Telesales is one of the oldest methods used by companies to sell products/services. It is easier than personally visiting clients as well as more personal as compared to sending emails.
Telesales is also challenging. Successful sales calling is an art. It can be difficult to make people listen to you, forget convincing them to buy. The inevitable rejections can be mentally exhausting.
Effective telemarketing can only be achieved upon understanding how it can work for your business, and hiring telemarketers with the skills needed. For this reason, you might want to reach out to outsourced telemarketing services to make your sales and services organization a world-class one.
Cold calling potential customers and convincing them to make a purchase, i.e. selling directly over the phone may not be a realistic option and could damage your reputation. Instead, you can use telesales as a part of the sales process.
For example, generate leads (source contact numbers) of users filling enquiry form on your site and then make a call. You can also cold call to make an appointment for a meeting to take the sale further.
Telemarketing can also be great while dealing with existing customers. By responding to enquiries, you may be able to use telesales to prompt repeat orders.
Proper telesales training can help telemarketers develop the required skills and attitude. They’ll be able to cope up with rejections in a better way. Training helps employees develop skills such as:
* How to get to speak to the right person, bypassing the gatekeepers
* How to stimulate a positive response
* Building rapport and actively listening to the customer, rather than pushing for a sale
* Handling questions and objections
* Closing a sale
A poorly planned sales process is a big problem. The entire sales process should be thoroughly planned before starting the sales calls.
An important point to consider is what happens prior to the call. Are you collecting information of prospects responding to ads or from a web enquiry? If it’s a pure cold call, where did you source the contact details from?
Also, plan if you’re going to close the sale over the call or fix an appointment to further the sale.
Telesales is not just about making outbound calls. Businesses also get enquiries which can be turned into sales. It is of utmost important to prepare for these inbound calls. Most companies start by implementing inbound call routing to ensure customers reach their desired location, as there is no greater pain for a consumer than having to be directed multiple times until they reach the desired team they’re looking to speak to.
Train your staff well to handle enquiries coming through your website, ad campaigns, etc. Your telesales team should be trained thoroughly about products/services or any recent offers and ad campaigns so that any enquiry from potential customers can be handled well. Give them a set of questions to ask upon receiving the enquiry to uncover the caller’s intention and needs to provide solutions.
They should know how to close the sale.
Cold calling can be very effective when tele-callers speak with confidence. Nervousness alters your voice and makes you sound defensive, irritable or emotional. So, smile while you dial. It increases confidence which reflects in your voice leading to a pleasant conversation.
Tele-callers should ask clients what issues they’re facing and offer solutions. Find out who the decision-maker is and speak to them. Don’t just sell on price, but show how you are different from the competition.
Lead generation means collecting details, such as names, job titles, email addresses, and phone numbers of potential customers. These details are further used for telesales. The leads should fit with your customer profile so that you have more chances of converting them. There are numerous ways of lead generation, including forms on your website, searching trade directories, or platforms like LinkedIn. LinkedIn has become an amazing lead generation and sales navigation platform. And with the availability of several LinkedIn automation tools, it is a haven for marketers. If you are a marketer who’s using LinkedIn, checking https://serp.co/top-picks/linkedin-automation-tools/ or similar lists can easily help you download quality data from LinkedIn that can improve your sales. You should always experiment with different ways to generate the best quality leads.
Measure results of your telemarketing efforts regularly and keep records. Record how many calls turn into sales to understand the conversion rate. Also, analyse different approaches and results to find out the most successful ones.
If you possess any personal information about customers, such as names and addresses, you must comply with data protection laws. Also, ensure you don’t make unsolicited calls or send unsolicited emails to people. You must also not contact individuals by email or text message without their prior consent.
Converting people you’re communicating with for the first time into customers is difficult. Follow these tips to achieve success in your telemarketing efforts.
