Telemarketing

Even at Harvard they have to cold call!

David — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:20:18 +0000

I was just doing some research about cold calling and wondered if there was any reference to work done at Harvard.I was delighted to see that it takes place in the 2 year MBA programe and the The MBA Exchange in its business school profile of Harvard refers to “the infamous cold call being a rite to passage”. I later discovered in The Harbus -The Harvard Student Weekly, an article by a student called “Second Semester Cold call: A Survivors Guide” http://tiny.cc/tyvc1 , well worth a read as you can see what an ordeal it must have been. So if Harvard does this is as part of their education, does this not say something. I believe this shows that cold calling or better still starting a conversation from cold is a key business process which should be learnt by all entrepreneurs. Then may be all the displacement activities which are employed by a lot of people to avoid calling key executives to build their business would be reduced significantly. I accept rejection can be unpleasant, but after all it is just a telephone!

A Part Of Me Dies Everyday!!

David — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:29:24 +0000

What a statement, this was said by a friend of mine who worked in a call centre!He said that he was so restricted by what he could say in “his script” that he found the work soul destroying. Furthermore because he was so restricted in his communication style, the potentially interested prospects got really irriated with him and would not engage properly in conversation. This really got him down and he approached every call with the feeling “oh not another one”. Happily he has changed job and is finding his current work rewarding. However I really struggled with how a call centre business could run an operation where most of its employees were just so miserable in what they did! It made me think of entirely the opposite situation when I was engaged by a call centre to do exactly the opposite ie to find ways to make the work more enjoyable and stimulating and above all to ensure that the potential customer was treated with the best possible respect and consideration at all times. The agents first and foremost were taught to consider “the other persons world”, listen to their voice tone to get clues about what they were doing at the point of receiving the call. Then for the agent to adjust their introduction and delivery accordingly. Agents were invited to be curious about the different customer’s or potential customer’s communication style and to adjust their own style so they were in proper rapport and sync with them. When things were not going well, I taught the agents about how to pace themselves and change their state, so they would be in much more resourceful place to carry out their work. The project was a great success not only from the agents and team leaders being happy and more productive in their work but also this was reflected in a significant change in the revenue figures!

Now this is when you can use the power of the phone!

David — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:54:57 +0000

With all this beautiful snow you need….. to really think about how you can really leverage the phone for your business. This level of snow fall is clearly causing huge disruption as people try to get about their normal business days. I know that alot of this movement is about getting to meetings to get specific outcomes from clients or prospective clients. My belief is that and I keep saying this!! Much of this could be done over the phone! Its simple, again it is about setting up a formal telephone meeting with an agreed agenda. Also any documents which are required for the meeting are sent across well in time to be studied before hand. In order to ensure the best possible outcomes for the meeting, imagine standing in the shoes of each and everyone present. Then go through the meeting in your mind being each one of the stakeholders, then note carefully what you learn from being in each different position. Then take a neutral position and notice if there are any further learnings. This way you will be much better prepared than if you just prepare for the meeting from your own world’s perspective!

What is the dream in your life?

David — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:30:10 +0000

I went to my childrens award presentation on Saturday for dance, singing and drama. The lady presenting the awards talked about the importance of the network and how important the role it played for those wishing to persue a career in the arts. In fact she said its importance could be as high as 50%. This got me thinking about how the phone could help build your network. In persuing your dream, how much are you leveraging the use of the phone to make those all necessary “cold connections”? It can be so time consuming, going to face to face functions to network. Even then, you can not be assured of actually speaking to the person, who may be able to influence your path to success. So how can you use it more? Make a list of the most influencial people who could help you build the most effective network and start calling them tomorrow! Remember start the call about something which relates to their world not yours!!

Now is a great time to call!

David — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:57:24 +0000

As we approach the festive season now is a great time to call. I aways remember when I worked for companies as an employee and the days leading up to the Christmas and New Year break rushed by, there was always the belief that people did not want to talk to us, as they were enjoying their parties or thinking about going away. Firstly how can that be said “for all people” as we are all different and I am sure in many different circumstances. Secondly even if it is the case , it is a great time to acknowledge their world by saying “I know you do not want to meet up or speak to us now but how about getting a date in the diary for the first or second week of January.?” That way you can fill your diary with appointments or telephone meetings for January and that of course is assuming they do not have a need to meet up with you now!!

Beware of hope pedalers!

David — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:40:19 +0000

One of the biggest time wasting activities in phone prospecting or sales ischasing people who say they are interested in your product or service. They are always very polite and often enthusiastic in their response to your calls. “Not now, call me back in a month’s time” and when you do, you often get the same response. Although these types of call seldom go anywhere they serve another purpose in as much they they make us feel we are “making our calls” and being busy! The best way to deal with these types of call is to politely ask the person what will be different in a months time? Can I get you any further information, so you have a clearer view when I call you back then? If you get nothing more than a grunt, I suggest you use the “Its OK to tell me to go away if you are not really interested” line. This was used by an old client of mine and worked everytime he was strung along! It is so much better that people qualify out if they are not interested, so you can get on with making calls to people who will be genuinely interested in your product or service. However remember that “no” is still good in some respects as research shows that people will say no at least 6 times before they say yes! However, there must be some real justification for their delay ie they are really qualifying to themselves that this is right for them. Good luck with your future prospecting!!

speak to their tone!

David — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:57:04 +0000

Very often when I am training or coaching my clients ask me what do I say that makes senior decision-makers listen to me

Although the words are important, it is all about assessing the other person’s world by listening to the tone of their voice. This will give you so much information about their mood as well as their availability to take your call. Especially in cold calling this precious information is overlooked. Listen so very carefully to those first 5-10 secs of tonal information. Once you have established from this information what kind of state your executive is in, then acknowledge this immediately, especially if they are busy or harressed. Once you have built the initial rapport, continue to speak to their tone. This is a very powerful way of maintaining rapport especially with someone you do not know or who is reluctant to speak to you in the first place. Start noticing the characteristics of different people’s tone and speak to that, notice what a big difference it makes to the quality of your conversations!

You must believe in yourself!

David — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:42:17 +0000

I am following the Xfactor http://xfactor.itv.com/2009/ at the moment and the key phase that keeps coming up is the importance of believing in yourself Stacey Solomon was told that she needs to start believing that she is of star quality as she delivers her current great performances. May be if they change the type of songs she sings, it will give her greater flexibility in her performance and help reinforce her belief.

Can you see the parallel with your phone work and your belief in whether your calls will get you the outcomes you want? If you not getting them, change what you are doing so you do. Then notice how your belief changes and how you really get into the zone when you are calling!!

Are you hiding behind email?

David — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:46:58 +0000

Are you hiding behind email? Why not use the phone?You probably realise that it can take a long time to get a decision using email. This is because of the delay often in getting a response. There is also the problem that you have no way of measuring the emotional response of the person you are sending it to. If you need a dialogue and to get real emotional feedback from the tone of the person you are speaking to, then use the phone. It is so much quicker to get a decision, it has been said that it can take a week by email and as quick as 5mins by phone!! Also think about a potential conflict situation how it can be resolved so much more effectively by phone instead of the backwards and forwards of email.

Reasons why a call goes wrong

David — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:02:39 +0000

When a call goes wrong, it is usually because you have not planned it properly or you have been called unexpectedly!

In the first case ask yourself the following questions:

1.Did I do my research about my contact and their company?

2.Did you have a “valid listening reason” for the call?

3. If you were the other person in their shoes how would you have reacted?

4.Did you make sure you were in the right mindset before the call so you believed it would go well?

My recommendation would be if you can not answer these questions beforehand do not “pass go” and make the call! In the other case when someone calls you and is badgering you for answers or explanations, politely say it is not a good time and you will find out or think about the best way forward and call them back. In that way you can plan your call and get the outcomes that you want!