Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Doing telemarketing right – part 1
By Mike Lake
I recently received an email from a marketing guru who wrote on the subject of telemarketing. While I feel that most of this guy’s thoughts on marketing are very insightful, I felt this one fell short. To his defense, I don’t think much of most of what I read on the subject. Having spent 20 years doing and managing telephone prospecting and sales, I figure it’s time to share some of my thoughts on how to do telemarketing right.
First, the telemarketing to which I’m referring is B to B, not calling to consumers. With the national do not call list, that practice is all but dead for consumer calling. Keep in mind that the do not call list does NOT refer to businesses. We can still call other businesses to introduce our product or service.
Despite what some might feel, telephone prospecting does work. The problem is that most people do it so poorly that it seems ineffectual. If you’ve been watching some of our recent sales videos (http://www.redlake.tv/sales_video/Sales_VideoV3.html), you know that we are great believers in… asking questions to gain understanding of the people to whom you are selling. Well, in telemarketing, the need to ask questions is exponentially greater. After all, you have neither the body language to read nor the time to develop your point as you do when you’re in person. Over the phone, we need to become immediately relevant, and quick to get the other person engaged. Let me show you how questions do both.
We’ve all taken a call that starts out, “Mr. Smith, we’re calling today to tell you about our new 2.3% finance rate on home mortgages. In these difficult times, I’m sure that saving money is important to you as it is with everyone. So, I’d like to invite you to speak with one of our senior mortgage specialists to…” I can’t remember any more, because by then, I’ve started to lose consciousness.
Instead, I would start off assuming that most people I get on the phone aren’t interested in talking about their mortgage. So let me get off the phone with those people as soon as possible. You see, like any sales effort, qualifying my prospects is job one. So let’s separate the suspects from the prospects. “Mr. Smith, I’m calling today to talk to you about saving money on your mortgage payments. Do you feel that each month you’re writing too big a check to your mortgage company?” I admit that question is a bit cheeky and is meant to be hard to say no to, but once I hear “no”, I’m probably done. I want to quickly get off and find someone who says “yes”.
So, find a short statement that describes in plain English why you are calling, then ask a simple question that qualifies them as a prospect. It’s a question that is not easy to say yes to enthusiastically. And it might put a desire in the mind of the other person to hear more. For example, If I were selling office automation equipment, I might say, “Mr. Smith, I’m with Acme copiers, and I’m calling to see if we can improve the cost-effectiveness of some of your office equipment. Are you loving your current equipment and vendor?” If I were calling about their business insurance, I might say, “Ms. Jones, I’m with Insuraco, and I’m calling to determine how we might make your company’s insurance more efficient and cost-effective. Let me ask you a question: Are you thrilled with your current carrier and their attention to your needs?”
Again, if I get “Yes.” to these questions, that person either wants me off the phone quickly or has a high loyalty to his current vendor. To the latter, I bid farewell, and to the former maybe I ask another question to see if I can get her engaged in the call. Sometimes, asking a simple follow-up question gets them talking.
For instance, if the person said “Yes” to being thrilled with their insurance, I might say, “Wow, that’s great. Can you tell me what they’re doing to keep you so satisfied?” The answer might be something less resounding, like, “Well, they just seem to be there whenever I call.” To that I ask, “Is service the most important attribute to you with your insurance?” At this point, I’m sensitive to an opening, if one seems to exist. If her answers all start ending on an upward tone, like, “Okaaaaaay.” She’s showing me the door. I might spend my time better with my next caller. Remember, you’re looking for people with a need, problem or desire. You cannot manufacture one. You must find a person with one ready-made.
So, write out your one sentence that give the purpose for the call along with a couple of questions that help you qualify the prospect. Test them out. Keep refining until you find one or two that really do the job well. In other words, the question does a good job of separating suspects from real prospects.
In part 2, I will talk about taking that existing need, problem or desire that you’ve uncovered and leveraging it into an appointment or sale.
February 4th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Mike…nice article. Thank you. The unstated premise in your article is that listening precedes selling.
I’m always saddened when my peers disqualify a prospect with his inner crystal ball. Only when you attempt contact can you gain a prospect’s attention. Only when you ask a question do you have a sellable moment. Only when you listen will you have a chance to persuade.
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April 20th, 2009 at 11:44 am
[...] part one, we discussed qualifying the person you’re calling in order to determine if you have a [...]