Telemarketing for many people is a task. It is an uphill struggle that takes a long time, is laborious and does not produce results. The reason for this is twofold; they don’t spend enough time and/or don’t follow the basic principles of telemarketing.
Here are 5 golden tips for anyone looking to telemarket: If you want to be effective, follow these tips ‘every day’ and you will be successful.
prepare your day
Any country preparing for war first has a battle plan: it needs a battle plan for its day.
1. Declutter your desk: Keep things nice and neat, fresh, and clutter-free. Make sure you’ve had a good night’s sleep and have fluids handy. Make sure your chair is comfortable, has good lighting, and is comfortable enough to be there for 8 hours.
2. Prepare your data for call days: know who you are going to call and what type of calls they will be (cold calls, follow-up calls, closing calls, etc.)
Both of these sound really silly, but if the basics aren’t adhered to, then you’re doomed to fail.
Allow time for prospecting
As part of the preparation, you should spend some time finding new contacts.
Normal and socially acceptable calls would be from 10 am to 5 pm Outside of this, people tend to see it as irritating and intrusive.
So this gives you a good couple of hours to research new prospects, perform administrative tasks, and upload data to the call list for the day.
Telemarketing is a numbers game
The more calls you make, the better your chances of success. The main call time is from 10 am to 5 pm; You shouldn’t be doing administrative work right now (except quick emails) as you’re missing out on potential opportunities.
Your day should have some cold calls and some follow-ups (balance weighted cold calls for new prospects).
Follow-up of all sales opportunities
If you are only following warm/hot leads, then you are missing out on opportunities.
Always follow up on leads, even if they are a waste of time, as you never know.
Stay tuned for industry news and events; PR launches, new products can always provide insight into things going on that you can jump into. If one company merges with another they will need new marketing material so if this is your line then you need to get involved.
Smile and pretend you enjoy it
When you’re on the phone with someone, they notice 2 things (subconsciously) which is what you say and how you say it. There’s about a 50% split here, so if it sounds boring, they’ll notice. By smiling and being happy, you’ll bring good energy to the call and at least lift someone’s day.
If you sit back, smile and speak with passion, it will come through and the call will have more energy.
If you are cheerful and polite, then the results will show, you may even get an order.
Telemarketing is all about following the math, as long as you follow the rules and make sure everything is getting done, the rest is numbers.
This tip is as much for telemarketers as it is for anyone who has to keep track of leads. Telemarketing (by itself) is not a difficult process, but if you don’t follow these basic principles and just improvise, then it will be hard work, disjointed and probably unsuccessful.