By 
Telesales staff are growing in number around the world in a growing range of fields, from insurance, double glazing, and healthcare, to advertising, construction, manufacturing, and national and regional newspapers. And the list keeps getting longer. Even charities now employ telesales staff to increase donations.
Across the UK and internationally, many companies exist solely to contact people by phone, with contracts from multiple companies. On a conservative estimate, there are many tens of thousands of full and part time staff involved in the telesales industry in the UK alone. Each of them wants to earn a good commission (because the base salary is generally low). Staff turnover is high due to “burnout” due to insufficient training.
o As fuel costs rise, the sales force on the road decreases. Telephone costs, however, are steadily dropping in cost, with more options available from independent telephone companies.
o Shipping costs are still prohibitive for many, and e-commerce is not.
allow person-to-person contact. Telephone contact is the viable option.
o Every individual telemarketer wants to make more money.
o Both managers and telesales staff want to highlight the skills and techniques of effective telesales management.
So what are the basics of effective telesales and how can you apply them in your telesales department?
Openers
Very early in the phone conversation, your staff will have created one of two effects: interest or resistance. And it is one or the other. Most callers can create resistance almost immediately, causing an early closure of the phone call and a sense of loss for the caller. Listens. No one is sitting in their office waiting for their telesales department to call. Most of the time, the person you are calling is busy and has little time to talk on the phone. How often are you ready and available to answer the phone, nothing else happens, do you sit comfortably, and have nothing else to do? Chances are, if those circumstances apply to you too often, your P45 won’t be long in coming as well.
Those first moments of telephone communication are vital and of the utmost importance. This is a good procedure for telesales staff:
o Introduce themselves and their organization.
o Make a statement that stimulates interest and creates curiosity about any benefit the potential customer could get from the phone call.
o Ask the appropriate questions to engage the other person in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions, the appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are some examples; “My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialize in generating business for our clients while reducing their marketing costs. I have some ideas that I would like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company “. Or: “I am Sophie Grierson from Cleanways UK. I am calling you because we may be able to reduce your expenses for the same cleaning supplies you are buying now. To determine this, I would like to find out what you are using for …”
Get your telesales staff in the position of the listener and ask, “Would you like to hear more if you were the buyer?” “Would you put aside everything you were doing and participate in the call? If not, they should work out a new approach along the same lines. The opening line should say as much as possible, in as few words as possible – That’s an interesting exercise in itself. By appealing to potential customers’ desire to win, or their fear of losing something, you will make them spend productive time with you and eventually buy from you.
Phone picture.
Others form an image of our way of being through our way of telephone. Try it yourself. The next time you receive a phone call from someone you don’t know, grab a sheet of paper and a pen and write down the positive and negative images of the other person that form in your mind as the conversation progresses. How does this affect the decisions you have to make about this person or your company? The image is the most important thing. The tone of voice, the way we speak, the words we choose, all instantly position us in the minds of the recipients and cause judgments that we are not aware of. Listen to yourself on the phone. How do you rate the image of the phone? Have your personal telesales do this for exercise. It is very revealing! Anyone who works with words and voice, actors, speakers, musicians, everyone listens to how they sound, because they know that it is vital.
Take the time to review
Many telesales employees make call after call, as if there is a record to break. Many telesales and telemarketing companies give their staffing goals to reach (100 calls per hour in some cases). For me, these companies have given up on true professional telesales. It has become ‘just a numbers game’ for them, so possibly this does not apply to them … My advice here on reviewing your last call is directed at the telesales manager and caller of their choice. do it as well as he or she can. If you were unsuccessful on your last call, if the potential customer hung up on you without “giving it a try,” ask yourself: Why? What the hell did I do wrong there? Review the call: What did I like about this call? What would you have done differently on this call? Don’t think your staff doesn’t have the time to do this on every call. You can’t afford not to.
Preparation
Take the time to learn something about the company you are calling and where your product or service would fit the likely needs and wants of that company. Prepare ahead of time the questions you will need to get answered to further qualify your prospect.
Listening
Being successful on the phone does not mean dominating the conversation. Listening experts say that most of us don’t listen most of the time. Often times this is because we are too busy thinking about what WE are going to say next. Work on listening skills. This is very easy and goes like this: Close your mouth. Listens. Keep your mouth shut. Keep listening.
The receptionist
The receptionist is there to receive people and phone calls. That’s what they pay you for. Acknowledge this to yourself. Make friends with them. Don’t be in such a rush to get to the ‘main man’ that you intimidate them or ‘push their buttons’ to stop in their tracks. To reach your buyers, all you need to do is help the receptionists do their job, which is to protect your boss’s time from unnecessary calls. “We are happy with who we are buying from.” Says the receptionist. “Well, I have some ideas that have helped other people in your industry reduce their advertising expenses while generating more sales. I would like to ask Mr. / Mrs. Roberts a few questions to see if this could apply here as well …” . Make friends with the receptionist. She can often be of great help, so put her on your side. She knows what you want, but remember, you are not paying her salary …
Sending literature
“Send me literature” may be a legitimate sign of interest. Often it is not. Literature will never make your companies sell for you, most of the time it will never be read, even when requested. Good quality literature will only add to the sales skills of your staff. Therefore, sending literature is often another way of putting off hearing a “no” from the prospect. Make your people more willing to hear the word ‘no’ and further reduce your overhead by not wasting literature
Interrogation
Instead of having a list of features and benefits you are trying to present, take all of your benefits and write them down on the side of a sheet of paper. Then draw two columns on the page to the right of the words. Label the first column “Needs Met / Problems Solved.” Then, for each benefit, write what need or problem the corresponding benefit meets. Label the right column “Questions to ask.” For each need or problem, write a question that determines whether that situation existed. Use these questions during your call. Make sure you don’t submit what you “think” is a benefit until you’ve confirmed it by asking the appropriate questions. Use questions. To find out.
Objections: Legitimate or Illegitimate?
Many objections are created by the seller who doesn’t rate well enough in the first place. An objection is generally defined as “the customer’s reason for not buying.” Often times, the customer has simply not been rated as a correct prospect for this particular product or service. A poor prospect rating will always equal a lot of objections and a lot of failed sales. When a potential customer objects, they may not be real to your telesales people, but to that potential customer, they are very real. Unlike many sales training books and courses, objections to your product purchase are not always surmountable. It may be an inappropriate product or service; the customer may not really be in a position to buy if they are on a budget. Above all, they may not really want your product or service. Why not? The best thing to do with genuine objections is to talk to the potential customer. If the product or service is really not for that person right now, it will become very obvious. If you continue to advise your sales people that “all objections can be overcome,” sooner or later, they will become unhappy with you and the company. Why? Because many objections are legitimate objections that put the potential customer out of the scope of your product or service for the time being. Acknowledge it.
Ask about the order
“If you don’t ask, you don’t receive.” It’s an old saying, but it’s often true, especially in business. Do your sellers want an order? Ask for it. Do you want a definite date to call back? Ask for it. Do you want to know exactly who will make the decision? Ask for. To find out. When will this person be available? Do the question. Don’t wait, get the information you need, get the order if that’s what the call is about. Can’t receive the order? Well, when can we place an order? Can we phone you on that date? So would it be a good time? Ask the question and get the answer.
Sales professionalism is for all salespeople, not just the field salesperson. It’s accomplished by really caring about getting it right, figuring out why, when things aren’t working, and wanting to sell the right products or services to people and businesses who really want or need them. This can be accomplished over the phone. Telesales can be as professional as the rest, go for it!