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How to find telesales staff who make a positive impact on your business

how to reduce turnover - telephone skills training Outshine LtdIt’s very easy to attract the wrong people to work in telesales.  Problem is, getting it wrong it could have a terrible impact on your business… before you realise it. So how do you find telesales staff who make a positive impact on your business?

So, why is it important to your business to attract staff effective on the phone?

Over the last few years I’ve seen the role of ‘telesales’ raise its profile within businesses. No longer is telesales just aimed at ‘sales’ people. Telesales, telemarketing, business development all play an important part in all types of companies. Whether it’s accountants, charities, service industries, solicitors or manufacturing, all of them need good telesales staff.

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Why follow up calls are critical to your business

cold calling mythsIt had been a long day. I was finally on my way home from a recent meeting so I turned my phone back on to check if I had received any calls. Sure enough the familiar ping sounded and so I listened in… but what I heard was not what I expected…

”…. It’s just a courtesy call; you used to be a customer of ours in 2014.”

It was a follow up call! A message left from a hotel I used to host my courses with back in 2014. A hotel I’d totally forgotten about because in the almost three years since then I have used other hotels for training days. I was flabbergasted! It was 2017? Why had they suddenly decided to contact me now? My first thought… they’re probably trying to sell me something.

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How to reduce turnover and retain your internal telephone ‘sales’ staff

Blog post image - staff turnoverStaff turnover is notoriously high in the internal telephone sales industry, and with good reason; without the right support, training and systems in place, making a stream of constant cold calls and working from poor quality lists can be boring, un-motivating and downright soul destroying for your employees.

So how you can reduce turnover and retain your internal telephone ‘sales’ staff?

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Is it time to STOP Cold Calling?

dead-end-sign-cul-de-sac-hopeless-163728Contrary to the rumours that cold calling is on its way out, when approached in the right way, it remains a viable source of leads for many organisations, charities and welfare to work initiatives.

But times are changing.

What is on its way out is the old fashioned approach of being given a list and expecting staff to make endless calls with no strategy in place and no evaluation of current practices.

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The 7 Most Common Excuses for Not Making Calls – and how to overcome them

Are you using these common excuses for not making calls? It’s time to get over your resistance to picking up the phone – and start gaining new business.

EXCUSE 1 – No one is ever in when I phone.

Be smart, and choose the right times to contact your prospects. For instance, don’t ring a school at 3pm when it’s obvious that it’s the most hectic time for them.  Importantly, never use ‘people not being in’ as a reason to give up. You might make 20 calls and only speak to 2 people. BUT all that matters is that you present yourself in a compelling way when you do reach those 2 people.

EXCUSE 2 – I’m far too busy.

Just one hour every week, highlighted in your diary and acted on, consistently, WILL make a difference. Not only will it help build your pipeline and potentially find opportunities, it will do wonders for your confidence. If you’re serious about getting results, then you will find time. Believe me, your competitor won’t be too busy to find time to make calls.

EXCUSE 3 – No one is interested.

This normally means you’ve called a handful of people who’ve not been positive about your call, and this has put you off. If your calls are structured in the right way and are aimed at engaging the decision maker, you’ll find people who are interested. Importantly you must believe in whatever you’re promoting. Consider some training in dealing with objections– this will help to minimise the “no one is interested” mindset.

EXCUSE 4 – The list or database I’m using is rubbish.

I agree – you are only ever going to be good as the database you are working from. If you’re grappling with poor quality data, communicate this to a line manager so they can do something about it. But make sure you’ve made enough calls to come to this conclusion. This doesn’t mean ringing 7 companies and then giving up. If you want to be successful at calling, be proactive.

EXCUSE 5 – There are too many companies like ours already making calls. / Too much competition.

Competition is healthy. Although multiple companies appear to be selling the same product or service, I can guarantee they will each have unique selling points. This is where ‘personal branding’ is key. Sounding positive, enthusiastic and taking an interest in your prospect will get them sitting up and listening to you – you’ll immediately stand out from most other callers. Use relevant case studies to differentiate yourself. Do research and use what you know during your call to ensure they remember you. If everyone worried about competition, no one would make calls.

EXCUSE 6 – We haven’t got any marketing material to send out.

Do you really believe people will reject you if you haven’t got any materials to send out? As nice as it is to have swanky brochures, people buy people first. If you’ve had a good call, the best thing you can do is send out an email after the conversation – but do check with your prospect that it’s OK to follow up via email.  If you arrange to see prospects face to face, a simple business card will be fine in the first instance.

EXCUSE 7 – We won’t be able to deliver what they want in a timely fashion.

This is a valid concern. Sometimes other departments or individuals let us down. If you’re ringing about a promotion, knowing that you’re low on stock, or trying to make appointments and fear the rep will end up cancelling, then you’ll shy away from picking up the phone – and with good reason. Managing your potential customers’ expectations is important if you’re serious about forming a long-term relationship. Planning and preparation are the keys to success here. Never make a call knowing you can’t fulfil what you’re proposing. Deal with any practical concerns before you pick up the phone.

Like this? Take a look at my blog post: How to reduce staff turnover and retain your internal sales staff

Author: Audrey Bodman

www.telephonetraininguk.co.uk

Phone: 01157 750125

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6 Painless Telesales Techniques That Really Work

It’s true! Telesales, done the right way, can bring in lots of business. It can also be totally painless, and even fun.

Read on to discover 6 painless telesales techniques that really work.

Telesales is effective because it lets you make sales through human conversation. But, because you’re on the phone, you can contact way more prospects in a given time than you could by meeting them face-to-face. It’s pretty cost-friendly compared to other sales and marketing techniques.   

So why are so many people put off using telesales? First of all, it gets associated with quick-fix cold calling, which I agree is ineffective and a waste of time.  Secondly, I often meet business people who are reluctant to use telesales as they’ve made a small number of calls and experienced rejection, or they have the wrong perception of ‘prospecting’, OR, they’re afraid to pick up the phone, full stop. BUT there are ways to make telesales work for just about any business.

You must value quality over Quantity

When you use the phone to help you start a relationship and you see it as an opportunity to warm prospects up in order to build a worthwhile pipeline, then it’s a great tool to assist with increasing sales. Remember, it’s not the only tool. Mixed with mailshots, social media, and other tactics, the results from telesales can be awesome!

To make telesales work you have to focus on having quality conversations, not on a quantity of conversations. You also have to make building relationships your priority.

How it Worked for Me

I gained one of my best ever clients through telesales. It took me 13 calls (including “away on holiday”, “out of office”, and “not interested now call back in a couple of months” type calls), and around 5 mailshots, over an 18-month period. Those calls resulted in over £15,000 worth of business, just initially. The lifetime result was truly worth the time and effort – this client has now been with me for 12 years. Yet many sales people give up after 3-4 calls.

Below are some of the strategies that I’ve used to stay motivated and focused while calling prospects.

6 Painless Telesales Techniques that Really Work

1.       Got a prospect who hasn’t got a requirement now, but hasn’t said NO? Develop the relationship by asking other questions that could help you in the future when they are in the market to do business.

2.      Make sure you are speaking to the right person FIRST TIME.

3.      Build trust and credibility by following up when you say you will. Too many salespeople fail to follow up in a timely fashion. This is a great opportunity to prove to the decision-maker that building a relationship is your first objective, followed by doing business with them.

4.      Use a CRM system to record and track activity and relationships. Buddy CRM and Salesforce are great for sales people.

5.      Develop some great open-ended questions prior to making the call, to get your prospect talking.

6.      Focus on having effective conversations instead of 100s of dial spins. You will ultimately find the ideal company to do business with.

“Personal Branding is sales, its not who you know, it’s who knows you!” – Jeff Gitomer

Author: Audrey Bodman, Telephone Training Specialist

Email: audrey@outshinegroup.co.uk     Phone: 0800 849 3242 or 0785 5213591