Do you use the telephone to promote your products / services? Most businesses do, in one form or another. Here is some telemarketing tips and advice.
Firstly, let’s begin with some definitions:
* Telemarketing: using the telephone to educate customers, arrange free trials or schedule sales meetings
* Telesales: selling products / services directly over the phone
Many business people don’t like using the phone to sell. They tell me that they get nervous, become tongue tied and don’t enjoy the experience. This is quite normal, after all, most of us don’t enjoy rejection, do we? In order to use the telephone better, The Marketing Compass suggests the following strategies:
1. Ensure that you are working with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, as you will then have ‘all of your contacts in one place’.
2. Within your CRM, divide prospective customers up into market segments, as it’s easier to call a ‘group of people with shared needs’ within one session, than it is to hop around between random contacts.
3. If you are making the calls, block time into your diary every week to do this. Two hours at a time is fine.
4. Especially when you are starting out, a written script will help you to get through the first 15 seconds or so of a call to a stranger.
5. Stand up when you dial, as you will feel more confident.
6. If you are going to be making a lot of calls, consider using a headset.
For many of us, the most important use of the phone is to follow-up on sales enquiries. Email is all well and good, but it is important to pick up the phone and speak to potential customers, isn’t it?
By the way, in the UK, it is important to be aware of the Telephone Preference Service, as you can be fined for cold calling people who are registered there.
Be aware that calling consumers is frowned upon (and there are much better ways of marketing to them, anyway).
If you are looking for a B2B telemarketing agency, you are welcome to ask us for recommendations.
If you have any questions – just ask.
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Do you think it is appropriate and productive, when making business to business telemarketing calls, to leave a message on a cold call, for the prospect to call you back? Or are you better off NOT leaving a message.
Hi Gary, In general terms – don’t leave voicemail messages when you cold call: particularly during early attempts to reach the decision maker. Clearly, you will get better results if you talk to the prospective customer. Having said this, I suggest that you set a policy with regards to messages. For example, if you have tried three times and still not spoken to them – you could try leaving messages with a good reason to call you back (you are welcome to log into our site and ask about this). All the best, Nigel
We teach our clients a series of 5 voicemails called a voicemail flirt which usually results in 80% call backs. In fact one client we taught over the States ended up getting 160 meetings using it and sold the business to Accenture and all 50 partners made off like bandits!
As with all things in selling, the one with the better system usually wins.
Don’t use the message to educate, use it to get the person to call you back. I can’t disclose the process on here because it’s proprietary but if you contact me I’d be happy to share a couple of them with you Gary. In fact I’m teaching this tomorrow at the NRG lunch in Reading at the Hilton if you can come along and you’re local.
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