Telemarketing is the oldest way of marketing and growing business. Back then, telemarketing was the only way businesses depended on to drive their sales. Telemarketers were required to bring in leads for their brand. Telemarketing was an effective way to grow businesses and also it helped in increasing brand awareness and visibility.
It goes without saying that telemarketing is not an easy job. Cold calling a stranger and engaging them in a conversation is as difficult as understanding human behavioral science.
There’s no saying as to how the prospects would react at any given time. Rudeness is an overly seen behavior in customers as reported by most telemarketers, so this job is definitely not for the weak-hearted.
Telemarketing job requires tons of patience and a positive attitude that lasts for long hours. You don’t want to be already having thousands of things going on in your head and talk with prospective clients only to lose them. It is important to have a clear head at all times, and show that in your voice as well.
Telemarketing is an art, but the good news is that it is a learnable art.
Successful telemarketers didn’t become so overnight, it took learning, practising and perseverance to become the best. There’s nothing one can’t learn, once they’re dedicated to it.
Here are some beginners tips for effective telemarketing:
Table of Contents
Learn the skills
Be it anything in life, learning definitely makes it easier and more doable. You can’t do something efficiently before learning it, and everything about it. It goes the same for telemarketing, once you learn how to go about it, the aspects involved, and the skills required you’re good to go.
There are n number of sources available online that help with learning telemarketing skills. One needs to take out a dedicated amount of time and hone their skills before starting out, otherwise, they would be very lost and confused and might make mistakes that could have been avoided.
Have the script
It is perhaps the most important thing about telemarketing, have a script. If you do not have a script, you’ll be lost. When you talk to the prospective clients you might miss or forget a point and add something of yours which might turn out to irrelevant. That is the reason it is important to have a script and stick to it, rather than beating around the bush.
Having a script will also give you the confidence of knowing what you’re talking about, and sounding even more determined. You could alter or add points that are relevant to the product and also your style that way it sounds more convincing and real.
Practice and practice again
Practice makes a man perfect. This quote holds true for just about anything. Imagine you learned a new word today, but don’t use it in your conversation or writing at all. Then what’s the point, you’re going to eventually forget it. But if you practiced using it in a sentence you’d have it in your mind for long. That’s the beauty of practice, it makes you perfect.
Consider having practice calls by calling your friends or family and trying to sell to them, or practice in the mirror. Use the script when you practice, and try to perfect the art of talking about it.
Know your company
It could be considered to be the first thing to do, but when you’re representing a brand you might as well put some time and effort into reading about it and understanding it.
Knowing your company is as important in telemarketing as is learning the skills and having a script. Anytime during a call, you could be asked about something more than what’s in your script, something about the company and if during those times you confidently answer it with an accurate answer, you’re already a winner.
Know your audience
As much as knowing the brand is important, it is equally important to know your prospective client. Do basic research on them so you actually know what to expect from the call. The foremost important thing is to know their name and learn how to pronounce it because if that goes wrong you’ve already lost their interest.
Knowing your audience also prepares you in questions like
- What might their interest be?
- Why should they choose your product?
- How would you engage them?
And, in having prepared for common queries, you’ll move ahead and present yourself more confidently.
Speak like a friend
Be soft in your speech. Your tone matters a lot, and if you end up giving negative energy in your words, you’ve lost the client. Be polite, and even if the client is being unreasonable, make them understand politely. Kindness is a strength you should possess.
You don’t want to be sounding like a machine. You have to be so interesting that the person you’re talking to should be attentive to what you say. Speak like you’re speaking to a friend, be passionate and understanding, and make your client think that you’re genuinely interested in solving their problems as well.
Know when to stop
While having patience, being a good listener, and being kind is important, it is also equally important to know if the conversation is really worth the time. Look for signs, make sure the client is actually interested in your product.
It is not good to be wasting time on a pointless conversation with no result while you could just be calling another client and striking a sale. So, it is vital for telemarketers to know when to stop a conversation.
If you don’t see the conversation going anywhere, politely say that they have a good day and hang up, because you don’t want to be spoiling a relationship as there’s always another day, and another time you can try to pitch your product.
Be resilient
Human behavior is unpredictable. You never know who is in what state of mind at a particular time of the day. That’s the reason telemarketing is a challenging job because it involves dealing with various personalities.
Don’t be soft-hearted or weak because there are going to be many rejections. Don’t let that discourage you, or make you lose your confidence. There are going to be a lot of rude clients, and they’re going to hang up on you, accept that fact and prepare yourself for it.
Be strong and a little indifferent to comments when you take up the job, because you can’t be cribbing over a call and missing the chance of targeting more clients.
Stay calm and motivate yourself
Staying calm is as important as staying focused on this job. Don’t adhere to your impulses of hanging up. Stay calm, and reply to rudeness with calmness. Also, at the same time, motivate yourself. Motivate yourself to make another sale, another call, and have another long conversation.
You’re all you have so motivate yourself to achieve great results at the end of the day.
100 calls a day
That’s the rule and there’s no looking away from it. The more calls you make, the more leads you get, and the more motivated you stay. You have to prepare yourself to make about a hundred or more calls a day, it is understandable that it’s a very daunting task but you have to push yourself, and make that call and then another and then another and so on.
Making at least a hundred calls could get you at least about 10-20 leads, and that’s good news. If you aim higher, you’ll get closer.
Follow up
Making a call isn’t enough and the job doesn’t end there. Following up is equally important. Following up gives you the chance to again analyze if the client is genuinely interested and it also makes your client feel important.
Following up is a very important aspect of the job, and should not be ignored.
Note the feedback
Feedbacks are a great way of improvement. Ask your clients for feedback, both on your performance and of the product. Note down these feedbacks, and make the improvements. Feedback is an amazing way of gaining honest reviews and opening doors for better performance in the future.
Law
Lastly, make sure you’re well aware of the laws in the place your client resides. Not many, but some states object cold calling, so make sure you know your audience and the law to avoid any problems like fee cut, or a case in the future.
Basically,
Telemarketing is an interesting yet a challenging job. It could take a toll on you if you don’t pull yourself together whenever required. It is important to have the required skills, motivation, and calmness for the job. Telemarketing becomes a little better when you’re resilient, patient, well-aware of the audience and company, and know the process.
Being friendly and consistent is the motto to win at the job. Make as many calls as possible and get as many leads as you can, but don’t forget to improve on those feedbacks.
