If it's done properly,
telesales is an effective way to
help your business grow. This
series of telesales articles
sets out some of the basics that
can make the difference between
being one of the best or one of
the rest.
Cold Calling
Cold calling can be a daunting
prospect for the inexperienced
or unprepared.
To help calm the inevitable
nerves that you are bound to
feel when you first start to
call.
Remember the 4P's
Preparation - Prevents - Poor -
Performance
Prepare a script, but do not
recite it parrot fashion. Your
telesales prospect will know in
the first ten seconds if you are
just reading it. You are far
better using it as an "aide
memoire" to prompt you if you
start to falter.
Read it through before you pick
up the phone, it will help to
boost your confidence.
Ask questions, remember it's not
"How do I sell" it's "Why do
they buy", so you need to
understand what they want and
need and what their buying
motives are. By asking
questions, listening and
interpreting what your telesales
prospects is saying, you will be
able to formulate a solution for
their problem that matches their
expectations.
If you are in the Business to
Business market, research the
suspect company wherever
possible, look at what it is
that they do and where your
product or service can assist
their business.
Compile "value statements"; put
a value on your product or
service that outweighs the cost.
Talk about value rather than
cost or price. Value implies an
investment and therefore a
return. Cost or Price implies a
drain on resources.
Rehearse the conversation,
preferably with a colleague or a
manager.
Visualise possible scenarios
that might arise and have
variations and answers ready.
You Never Get a Second Chance to
Make a First Impression
Make the 1st 30 seconds
memorable, make a powerful
opening statement. What you need
is something that gets a
reaction from your prospects
that makes them want to say
"That's interesting, tell me
more". Remember that you may be
the tenth person today, that has
rung your prospect to try to
sell them something, so you had
better make a good impression
quickly and differentiate
yourself from the pack otherwise
you have lost it.
You need to get their ATTENTION,
establish INTEREST, create
DESIRE, encourage ACTION.
(AIDA). Remember the acronym and
test your opening gambit against
it to see whether it addresses
all four points. If it doesn't,
you need to re-visit it;
otherwise you will lose your
prospect very quickly.
This article has only been able
to cover part of the telesales
process, if you have found it
useful, please check out the
other articles in this series,
they are:-
How to Excel at Telesales
Techniques to Improve Your
Telesales Success
Make Effective Prospecting the
Key to Telesales Success
Make the Initial Approach Count
in Telesales
Source: Bernard
Richards
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