Telemarketing seems to be one of those marketing jobs that gets pushed further and further down the pending file until hopefully it falls off the edge of the desk.
In light of this seemingly universal reticence to get on the phone, it’s high time we had a look at what makes for a successful direct marketing call, so that you can approach this task with confidence.
Its good to talk and here’s why
A lot of people hide behind emails nowadays preferring to answer or deal with any questions via email and for some, the very thought of ringing a stranger and talking to them about what they do is enough to send them into a decline. However, there are a lot of benefits to picking up the phone so change your mindset and thinks about the benefits.
Benefits of picking up the phone
- Provides a more personal service and create an immediate connection with your customers
- Allows you to explain technical issues more clearly
- Allows you to generate leads, appointments and sales
- Saves time visiting cold prospects as you can sell from your desk
- Saves you money as you can reach more customers than with site visits
- You can sell to both existing and new customers
- You can measure the results quickly
- Gives you the opportunity to cross sell and upsell
- Lets your customers know about the different service / products you offer quickly
- Allows you to get more information about future opportunities
It’s a good ideal to incorporate some tele-marketing into the marketing mix telemarketing still has an important part to play in business growth. Whether you are trying to make a sale or implementing a brand awareness or relationship building strategy, these top tips will help you pick up that phone and dial those numbers with positivity!
1 Clean Data
Before you do anything else you need to make sure that all your contacts are up-to-date and clean. I can’t stress this enough – having a poor quality data list is going to squander so much of your time (and the people you are calling). Added to which, nothing puts you off jumping on the phone like repeated dud calls.Not only does the data need to be clean but it needs to be relevant – it pays dividends to research your target market and tailor your data accordingly – this will save you tonnes of time and money in the long rung and give you the best possible return on your investment.It makes tele-marketing campaigns so much easier and interesting if you have confidence that the person you are ringing is the right one.
2 Ring-fence time
It’s so much easier to ignore uncomfortable tasks if you don’t diarise them! You know you should do it, but while it’s loosely in the back of your mind, you’d be surprised how cleaning the inside of your pencil sharpener suddenly becomes a priority (you know it’s true – we’ve all been there)!Set aside some time when getting on the phone is all that you will do – also don’t overrun on this time – if you have set aside an hour keep going for that hour but don’t do more – keeping it contained makes it more manageable. You’ll soon build up a rhythm for it and giving it a regular time slot keeps it from being an overwhelming burden of a task.
3 It’s all in the approach
If you are nervous about making calls then the biggest favour you can do yourself is to know in advance what you are going to say. Have notes at the ready and bear the following in mind:
- Have a call structure in mind, even a script – but don’t make it sound like you are reading out-loud – it will not inspire interest.
- Present your information in the form of how what you do benefits the person you are calling – it helps to open up a dialogue rather than rattling off a list of what you do (but don’t rabbit on too much, as some telemarketers these days tend to!).
- Ask for what you want to send info, make a sale, ask for an appointment. Be upfront it builds trust.
- Prepare what possible objections there may be and if you can overcome them (for example, if they say no, is it a no never, or a no not now? If the latter, ask if you can call them again in 2 weeks, 2 months…whenever they’re next likely to be looking for what you offer)
- Listen carefully to the person on the end of the phone (and take notes)
4 It’s a marathon not a sprint
How you sound on the phone is very important. Bear the following in mind:
- Take a breath before you call.
- Take your time – don’t rush, your message may be lost.
- Be confident. You know your business better than anyone – have faith in this.
- Smile and be motivated – your positive attitude will transmit – even if you are slightly nervous.
5 Follow-up. Always.
Unless you receive an emphatic NO (and if you do, try not to take it personally, it’s all part of the learning curve), the most important thing you need to do is follow up on the call. That follow up will depend on what the reason for the call was, but don’t let opportunities slip by not linking in to other areas of your marketing strategy, such as email newsletters etc. Someone might say no but go on to agree to subscribe to your blog! Taking account of all these should help you be more confident when faced with tele-marketing. Maybe it should have been a top 6 list because actually this next bit might just turn out to be the most important bit – Essentially what you are doing is entering a conversation with someone; having a chat; finding out if what you do is of interest to them and that’s pretty much it – and that’s not so scary a prospect is it?
In conclusion –Is telemarketing a good idea for your business
I would say yes a well-executed telemarketing campaign can significantly boost your business, your turnover and bottom line.
So if you are inspired to take then next step and need a good quality database then email info@databubble.co.uk or call us on 01274 965411 we would be more than happy to help.
