How many competitors operate within your sector or area of business? The chances are that there are quite a few. And, it’s quite possible that they’re offering similar services to yours, if not identical. This is why you need to chiise the right person for telemarketing calls..
As a consequence, you need to think carefully about how to make your business and your services attractive to prospective clients. This isn’t just for telesales but across the board when it comes to sales and marketing.
You are the Proposition
You can’t divorce the proposition from the person. What you say from the very first moment counts towards your likely success. We suggest that, as a first approach, you consider what problems your business solves rather than kick off with the services you offer. Too many telemarketers jump in too soon and pitch at the prospect. This puts the customer on the back foot and that is not somewhere they will want to remain for long. They’re busy and have lots of competing priorities. You, therefore, need to get to the point quickly and make it sufficiently interesting to encourage your prospective client to remain on the line.
What’s in it for the Customer?
The reality is that building a perfect telemarketing proposition isn’t so much about what you offer as about what you do for the client. It’s only about you, in so far as whether you personally come across as likeable, credible, interesting and genuinely interested in the customer. People buy people so your whole approach to the initial part of the call counts immeasurably. If you come across as stilted, scripted and insincere, no matter what you say, it will fall on deaf ears and the prospect will quickly end the call.
Think very carefully, and plan in advance for what you might start with. Of course, you need to tell them who you are and where you’re calling from. And, it needs to be upbeat, not bored-sounding. But, then it’s what you say next that counts. What’s your reason for calling?
For example:
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- Do you help to reduce business costs?
- Does your solution significantly improve productivity against what the client may currently be using?
- Do you protect systems or resolve some other equally frustrating problem?
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Use Reference Points
Name-dropping helps. We call it ‘reference points’. Whilst a shiny new supplier may be tempting, many buyers default back to suppliers that can quickly showcase credibility. So, if you’ve done tons of work in their sector, say that. If you’ve worked for well-known companies in that field, get that point in early. It buys you time. Then state your desired outcome. Do you want to provide a trial? Is it a 30-minute meeting you’d like? Or do you want to invite them to an event or do an online demo? Whatever it is, on the phone, you have perhaps one or two sentences at most to grab the attention of your prospect. Therefore, try to make sure that you use those first few critical seconds of your initial sales call to focus on your clients and their needs rather than you and your services.
Questions and Listening
And, don’t forget to gather more info and show you’re genuine by asking good pain-based open questions early on that further:
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- Encourage conversation
- Support rapport-building and
- Get to the heart of what the customer needs and how what you offer will help
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What’s more, remember that you have two ears and one mouth. So, use them in that proportion. Don’t blow your great proposition and your opportunity by talking non-stop so they can’t wait to get rid of you. The aim is to demonstrate a real interest in them in order to be successful. They don’t want to be just another cold call on your list.
Structure and Planning Pay Dividends
The structure is important. If you don’t plan your call, chances are that you will end up winging it and you’ll go off-track. That could create a scenario where you’re perceived as vague and wasting the prospect’s time. It most certainly reduces your chance of success.
So, if you want to know how to build a perfect telemarketing proposition, think first about your customer and his or her issues. Then consider how you can help them alleviate those problems. And then work out how you’ll position that in those first few seconds of the call. If you structure your call in that way, you’ll, at the very least, stack the odds in your favour and better differentiate your approach from the competitors who will also be targeting those customers.
GSA helps businesses become more effective in their marketing and business development. We run outbound telemarketing campaigns into the UK, Europe and further afield. Also, with our experience, we provide telemarketing training to help sales teams improve their results. If you’d like to know more, give us a call.
