Sales & Marketing Authority, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

Telemarketing is a legitimate sales tool, but it’s only effective if you know how to use it correctly. Properly using telemarketing techniques involves not only making a phone call, but preparing for those telephone calls well in advance.

Today we’re going to take a look at a few things you can do to plan for your calls as well as what you should do when you get a screener on the phone (ie. before you speak to the decision maker).

Before your calls:

Identify your purpose. What do you want to achieve as a result of this call? You may be dying for a sale, or you may simply be happy with generating a new prospect or lead for your team. If you can’t visualise the results you want to achieve, you’ll never reach them.

Question yourself. Think about your purpose and make a list of questions for yourself. Ask yourself how you’ll achieve the goals you’ve set, what actions you need to take, and what actions you’d like your prospect to take. Then ask yourself how you’re going to go about taking those actions.

Have a backup plan. In short, have a goal and a smaller subgoal. Say your goal is to make a sale today. Perhaps the person you are speaking to can’t afford to make a purchase. Will you settle for obtaining permission to contact them again or to send out an information package?

Once the call begins:

When you start making phone calls you’ll run into a number of situations where the person who picks up the phone is NOT the decision maker. You’ll need to be prepared to deal with a screener and know what to say in order to make it through to the person you really wish to speak to.

Do unto others. Treat the screener as politely as you would treat the person you really wish to speak to. He or she has the option of letting you through or not. A misstep on your part may result in a hang-up!

Ask for help. Just because you’ve reached a screener doesn’t mean he or she can’t give you information. Gathering information about a business is essential to your ability to tailor a sales call, so take the opportunity to ask the person who answers the phone for help answering a few questions and then ask to be transferred to the appropriate party.

Telemarketing can result in tremendous sales increases if done correctly. We’ll talk about other telemarketing tips in the future. In the meantime, take a few moments to stop and think about your goals. Are you really prepared to pick up the phone?

Happy Telemarketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Telephone 0800 849 6732