To succeed in telesales, a bare gift of gab is rarely enough. It is also very important what you say and how you say it. There is a number of ways to deliver the same message, still, only a few ways give the result - all the rest either leave the customer unimpressed or even scare him away. Each telesales agent comes with an array of personal habits that have been developed during the lifetime. Even the best people in this field have small, automatic habits of speech that possibly should be weeded out or replaced with more powerful words.

We don't really often consider our own telephone skills because they seem something natural to us. This is the main part of the problem - for a telesales agent to understand that there might be things that need improvement.

Telesales is not just about speaking clearly and politely. In many phone calls we make certain assumptions about the client and fail to engage properly with the client. Whether it is cold calling, sales call or a customer service, the failure to connect with people and say the right things on the telephone might harm customer relations.

Despite the advance of the Internet, in many businesses the main contact that we have with our customers is still via the phone. A customer will form his impression about your company according to the message he receives talking to you.

Telesales requires various skills and they differ from those you employ in face to face contacts. The body language and facial expressions are cut out completely that's why it is possible for customers to develop a wrong impression from what you say to them.

Usually, professionals, or even newbie s, who are just starting out don't need to put forth too much effort to improve their communication skills significantly. Small alterations in the manner that conversations are handled can have a huge impact on the sales results. It is actually very funny to see how many businesses never think about training their telesales agents properly. Don't forget that these skills also build the brand awareness and publicity in the long term.

Every professional telesales agent must make sure he can answer vital questions about his everyday job. Do you know what impression your customers take away after conversing with you? How many bad habits and junk-words do you have in your toolbox? Can you afford losing business down to poor skills?

Getting rid of bad habits and starting using a positive vocabulary is very important. We have to check what words we use to convey a message. Very often sales pitch flops instantly after we annoy our potential customer with a few negative words or we rush in with trying to close a sale too quickly.

Telesales agents have to develop a positive mindset and attitude and most importantly, maintain it even when talking to grumpy people. Being nasty with a rude customer might feel like a good idea, however, it never pays off and it knocks you out of concentration and affects all further calls you make.

Like in every profession, a telesales agent has to learn constantly. There is no such thing as a complete marketing guru. Even the golden boys have to learn... that's what makes them golden.

Source: Jim Trent link