be sorted by different criteria like demographics and psychographics.
3. Make the script customizable.
A good script gives the call some structure. It should unfold like a good story with an attention-getting start, an engaging middle, and a happy ending.
While an agent might feel some reassurance with a good script, a word-for-word script can be awkward. After only a few minutes it will become obvious to the prospect that someone is not talking directly to them but reading something out to them. Additionally, if the conversation should steer away from the script, then the agent will feel completely discombobulated. The way to overcome these problems is to have a script flexible enough to change with the flow of the conversation. This way, the agent will not sound canned and can respond to any questions or objections in an intelligent way.
4. Ask the right questions.
Unless the recipient resonates with the questions asked, the conversation will not go anywhere. The way to steer the conversation in the right direction is to give the agent a wide selection of sample questions to ask based on responses. Another thing to keep in mind is that initial questions should be open-ended enough to engage the prospect. Closed questions should only be used to qualify the prospect.
5. Close with a call to action.
The purpose of the call is not simply to get a prospect interested in a product or service. It is to inspire them to take some kind of immediate action. Depending on the product, the action could be making an appointment, agreeing to watch a demo, or making a purchase.
6. Leave a message.
Many times people don’t answer their phones because they are not at home or are engaged in doing something else at the time. By not leaving a message, it decreases the chance of connecting with someone. Repeated phone calls to the same number may not solve the problem, either. By leaving a message, it increases the chance of an interested prospect returning a call or being willing to answer a call in the future.
7. Add some personality.
An agent with a great list and a perfect script can still ruin any chance of success if they lack personality. A mechanical approach, a bored attitude, or a monotone voice will turn off a prospect, even if they might have been willing to buy. Agents should expect to succeed, avoid the embarrassment of getting caught in a lie, stay positive, and be willing to listen. In other words, they should be confident, honest, motivated, and patient. An agent with personality will be able to build trust.
8. Dodge the gatekeeper
If the call is made to a business owner, it should be outside the normal business hours, either before business hours, during lunch, or after business hours. This will help the agent connect with the decision maker because the gatekeeper will be out of the office.
9. Call back at a better time.
If the prospect is not interested, the agent should ask if they can call at a later time. A prospect may not buy because they have some bills to pay, but they may be more receptive to the discounted offer at another time.
10. Note common objections.
An agent should take notes about objections they hear. This will help them rework their script to handle common objections in the future.
Cold Calling Still Works
Try these 10 tips to increase sales. Despite the fact that a great deal of marketers use a variety of best practices that don’t require a telephone conversation, cold calling still works well.
