Are you still having issues getting through to the right person? Do probing questions from a receptionist or other gatekeeper bring you out in a cold sweat?
You’re not alone. Getting through to the right person or ‘getting past the gatekeeper’ continues to be a major challenge for many people working in a telesales or Welfare to Work telephone team. And it often begins with mindset.
[Read more…] about Getting past the gatekeeper: How to keep control of calls
I’m not a fan of ‘detailed’ scripts. When I say a ‘detailed’ script I mean the type that makes individuals sound like a robot with no personality.
A ‘detailed’ script that fails to give individuals any flexibility should be banned as far as I’m concerned.
Nothing is worse than receiving a telesales call from a telemarketing person who reels off an in-depth scripted presentation with no break to even see if I’m still on the other end of the phone. Many a time they’ve been that bad that I’ve considered whether it would be worthwhile going to make a cup of tea while they go on and on!
[Read more…] about Should you use scripts when telephone prospecting or not?
It’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.
[Read more…] about How to find telesales staff who make a positive impact on your business
It 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.
[Read more…] about Why follow up calls are critical to your business
Staff 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?
[Read more…] about How to reduce turnover and retain your internal telephone ‘sales’ staff
Contrary 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.