Seven Telemarketing Tips that Can Boost Your Business Big-Time
by Dawn M. Barclay |
Don’t let a lesson from childhood stand in the way of obtaining new clients. That was one of the many messages Renee Walkup shared during a recent interview with Travel Market Report. The owner and president of SalesPEAK, Inc. (www.salespeak.com) and author of “Selling to Anyone Over the Phone” and “The NAKED Salesperson” has been coaching salespeople over the past 14 years and said that cold-calling is essential to start building a pipeline to generate sales. The secret to being great, she said, is being an expert communicator. Here are some of her tips:
1) Ignore the Lessons of Childhood:
The warning “Do not talk to strangers!” has been embedded in our psyche, regardless of nationality or socio-economic background, said Walkup. “We’ve heard it a thousand times and it’s deep in the lizard part of our brain. As an adult, that lesson fuels our initial reluctance to cold-call, making it upsetting and intimidating.” That’s all the more reason we need a practical process to call people who don’t know us, she said. “We must start using our voices in new ways and institute some structure to know what to say so that stranger may call us back or so we can get on the phone the first time,” she said. Walkup acknowledges that cold-calling takes special skill because almost every salesperson is more comfortable in face-to-face interactions where they can gauge reactions based on nonverbal behaviors. “You get more clues as to the age of the person, whether or not they’re happy, whether it’s your turn to listen or to talk. It’s easier to be charming and helpful in person.”
2) Don’t Substitute E-Mail for the Telephone:
No one bases a relationship on e-mail; e-mail is fine as a follow-up, said Walkup. “Those who try to cold-call via e-mail find that it is totally impossible. It’s spam. And you have to remember that a director of marketing has hundreds of other people, be they your direct or indirect competitors, who are trying to get a hold of them. Therefore, they have a huge filtering system. They base decisions on ‘Who caught my attention?’ ‘Who’s most interesting?’ You can’t make those decisions via e-mail,” she said.
3) Get your PhD in Communications:
Sales is advanced communication, said Walkup. “Know how to listen, when to shut up, how to organize your thoughts. Plan ahead, focus, pause. That’s really what sales is all about, paying attention. If you keep customers’ goal in mind, you won’t be overselling or selling to someone who doesn’t want what you have to offer.”
4) Look for the Gap:
Just because a company has their own training or meeting planning departments, it doesn’t mean they don’t have a gap, said Walkup. “Find out what they’re not doing. Perhaps they don’t handle their own airline tickets or car rentals. Maybe they’re not sophisticated. Maybe there’s one person on the staff who’s on their way out. Think of the potential—most people give up too soon. Don’t be pushy or a pest, but be persistent,” she advised. How to know the difference? Pay attention to energy levels, said Walkup. “Higher energy people respect persistence, appreciate it….low energy people will be put off. You have to know your audience, and then determine your strategy,” she said.
5) Match and Mirror:
People like people who are like them. The key to making prospective clients think you are like them is to match and mirror their phone style, said Walkup. Part of that is mirroring energy levels, as described above. Listen to the speed of their speech and try to emulate it.
6) Know the Keys to Obtaining the Callback:
There is a lot of information you can get from someone’s voicemail message and you can use that information to help ensure your potential customer will return your call. One way is by emulating energy levels, as described previously, as well as other traits such as volume, speed, sentence length. “Try mimicking their speech patterns as much as possible, but within reason. If they sound dry and boring, you don’t want to go there, but you might want to tone down your energetic delivery a notch or two,” she said. Be concise, she advised. “The message should be no more than 13 seconds and should consist of who you are, what you are calling about and the action you’d like the listener to take, such as calling you back.” Walkup suggests timing yourself to make sure you stay in that 13-second range.
7) Conquer your Fear of the Phone:
Don’t be afraid of making your calls, said Walkup, “Remember: you’re not saving or ruining the world.” Start early, don’t procrastinate, and don’t use your inbox as an excuse to not get started. “Your mail will wait until your calls are done. If you haven’t checked your inbox for a few hours, don’t worry. The planet will still be here and you will be okay,” she said.
Next week: Walkup shares some of the finer points of telemarketing.
