Telemarketing is one of the most common ways that a business can generate leads. It is a versatile approach. Lead generation telemarketing can be inbound or outbound, meaning that systems use prerecorded messages and can dial either random numbers or numbers from an imported list.Telemarketing is one of the few lead generation techniques that is flexible enough to be immediately adaptable to new situations. The telemarketer can answer questions or provide additional information as needed in response to the potential... Read More
Cold calling. Most people hate to do it and there is a cottage industry of people making a profit by selling ideas on how to generate business without cold calling. They're making money because they are using a basic marketing tactic that most of us have forgotten how to use - give your customer what they want! Tell a salesperson that they can get appointments without making cold calls, tell them to buy your book, and you'll make money hand... Read More
I got a phone call today from a gentleman in Arizona. He wanted to talk to me about a report I downloaded from him about network marketing. I wasn't interested in network marketing, and I told him that.But consider this.I live in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. So that call was an international call for him. I'm guessing at least 10 cents per minute. Even though we only talked for about 30 seconds, that call still cost him 10 cents.Imagine, for... Read More
Cold calling has to be one of the most feared aspects of every sales person's and business owner's day. With some important key tips, you can make cold calling painless and enjoyable and as easy as calling a friend.Here are 7 key ways to jump start your cold calls:1. Research Your MarketBefore you start your cold calls it's important that you be prepared so your prospect feels you really do understand their situation. Research the company you are calling, identify... Read More
We do not advocate cold calling in High Probability Selling. However, cold calling is necessary at times.You do need prospective clients and customers: If you don't have a customer list from which to solicit referrals, and you also lack an advertising/marketing budget, cold-calling to a highly targeted list is the fastest route to finding High Probability Prospects.A High Probability Prospect is one who wants, needs, can afford, and is ready to buy your product or service- now. Those who only... Read More
Our emotions and feelings are changing all of the time based on our interpretation of events. Does this mean that even a sales superstar feels bad if they lose a big deal? Of course they do. They wouldn't be human if they didn't. It's natural for your feelings to fluctuate as you go about your business.Take a moment and imagine a bad day selling on the phone. It's been awful. You've been cold calling for over 3 hours and you've... Read More
In her book, The Introvert Advantage, Marty Olsen Laney talks about the defining moment when she embraced the fact that she was an introvert. It came in the form of a statement, "Oh, there's nothing wrong with me, I'm just an introvert!"According to her research only 25% of people are introverted which leaves us the daunting task of dealing with the 75% extroverts of the world. And surprising as it seems, there are those of us who have, for one... Read More
Unfortunately, the DNC legislation has many small businesses that use telemarketers a bit concerned about their choice of direct sales tactic. However, there are still many ways to have your message get into the right people's hands without annoying them. And the fact of the matter is, telemarketing, as a direct sales tactic, works. Here are some tips and ideas to get your sales flowing and customers thrilled that you called them:Find New Target Markets -Have you talked with your... Read More
HEADSETS & TELEPHONESThe equipment your personnel use is important. Don't let others tell you any different. Like the Sales Representative who looks forward to his or her new car every two years, so the telesales person deserves to enjoy good equipment. Good, practical equipment does make a difference. The Sales representative drives the car every day; it's a tool of the profession. The staff work area, tools and equipment, like the Sales Rep's car, say something about them and the... Read More
A few months ago I spent time training some telephone sales agents who were new to selling. They'd mainly been involved with handling incoming calls but now their company needed them to do some out bound sales calls. I spent two days running a sales workshop for them and another three days coaching them on the job.The biggest challenge I had was trying to stop them selling. Or at least their idea of what selling is all about.Many people who... Read More
Predictive dialers are many steps removed from their predessors, the automatic dialers of the past. Whereas automatic dialing allowed callcenter agencies to dial numbers quickly and efficiently, predictive dialing also processes and makes use of a whole range of information, linking callers to live voices every single time. In fact, with predictive dialing, agents' 'talk time' has increased from an average of twenty minutes per hour to fifty minutes per hour. This is a fabulous rate of improvement - instead... Read More
A consipiracy exists in the world of selling. A cold calling conspiracy.What I'm talking about is the requirement by most sales organizations to make cold calls on your time and at your expense. They say that cold calls equal appointments equal sales, but that's not true anymore. All sales managers are guilty of teaching it, believing it, and using it. "Increase your activity and increase your income" are the mantra. We're told to do the sales math to "motivate" ourselves.... Read More
Do you ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Does the rest of the day just follow suit? Have you ever thought that your attitude towards the day might just be coming back to you through misfortunes and bad things through out the day?Well it happens and it is called KARMA.KARMA is defined as if you put a negative out there it will come back to you in the form of another negative. So you could say... Read More
Kids play hard, and sometimes that means they play really loud in the midst of exploring their worlds and role playing with siblings and friends.I know with my kids, if I'm not hearing some degree of noise; [i.e. play], from them, it probably means one of them is not feeling well, or they are coming down with a cold.My world is blessed with two very artistic and rambounous boys; 5 years and 2 1/2 years old. With their play and... Read More
When selling your product face to face with a customer, they have no choice but to hear you out completely. Ask yourself this question, If they were listening to you describe your product on their personal voice mail, would they hear you out, or would they delete you?Never leave someone a message just to leave them a message. Your goal should be to get them to call you back.In the twenty first century, there are very few telephones that are... Read More
In sales, one of the things you will be doing a lot of, is making phone calls. You can't escape it. It just comes with the territory.Making phone calls is really not all that bad. The thought of having to do it, is actually much worse than having to physically sit down and do it, and once you get on a roll, it's never as bad as it seemed.The part of making cold calling sales calls that you will find... Read More
It sometimes surprises people when I tell them I get slightly nervous before a speaking or training event. They seem to think that because I've been doing it for years, nervousness would no longer be an issue.However "nerves" is a normal human emotion and as I often say - "I'd be nervous if I wasn't nervous!" However, it's how you handle the nerves that will determine your success as a speaker.Similarly, many sales people feel nervous or uncomfortable making cold... Read More
The catchword today for business is flexibility.With changes in suppliers, customers, and the processes connecting them altering almost daily (or so it seems) the future clearly belongs to the organisations which can adjust to change quickly and effectively.The good news for Call Centres is that, unlike more traditional sales organisations, the modern Call Centre has the equipment in place to measure this easily.Instead of doing a sales training course and then waiting some weeks or months before you can reasonably... Read More
Originally the conference call was limited to businesses paying exorbitant fees to the telcos. For business, it still made sense economically because the costs were less than the travel costs involved in bringing the people together. Additionally, significant time savings are involved, both in terms of travel time and in being able to communicate fairly rapidly to an extended group.Telcos then extended their market by providing conference calling services to home consumers for an added fee. For some, it made... Read More
Having your fingernails removed!Many salespeople would rather have their fingernails removed slowly than make a cold call. And it's no wonder; with the abundant number of resistance-inducing techniques out there, salespeople set themselves up for failure. However, New Business Development is a major key to a company's long term survival. Ask yourself, what would happen if your number one client stopped buying from you today! Well, I think we all know the answer!Here are some common sense "do's and don'ts"... Read More
