It would be nice to have a professional telesales coach by your side each and every day, but you don't need me there with you to be successful with this type of telesales self analysis I talk about here. This is something that you can do on your own or with a colleague. You just need to know what you are looking for.

To start this process you are going to need a recording of your telesales pitch. If you work for a company that records all of its outgoing and incoming telephone calls, I am sure that in most circumstances that your Manager or Director would allow you to use a copy of your telesales presentation for your own self improvement.

However, a lot of telesales people do not have that luxury, so the next best thing is a Dictaphone. (These things are imperative and I have an article on this site and a free download on my website for more information about this subject.) By simply setting your Dictaphone to record and holding it onto the ear section of your telephone receiver whilst you are pitching should deliver a recording of both sides of the conversation with quality that is easily adequate for you to listen and analyze your presentation.

Points that you should be made aware of.

1. It has to be the entire presentation. Missing the beginning, middle or end is no good. As a mistake that you made in the first 30 seconds of your presentation could have a damaging effect on the close that you are using on your prospect 20 minutes later.

2. Listen to both sides of the conversation. Do not only be concerned with the way that you sound. You should also be very concerned with how your prospect sounds and how they react to the things that you say.

3. Listen to the speed of your voice. Are you talking too fast, do you sound too excited? The pace, speed and tone of your voice has to fall within certain parameters in order for your message to be delivered correctly.

4. Listen to the content of what you say, but also to the intent.

a. The content is the words that you are using when talking to your prospect.

b. The intent is how it sounds and the emotion behind the delivery.

5. The sentence, "I really want to buy your product" can be music to a telesales persons ears. However, take the same sentence and add a large portion of sarcasm to it and it has the complete opposite effect. That is why intent can exceedingly important when selling. Most intent signals are not as obvious as the sarcasm example that I have just given, that's why point 4 is such an important point to practice and take onboard.

6. Alarm Words: Some prime examples of alarm words are: worried, scared, and concerned expensive, quality, refund. All of these words could express that your prospect is concerned or worried about what you have said or what you are selling. If you hear any words that could be classed as alarm words during your presentation, you must either stop and deal with them or make a note of them and come back to them later. You cannot paper over the cracks that alarm words can create in your pitch. Ignore them at your peril.

7. TP's: TP's are talking points. These are prime subjects that are mentioned by your prospect but ignored by you. A prospect may mention their favorite football team or their dog's name. If anything personal is mentioned by your prospect then make a note of it and bring it up in conversation.

8. Pausing: Are you talking when you should pausing. This is one of the biggest problems with new and also experienced telesales people. There is
a golden set of two simple rules concerning when to pause.

a. Always pause after asking a question

b. Always pause when your client stops talking

9. Buying Signals: most telesales people know what a buying signal is, but a terrific amount of them miss buying signals on an ongoing basis. Anything along the lines of the following is, or could be a buying signal. (The list is almost endless, here are just 5.)

a. Who much does it cost

b. What color does it come in

c. How long does delivery take

d. Does it come in a cherry flavor

e. Is there a discount.

10. Listen, Listen, Listen! If you don't listen, none of this works!

By: Julian Blee