There’s so much more to telemarketing than picking up the phone and hoping for the best. Indeed, the most successful companies will have conducted hours of intensive research into telemarketing business strategies, and drawn countless plans before dialing a single digit. Creating a telemarketing strategy is vital for business. It will help you to reflect your reputation, fulfill your goals, and relate to your audience – and to navigate the competitive field of telesales. Famous for being something of a bother telemarketers often have the odds stacked against them from the outset. It’s essential, then, that you’re able to approach each call with confidence.
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Conducting your research
Research is going to be vital here. It’s essential that you understand your industry, its main audience, and your business inside and out. What do your competitors do well? Where are they falling down? How do your clients react to certain promotional tactics? Think about the hooks that will set you apart from the other telemarketers in your sights, and get to grips with everything that’s relevant in your industry right now. You know what they say about prior preparation, after all.
Getting to know your leads
Who is your target market? Until you can identify key leads you can’t hope to appeal to their needs and desires. Develop an effective contact management system. This will enable you to create a pool from which to select the very best prospects – and recognise those that are best left alone. It’s essential you get to know your leads. What do they like? Why do they need your product or service? What desires are you fulfilling? Build a rapport with your customers, and you’re far more likely to make that sale.
Making training your priority
The conduct of your sales representatives and customer service team members is going to be vital to your telemarketing company’s success. It’s so, so important to put the hours into their training now. Ensure that your team members know exactly what’s expected of them, and use call recording software to set good examples along the way. Role-play is a great way to ensure that your team understands your products, and audience, inside and out. Above all use training to motivate and empower your team; customers will be wary of anyone who’s unable to answer basic questions, so arm everyone with the knowledge to succeed.
Understanding the power of your script
Comprehensive training will give your operatives the best possible start on the job. It’s important not to dismiss the power of a great script, though. It can be difficult for operatives to think on their feet during those earliest days. A detailed script, then, becomes a powerful tool in a team member’s sales arsenal. Ensure your script has prompts, with pre-emptive responses to the questions that customers are likely to ask. What key details should operatives be mentioning? How is the customer likely to react to those facts? Create a script that understands the needs your product or service is fulfilling. Only then will your team be ready to hit the phones.
Following each lead up
While it would be wonderful for every call to end in a profit you’ll soon discover that it can take between four and six callbacks to snare that sale. Make sure that your team is making appointments with clients, and following up every lead with confidence. Your contact management system will take the strain here, identifying viable leads that should be given a second, third, or fourth chance. Building a rapport is vital in the world of sales, so instill the importance of appointment making into your team members.
Oh, and remembering to listen to the law…
It will come as no surprise to you that there are telemarketers deliberately acting outside of the law. Well, isn’t that what those in your field are renowned for? Telemarketing has an undeserved bad reputation, and it’s up to businesses such as yours to buck that trend and instill confidence in the Great British public. Familiarise yourself with the law. What should you be saying? What can’t you promise? Always begin each conversation with an announcement of who you are and why you’re calling. You would also do well to pay attention to the telephone preference service. Those who have listed their number with the service have done so for a reason. Contacting them regardless will likely earn you a frosty reception.
If you work within the telemarketing industry we hope you’re making the most of a hosted VoIP phone system. If you’ve yet to invest allow us to detail some of the major benefits that you’re missing out on, by calling 0333 002 0000. One of our team members will be happy to discuss our services with you. What have you got to lose?
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