September 01, 2015
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
As consumers, how often do we trust someone we don’t know? Does it matter if we meet them in person or simply receive a telephone call? Does it matter if the person is selling something or is calling for a completely different reason? What if they represent a company we already know – does that make a difference? If we receive a call as a result of telemarketing software, we may not know the technology behind the initial reach, but we may be leery to trust the individual on the other end of the line.
For that individual making the telemarketing call, trust is everything. If they can get you to trust them, they’re more likely to make the successful sale. The challenge, of course, is that it seems no one wants to receive the telemarketing call. As the individual in charge of ensuring your team can successfully leverage telemarketing software to make the necessary calls and close the required number of deals, you have to have a strategy to bridge that gap. Fortunately, a recent Forbes piece has a bit of insight to help.
The goal of any sales call should be to gain trust quickly – a tall order even with robust telemarketing software at play. While the standard common courtesy rules should apply, we also need to consider other elements that play into the mix. For instance, when was the last time one of your telemarketing agents greeted the prospect warmly on the phone? This is a challenge in and of itself as agents are calling people they don’t know, so how could they treat them like an old friend? Those who can master it often have better results.
It’s also not uncommon for agents to tend to want to speak quickly when the individual answers the phone as they believe they only have seconds to get to the heart of the matter before the prospect either says, “no” or simply hangs up the phone. The individual who speaks deliberately and slowly will exude calmness and likely have the same effect on the person on the other end of the line. This also creates the optimal tone to ensure the agent listens intently when the prospect is speaking so they can better respond in the conversation.
Make the goal a conversation instead of just a sale. If agents make calls to simply make the sale, they will have to make a lot of calls before they land a sale. If they instead set out to have conversations with individuals where they are contributing value to the conversation, positive outcomes are more likely. Plus, even if the sale isn’t made in that call, the prospect is more likely to take a follow-up call when the time is right.
Remember, successful sales demand trust. If an agent can get a prospect to trust them in a single call, their sales career is bright. If not, well, there’s always other job choices.