Telemarketing Tips

Telemarketing, or telesales, is predominantly used in the B2B industry because of its efficiency and potency as a mechanism for contacting prospects and closing sales. It is also a great method for generating repeat business from existing clients.

In today's market trend, however, there is a need for telemarketers to improve the way they communicate with customers and prospects. They not only need to compete with other phone marketers for drawing the attention of prospects, but also cope with the emergence of new advertising methods and a host of other marketing schemes.

The nature of phone-based marketing creates distinct selling conditions. Telemarketers are entirely dependent on the words they use and the tone in their voices.

It is necessary to understand that telemarketing does not make up the whole sales process. Instead, it is just a portion of the entire sales strategy. Also, like all other marketing methods, telemarketing success relies on constantly having qualified prospects to contact.

If you are a telemarketer, there are proven telemarketing best practices that can help you improve the way you conduct cold-calling. Below are some tips to help you become better at what you do:

• You only have a few seconds to make a great first impression over the phone. You need to prepare carefully in each call to build up your chances of grabbing the attention of the prospect rather than being rejected.

• Always show professional courtesy. Bear in mind that you are a selling professional who is just using the telephone as your selling tool.

• Your job requires sincerity. Deceptive behavior radiates over the phone even if your customers or prospects cannot see you. Insincerity impacts your call negatively.

• Keep your work station clean and organized. A clean surrounding will help you concentrate on your calls.

• This may not always get emphasized in telemarketing, but it is necessary to dress comfortably and professionally even if prospects can't see you.

• Smile during your calls. Have a mirror handy so you can see if you are losing that smile.

• It is a no no to practice on real prospects to warm up your work day. If you really need to, practice with friends or co-agents.

• In order to meet your yearly goals, you must first know what your daily goals are. You should keep a record of your daily progress.

• Make a note of important contacts that you need to follow up on.

• Be aware how successful you are at getting through to the key decision makers. This will help you determine which areas in your calling strategy need to be improved or corrected.

• Identify what your best selling time is (that is, the hours your customers or prospects are most accessible and are most responsive to your efforts). You can learn this through experience. You can also perform your own research and planning to help with this endeavor whenever you have free time.

• Use past calling experiences to help you with current situations. To illustrate, if you encounter similar objections from decision makers, think about how you were able to overcome these objections in the past.

• Create a call guide to keep you on track in each call. Avoid reading from it during your conversation with the prospects.

• You may use other materials to supplement your calls such as follow-up emails or online catalogs.