• Increases your sales territory (you can win customers nationwide or globally without leaving your home or office) while reducing the cost of "sales visits".
• Increases your efficiency because you can reach more prospects per hour, day and week by phone than you can with in-person sales calls.
• Provides an effective way to perform relationship marketing. You can use the phone to stay in touch with existing customers, introduce new products to them and make additional sales.
• Allows for interaction and personal selling. You can immediately respond to feedback from prospects while you're engaged in the sales process. This differs from less interactive sales methods, such as direct mail.

• High "acquisition cost" per sale for purchased prospect lists that typically contain many unqualified prospects. For example, if you purchase a list of home owners in a particular zip code, you'll most likely have a low number of interested and qualified prospects. This is not to say, however, that it's not a worthwhile way to gain customers!
• Once a novel way of selling, telemarketing has unfortunately moved into the category of a nuisance to many consumers.

• You have just a few seconds to make a good initial impression on the phone. Your careful preparation for the call can increase your chances of having a conversation with a prospect rather than hearing that familiar dial tone.
• Always be courteous and professional. Remember, you're a sales professional who just happens to use the phone to sell.
• Be sincere at all times. People will sense insincerity on the phone even though they can't see your facial expressions or other non-verbal communication clues such as hand gestures, head nods and body posture.
• Keep your work area neat–it'll keep you focused and organized.
• Dress like a sales professional even if your prospects will never see you.
• Keep a mirror handy so you can check to see if you're smiling during calls.
• Don't practice on prospects with a few warm-up calls at the beginning of the day or week. Role play with someone if you need to, or just talk out loud in an imaginary conversation to warm up.
• Meeting annual goals requires setting and meeting daily goals. Record your progress on a daily basis.
• Keep records of the contacts you make for future reference. Note dates for follow-up.
• Keep track of your success rate in getting through to the decision maker or closing a sale. This will help you identify and correct any weaknesses in your strategy or approach.
• Use your prime selling time–the hours your prospects are most easily reached by phone and are the most receptive–for selling activities only. (Experience will quickly let you know when your prospects are most receptive!) Conduct homework, research, planning or other administrative activities at other times.
• Use past experiences to help you prepare for and react to current situations. For example, if you continually meet the same objection to buying what you're offering, brainstorm all the different ways you might meet this objection so you'll be prepared the next time it pops up.
• Develop a script for the call to keep you on track but never read directly from it. Write the script as you talk. That way, when you vary from the script, your words and phrases will be consistent.
• Consider using introductory or follow-up letters, product fliers or other marketing materials.
• Use other "communication" tools as necessary to support your telephone sales, including cellular phones, fax machines, hands-free headsets, email, etc. For example, part of your selling process may be to offer prospects a product information sheet by fax or email.
• End calls quickly, but politely, when it becomes evident that a prospect is either not qualified for your product (you're selling a dating service and the prospect is married) or the prospect is not going to buy. Your time on the phone is precious. Spend it selling!

• At the beginning of a call, telemarketers qualify prospects to determine if they are interested in talking and are, indeed, viable prospects.
• Next, telemarketers gather information from prospects to uncover problems or unmet needs and determine how the product or service they're selling will help prospects.
• After gathering information, telemarketers introduce prospects to the benefits, features and proof of how their product or service will help prospects.
• Finally, when telemarketers feel prospects' questions and concerns about a product or service are addressed, they attempt to close the sale.

• Maintain an attitude that you are seeking to help your prospect meet a need or solve a problem, rather than force the sale of a product or service.
• Know your product and be enthusiastic about it! If you aren't enthusiastic, your prospect certainly won't be.
• Plan what you're going to say. Be prepared for objections or other obstacles prospects may present. Practice, practice, practice your introductory remarks to fine-tune a strategy that works for you. If possible, role play with a friend or record yourself.
• Be brief and to the point. Your telephone call is most likely an unwanted interruption for the prospect rather than a welcomed visit.
• Begin all calls calmly and professionally. Identify yourself by name, state what company you represent (even if it's just you) and where you're calling from. For example, "Hello Ms. Johnson. This is Betty Jones from BJ Catering Service here in Essex." Finish your opening statement with a "verbal handshake" phrase such as, "How is your day going so far?"
• After the opening statement, state why you're calling.
• When possible, find a "hook" to interest prospects. A hook might be using a third party referral such as, "Mary Smith suggested I call you. . ." Prospects are more likely to listen when someone they know recommended the contact.
• Let prospects know you're serving others like them. For example, "ABC Company in your building is one of my clients. I think you might also benefit from my cleaning service."
• If your call is cold (you don't have a hook or other connection), let prospects know how you selected them for your call. Example:"I'm calling advertising agencies in the tri-county area to . . ."
• Don't use outlandish, insulting or probing statements. A few extreme examples include: "Would you be interested in doubling your money in 30 days?" (outlandish) "Do you want the brakes to stop your car when you press the pedal?" (insulting – of course you do!) "How much life insurance do you currently have?" (too probing and private for an opening statement).
• When gathering information, keep the number of questions between three and five.
• Listen when prospects interrupt you to talk.
• Remember a simple, straightforward way to handle the familiar objection: "I'm really not interested. . ." Professional telemarketers use an "agree, and" tactic upon hearing this or a similar remark. A sample response is: "Many of our customers tell us that at first (agree with prospects) before they've had a chance to learn about some of the benefits we offer" (then tell them something new).
• Identify the decision maker as soon as possible. Finding the decision maker in small companies is usually easy because it's most often the business owner. In larger companies, learn from switchboard operators – their role is to help callers.
• When you reach decision makers on the phone, verify that they make purchase decisions for the product or service you're calling about. Ask if there is anyone else who should be included in sales discussions. Be willing to hold a conference call to pull all of the necessary decision makers together.
• The most important part of a telephone sales presentation is the close. Allow enough time for it.

• When you meet with gatekeepers and screeners, be brief and direct. State your name, company name and ask to speak with your prospect by name. "My name is Sally Smith with ABC Services. May I please speak with Ms. Howard?"
• Some screeners may ask questions such as "Does Ms. Howard know you?" or, "May I tell her the nature of your call?" If so, be pleasant and firm and provide additional general information. Remember, you're not trying to sell your product to the screener. Your goal is to get to the decision maker.
• Gatekeepers don't try to keep everyone away from their boss, only the unimportant calls. Projecting confidence and authority will help you become one of the important calls.

• Speak with confidence and authority.
• When you're able to talk with a secretary or with the assistant to the person with whom you'd like to talk, ask about a time that might be best to call back. Offer choices. Rather than, "When is a good time to call?", you might say, "Is morning or afternoon best?" or "Would 2:00 or 4:00 be a better time to call?"
• When asked if you'd like to leave a message, you might state, "I'll be in and out of meetings; it's probably best if I just call again." This lets the screener know that you're a busy professional, too.
• Try to call early in the morning or late in the evening when secretaries might not be in the office screening calls.

• set an appointment for a sales presentation
• find out who the appropriate person is to contact for a telephone or in-person sales call
• introduce existing customers to new products or services
• close a sale after an in-person sales presentation.

Catch The
Silver Bullet

Get The Silver Bullet, our monthly marketing newsletter (or bullet-in), shot into your email box every month. Get John Tobin's latest creative marketing strategies for free.

Every month, John will send you a complete mini-lesson in how to market your business and yourself (each lesson is a $150 value).