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Outbound telemarketing is still one of the most popular direct marketing techniques employed by many SME’s as well as established businesses around the world for revenue generation. Nowadays it is very common to see toll-free telephone numbers accompanying print and media advertisements demanding immediate action from the reader. However, there are many companies that work the opposite, taking the initiative to contact the potential customer and convincing them to invest in their products or services using mass text services as well.
When a telemarketing agent makes a call, there are possibilities that they may convince the prospect and initiate a buying decision or end up losing a customer forever. As outbound telemarketing demands investment in terms of people and time, so it is becoming important for companies to develop their own list of best practices. Here are best practices for outbound telemarketing sales success.
Follow FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule
If you are utilizing telemarketing sales via VoIP telephone or POTS telephone calls at your business, hopefully you have already familiarized yourself with the Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. If not, you should definitely do so before making your first call. The FTC website has a slew of resources available to businesses looking to make use of telemarketing. Read their Q&A for telemarketers and sellers about DNC Provisions in TSR, or Do Not Call provisions in the Telemarketing Sales Rule. This is an absolute must do first step.
Create A Script
Create a telemarketing script for outgoing business marketing communications. Of course, you do not want your telemarketing professionals to sound like programmed robots. Therefore, telemarketing scripts should only be used as a guideline. Create scripts that lead telemarketers in the right direction in regards to their marketing phone calls. Then, be sure to communicate the importance of ad-libbing and going off-script as necessary to have genuine interactions with customers. When you create scripts, you empower your telemarketing sales professionals to do the job right and steer the sales conversations in the right direction. Make sure to employ these telemarketing best practices to avoid having to meet workers compensations requirements for dissatisfied employees.
Contact The Right Person
This is the first rule of any outbound sales program. There is no point talking to a person who will not be interested in buying from you. Market segmentation and CRM software small business applications will help to identify a potential customer. Today, there are various online and offline sources that give a fair idea of the potential target market and consumers. So little homework is always helpful to make a success-driven sales call.
Seek Permission
The opening line should always be a polite address to the person and seeking their permission to convey your message. There are all chances that the person on the other end may not be in the mood to listen. You can politely ask them alternative time to complete the conversation. This will give an impact that you care for their moods and consider them as a valued customer for your business. It will also help lead to more pleasant customer interactions, which will keep employee morale high and improve employee retention rates for your business.
Ask What You Want
After all, that is the main reason for making this call. You can ask what you want – requesting a few minutes of their precious time to listen, participate in an online printing demo, contribute or hear a sales pitch.
Spread Out Benefits
The first obvious question that a telemarketer may face is why should I listen to you? Or, why should I buy from you? There is an easy way to tackle such questions. Spread out benefits that a customer may expect from your brand. A sound knowledge of products and services will help a telemarketer to convince the customer. You may also want to present the findings of any recent e-commerce news that reflects positively on your business’s product. A telemarketer should always try to use minimum words to explain features and benefits to a customer.
Take Commitment From The Customer
This is a very important step to finish a call. At the end of the call, a telemarketer should ask customer’s commitment to buy a product or voluntarily contribute to the cause, etc. If the prospect shows some interest, the telemarketer should thank them for their consideration and seek permission to know their final decision. For eg.They can also use the time to seek permission for setting a convenient online meeting time with a sales executive, demonstration, etc. The telemarketer can carefully use phrases such as: “I have following days open, which time suits you?” etc.
Fortunately, there aren’t hard and fast rules for successful outbound telemarketing. The above – mentioned tips have proven track record of success and they will help a business nurture quality leads by minimizing waste of time and energy.
