If it's done properly,
telesales is an effective way to
help your business grow. This
series of telesales articles
sets out some of the basics that
can make the difference between
being one of the best or one of
the rest.
Techniques
Smile when you are speaking on
the phone. This might sound
unusual when your prospect can
not see your face or your
wonderful smile, but smiling has
a psychological effect on your
brain which in turn affects the
way that you speak, which of
course can be heard in your
voice.
Be confident and self assured,
do not come across as being
apologetic for calling, you have
something important to
communicate, believe that and it
will show in your voice.
Try standing up when you make
calls, you will find that your
voice is much stronger when you
stand.
Address your telesales prospect
by name (but not too often),
make your approach in a
conversational style, so use
their name where it is
appropriate. However if you use
it too much, you will come
across as false and insincere.
Your objective should be to
build rapport and empathise with
your prospect; you need to
understand what their drivers
are. What are their needs and
wants?
Active Listening
One of the biggest mistakes that
telesales people make is to get
too caught up in getting across
their message to the prospect.
The inept or inexperienced
launch into their sales pitch at
the earliest opportunity and
carry on (seemingly without
drawing breath) trying to impose
their will on their potential
customer. The conversation
becomes a test of strength and
endurance to see who will give
in first.
The rule should be that you have
two ears and one mouth and they
should be used in that
proportion - listen twice as
much as you speak. Nod your head
in acknowledgment, even though
your prospect can not see it, it
will come across in your tone.
Make noises of affirmation; let
your prospect know that you
understand where they are coming
from and that you empathise with
their issues.
Listen with patience and
affection, remember that you are
building a relationship with the
person on the other end of the
phone; they need to feel that
you are interested in what they
have to say and if you listen
carefully while they are saying
it, they will tell you what
their needs and wants are. It is
your job to interpret that
information and convert it into
benefit and value statements
that your products or services
can satisfy.
Use the answers to your
questions to make the hooks that
later in the conversation you
will hang your solutions on.
This article has only been able
to cover part of the telesales
process, if you have found it
useful, please check out the
other articles in this series,
they are:-
How to excel at Telesales
Make Effective Prospecting the
Key to Telesales Success
Be Brilliant at Cold Calling and
Watch Your Telesales Soar
Make the Initial Approach Count
in Telesales
Source: Bernard
Richards
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