Telemarketing.co.uk

How to deal with a “no name policy”

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:02:16 +0000

“We have a no names policy says the receptionist at the switchboard, sorry I can not give you the name/s”Remember what I have said about dealing with objections/blocks from individuals on your call route. Do not be tempted to argue to get round them. Acknowledging their view of the world is the most powerful strategy you can adopt. Just say “that’s absolutely fine, no problem at all”. Could you be so kind to put me through, which of course they are obliged to do, so it could be the sales director, operations director or the CEO’s PA. Then what do you find or hear a voicemail which gives their name! If this is not the case Google can be your best friend here -type into google the title of the person whose name you are looking for and the name of the company -there is a very good chance their name will come up on linkedin or a speaker at a conference, or maybe they wrote an article some time ago…..

Also remember that often what one person tells you is not always upheld with the same dedication. So you may find that calling back a little later you may find that person more helpful, especially at the end of the day if you get security or the off duty receptionist.

How to capture an executive’s attention

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:39:42 +0000

I thought I would write this blogg post which is related to a question I got from one of my business school talks which was: Executives keep ignoring my call, what do I need to do to get their attention?

I think the “keep ignoring” may give a clue to the problem. There may be two probems here 1) This person is working for a company that demands “spray and pray” behaviour ie 60-80calls a day with constant cries “keep making those calls”. What comes out of this process is an annoying behaviour where the salesperson or the telemarketer keeps calling the same people over and over again with very little time between the calls. 2)The other problem is that the person has put so much pressure on themself to get through to this individual decision-maker that they too call too often. I think that unsolicited calls should only be made with a week’s interval between them otherwise I think the executive will just refuse to speak to you.

If an executive is seemingly so difficult to get hold of, try different strategies but do not keep doing the same thing which produces the same useless outcome! As I have counselled in some of my previous posts, work with the personal assistants to find a time in their calender, or find a way to get hold of their mobile number(eg ask the switchboard to put you through to their number), considered calling and polite texts can also work well. Any sign of desperation in trying get hold of these decision-makers will get you permanently blocked.

Moreover, I keep coming back to this research element, find out something about them and their business which will really capture their attention, especially if is current and a priority. There is loads of information in the public domain, news releases, articles, utube presentations they may have made -all this can be referenced in a really relaxed way and get really responsive call backs. I remember once seeing an article about a company in the Sunday times -on the monday I called the CEO and made reference to that article. Within the hour he had called me back and we had a meeting booked. This was just one call!

Finally,the other thing I would say before signing off is that when you make loads of the same calls and say the same thing you become to sound stale. It is almost that after 10secs of you opening your mouth they know it is a cold call followed by a pitch. So make the intial investment in doing the upfront work and it will pay great dividends. Once more you will actually enjoy the work rather than finding it a frustrating thankless task!!

How to start a cold call?

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:43:10 +0000

As you will have noticed from my past posts, there is a whole process to this, including doing your research about the decision-maker and the company as well as calibrating their voice tone when they pick up the phone. But if you want a simple way..

Then try this for size. I believe that they are people out there at the end of the phone when you cold call that will genuinely help you. With this belief and a polite and respectful manner, start your cold calls with introducing yourself and then saying “I wonder if you could help me…….pause”, if the person sounds stressed or harassed then suggest an alternative time to call back. If they say yes, you can then say that you have helped other similar companies to do XYZ (assuming this is true!) and who would be the person overall responsible for this area of the business. They may own up and say it is them or direct you to the appropriate person. If it is them, do not try to pitch to them there and then. Assume that it is inconvenient and ask them for a brief telephone meeting of 15mins at another time to discuss how you may be able to help them. I had a huge amount of success with this approach as it acknowledges the great point that I heard Tony Robbins make a long time ago, that every telephone call is an interruption and by reflecting this in your manner and your conversation you will get much better results. This way your cold call will become warmer and warmer!

How to make a good impression when first calling a senior executive for the first time!

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:05:07 +0000

What stops many people “starting conversations from cold” with senior people is that they are frightened about tripping over their words, getting tongue tied or feeling that they have made a fool of themselves. So how do you get off to a good start a create a good lasting impression?

For years in my talks and training sessions people ask me, what are the magic words, what do you say to get a senior decision-maker’s attention? The real secret is in the voice tone, listen to the voice tone of the senior executive when they first pick up the phone. That tone will give you a huge amount of information as to what they are doing at that precise moment in time and more importantly what kind of mood they are in. Many sales or telemarketing people are so keen to dive into their pitch they miss this valuable information. Once you have listened and assessed what the other person’s world is like, acknowledge it immediately -introduce yourself, and say (which is very often the case) I am so sorry it sounds like this is not a convenient time, when would be a better time or could I call your PA to schedule a convenient time? In other words back off immediately.

Many sales people believe because they have spent so much time and effort in actually getting hold of a senior executive they should hold on them until they have said at least an overview of what they do. This just simply annoys the executive and then they will find it even more difficult the next time. I know it seems counter intuitive but it works, you can even make a joke of it and say “I know you do not want to speak to me now”, especially if they sound very stressed. This way you have reflected their world back to them and you will definitely make a lasting impression. Then it will be so much easier for you to speak to them the next time.

No response from my job application, how do I follow up by phone?

admin — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:42:41 +0000

The first thing that springs to mind is who is the decision-maker in this process and how can you get to them? Then you can think about your follow up by phone.If your job application is with a recruitment agency/consultancy, they are by definition the go between with the decision-maker or the hiring contact in the organisation. The easiest and most significant goal is to follow up with a telephone meeting with the decision-maker or hiring contact, so you can talk through your application. Work with the recruiter to have that call -if you are constantly being told to call back and they will let you know, you may like to ask the question : “Am I really in the running for this post or are their more preferable candidates?” Not a comfortable question but certainly one which will give you a real idea of where you are in the hiring process When they answer, listen first and foremost to the voice tone. That will give away the real answer to your question!

If your application is directly with the organisation/company, again request a telephone meeting so you can talk through your application; if they invite you in for an interview and you do not have to travel too far, even better! If possible try to get your application in front of the hiring manager rather than dealing with HR who very often will be filtering out applications just by the criteria they see on paper.

In both cases be persistent and polite but do not let anyone give you “the run around” where you are constantly calling and getting no real answer. If you get a sense they are doing that, again just be direct with them and ask them if you have been successful or not.

If you do get a telephone interview, prepare well for it, imagine you are the interviewer and the type of questions they could ask. Then imagine the best possible answers they would want to hear!

How to identify the true decision-maker?

admin — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 18:50:35 +0000

This was one of the questions from one of my talks at the business schools, it’s a good question because a number of individuals in corporates like to think they are the decision-maker but in fact they are an important influencer! So how do you find the person who really makes the decisions?I have always found the best way is to go to the very top and ask the personal assistant of the Chief executive but if that is “too high up” especially if it is an enormous multi-national, then go to the secretary/personal assistant of the divisional head where you want to do business. That way she will be able to direct you to the key director and then his/her secretary should be able to cast light on the decision-making process. There is nothing worse being stuck in a sales process where you are not talking to the decision-maker. It makes it so difficult to then go above their head which will very often severely compromise the existing relationship. The golden rule is that if you always go high enough in the first place you can fall a number of places before you get to the level that you need to talk to. Going in the opposite direction can be very difficult and time consuming as you are waiting for the influencer to sell your case to the decision-maker. Far better that you do this job yourself!!

Tony Robbins believes in the power of the phone

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:08:59 +0000

I remember years ago when I attended a Tony Robbins three day event, I got some CD’s as part of the promotion and on one of them he was teaching the listener about the value of cold calling. Two very important points stick in my mind 1)You must believe in what you are selling or promoting and in turn the value it can bring to the person you are calling 2) How you come across or how you sound over the phone. In fact I will never forget him saying “Most cold calls fail because the person sounds boring”. This comes back to the all important principle of being in the right mental and energy “state” – he then talks about “getting into State” and reaching at a high enough energy level to make the right impact and get the results you want.

I really understood what he meant by “state” when we did the fire walk on the first night of the three day event. In order to walk across these hot coals you have to be in an optimum “state” so we did not burn out feet. So we had to be very focused and the the appropriate internal dialogue so that we got the outcome we wanted. This was to get to the end of the stretch of the burning coals without getting hurt. We did a lot of preparation getting into the right state by jumping up and downing, dancing to very up beat music and lots of high fives with our partner. We then have to practise in the main hall walking up and down imagining we were doing the fire walk with very deliberate steps while at the same time saying “cool moss”, cool moss” as we walked across the imaginary coals.

Now whether you are working in a new business development role, a telemarketer, or in a call centre, you are not walking on hot colds but driving towards business outcomes on the phone. Make sure you maintain your energy level, Robins’s counsel is that if 0 is no energy and 10 is maximum energy, you should be aiming for a 7/8. Then also run an appropriate internal dialogue for the outcome you want to achieve. eg ” I can close this meeting”… or ” I can reach this decision-maker”. The confidence that will come from maintaining your optimum state will shine through your voice and you will be more likely to reach your daily targets and your overall goals.

Giving telemarketers a better way -follow the process!

admin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:41:53 +0000

This is the last step of my 7 step to recovery model from a stroke “following the process”. Everyday in hospital I had exercises (physio) to do to regain movement in my effected side. My right arm and hand were paralysed and I was unable to walk. I had very specific exercises to do twice a day for about 15mins but they were critical to my recovery. As I got better, I was able to spend a little longer doing them, but in essence it was about doing them regularly even if some of them were quite difficult. As I was very diligent as well as lucky, the movement came back and I started to walk again. It took just under a month before I took my first steps. During this period, I had kept a bright vision of getting better and followed the process of doing my exercises and having any necessary tests which were required. Also because I followed step 5 of managing my emotions, I kept motivated to do the exercises in the first place.

So how is this relevant to telemarketers?

As the medical team advised me of a process to follow because they knew it worked, there is a similar parallel in telemarketing. We know that so many dial outs are required to get so many conversations which lead to so many appointments. This of course varies enormously from campaign to campaign but the process is consistent throughout. There is of course the question of quality and delivery and if we improve that, we can vary these statistics enormously. However we must make the calls in the first place and keep going when the going gets tough. I am sure I have said this many times before, but most prospects “from cold” will say “no” at least six times before they say “yes”. People need time to marinate your proposition before they will agree to time to hear more about it. Interestingly a lot of sales people give up after 4 or 5 rejections leaving the potential opportunity wide open for the competition.

Look for models of great practice where you can see the person or company getting consistently outstanding results. Follow that process to the letter but of course keep your own personality in the calls. You can then be assured that you are following a path which will definately get you the outcomes you want. So in conclusion follow the process, don’t dilute it or give up too soon!

Giving telemarketers a better way -work with a support group!

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:30:29 +0000

As we progress through my 7 steps to recovery from a stroke, we now have come to “rapport with support staff”. By taking an interest in the medical staff and building rapport with each and everyone that looked after me, I felt that I had a real community of support around me to help drive my recovery. How is this relevant to telemarketers?

If you work in a team you can support each other with the day to day challenges that you have with your work. However, the telemarketer can be on their own, working in the corner of an office or very often working from home, having to be very self disciplined and deal with set backs on their own. Therefore it is very important to have a support group with whom you can share your experiences and find different ways of getting the results you want.

I remember years ago when I got very down with my endless calling work, I was introduced to Neuro-linguistic Programming NLP. This communication discipline enabled me to understand why and how I was getting stuck and frustrated with my work. It also made my daily work more interesting as I started to be curious about all the different types of people, I would encounter on the calls and their very individual communication styles. The other people on my course were from very different backgrounds but I was able to share my experiences with them and discover much better ways of going about my telemarketing work. In fact from the support and feedback I got from the course I was able to see a new future, which was to set up my own training and coaching company to help others make effective calls. I was very good at reaching senior decision-makers but was making no progress at all in career terms at the company where I was working. The support group helped me make a major breakthrough!

Of course when you are calling, look for people along the call route who can support you and help you to get to where you want to reach in your target organisations. Build rapport with receptionists, PAs, colleagues of the person you are trying to reach. By doing so, you can get really get extra valuable information on the way and they can help you get to the person you want to speak to, so much more quickly and efficiently.

So overall look and listen for where you can get support. if you are a telemarketer working for yourself there are bound to be a number of support networking groups, who can help you get more work or give you leads to valuable contacts which will help your campaign. Lastly by taking an interest in others you will get so much help in return!

Giving telemarketers a better way -managing your emotions!

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:52:34 +0000

Learning once again from my 7 steps to recovery from a stroke we now go to step 5 which is “State management”. This is all about how you manage your emotions when the going is really tough. In my case I had to deal with the fact that my right arm and hand did not function at all and I could not walk. How did I keep my spirits up in such circumstances? 1) I focused on what I had and could do rather than what I had lost 2) I kept a diary and a journal of all the things that were going well and any positive feedback that I got; I also used both writing logs to externalise any frustration that I had at the time. 3)If something did not work I would try something different rather than keep doing the same things 4)”Square breathing”, taking a deep breath through one’s nose, holding it for 5secs and then breathing out through one’s mouth; as you do this concentrating on the outcome you want.

So how does all this help the telemarketer?

1) When we are doing a calling campaign and the calls are not going well, we often turn on ourselves and say we are no good. I remember coaching someone in a call centre who said everyday he felt he had “to start again”. That he was only as good as that day’s results. What I pointed out to him was that he had all those dozens of campaigns and calls that went with them, where he had been very successful. So it is during these times that we must focus on what we have achieved and can do, rather than the fact that the calls we are making at the moment are not getting any results yet. And “yet being the key word!!

2) I am sure I have said this before but logging positive stuff is very important. What I had not realised when I was in hospital that it ties in with the work of Dr Martin Seligman that by recording even very small positive events or observations on a daily basis, we can significantly affect our mood in a positive way. If you have not done this, get an A5 diary from a local stationers and log as Dr Seligman encourages between 3-5 positive things each day. They do not have to be grand in any way, in fact quite small in some cases, a smile; someone holds a door open for you etc. . Then watch how your mood level increases. Now do the same with your call logging and positive stuff that comes out of each call even though you do not necessarily get the ideal outcome in each case. As well as improving your mood it will make your work more interesting. You will begin to notice the texture of each call and how people communicate and sound so differently; in turn you can adjust your style so that it is more in sync with theirs and hence build better rapport. Then you are more likely to get the outcomes you want.

3) But let’s just come back to mood and managing your emotions bit. Why is the latter so important, apart from the obvious that you need to keep going and make your calls? Well because how you feel affects how you sound which is turn affects the outcome of your calls. Sound or how you deliver a call is in fact more important than what you say! Don’t get me wrong words are still very important but the delivery can contribute up to 70% of the impact of a call. So all this feeling stuff is absolutely critical. In that call centre project I mentioned, I made the point by saying “feel sound cash”. In contrast when I was speaking at Cranfield School of Management I talk about “feel sound opportunities”

Take now take all this and make it work for you!