Telemarketing Expert UK

Todays’ post deals with getting to the truth… about ourselves as telemarketers. In telemarketing we call in order to learn the truth about certain potential problems, issues, concerns or situations that are likely to be familiar to the person with whom we’re speaking. Today I challenge you, the telemarketers out there, to ask a question of yourselves: Are you doing your best work? If the answer’s “no”, find out the reason why and get to the truth of the matter quickly. If you’ve trouble getting to the truth with yourself why should anyone else share their truth with you, really?

Having read a lot about the detection, interpretation and use of body language in building relationships with prospects, it struck me like a bolt of lightening that whilst on telephone, we may as well be blind. Since we can only listen with our ears and detect, interpret and use the other persons’ vocal expression as our guide, we become utterly dependent upon the two vital organs on each side of our head.

The title of this article comes from a line in the 1992 movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, a film about a group of real estate salesmen, most of whom are performing so badly they are under threat of losing their jobs.

Quite early in the film, Alec Baldwin’s character, Blake, delivers a speech designed to motivate the salesmen to perform. He’s the hot-shot salesman from head office downtown. It lasts only seven minutes and is littered with verbal abuse toward the salesmen. During the speech, he introduces his mantra: A B C - Always Be Closing. Well, there’s a different attitude here at phoneforbusiness, which is: A B O - Always Be Opening. This is no flippant stunt here, rather a recognition of the truth: How can anybody close anything that is not already open?

Telemarketing has never been a popularity contest. If much of the public opinion we read on the subject is true, it’s already unpopular with a lot of people.

What this post deals with is the notion that, for many people making the telemarketing calls, success is dependent upon being liked, popular, or accepted in a positive way. In a reversal of roles for a moment, if you’re a telemarketer yourself and you receive a call whilst in the middle of something important, how do you feel about the noisy interruption? Chances are, if you’re a telemarketer yourself, you’ll likely give the person calling you a tougher time than most other people will.

Picture the scene: Someone is asking you if you’ve got “Time”: Time to answer or fill out a survey, time to look at this latest report or website, time to attend a particular meeting or event… How are you feeling now? Chances are, a little more overwhelmed and somewhat resigned to the fact that more people seem to want more of that precious commodity we seem to have so little of: Time. Draining, isn’t it?

This issue relates very well to telemarketing. It has to do with the image that we help to create in people’s minds, an image of being a time thief, a situation less favourable to them, more favourable to you. It’s far from being ‘win/win’ in their eyes, so you can hardly blame them for thinking and feeling this way.

This article has been in the pipeline for years. The main reason is because the issue it focuses on rears its head with ongoing frequency. The issue is this: Are you taking a campaign mentality or a continuity mentality to your telemarketing and cold calling activities?

Whilst it is true that telemarketing can provide a “shot in the arm”, a surge in your sales pipeline, a leap in the number of leads you have, what many people seem to forget is that telemarketing works best when continued, consistent effort is made to engage with both new prospects and existing clients alike by telephone. It is more personal than email, provides greater scope for sharing ideas in the early stages and cements relationships. We can always commit our conversations to email afterward.

Over this weekend, one of my followers on Twitter asked if there were a way to cure phone phobia. She had been struggling to overcome the fear of using the telephone in business.

The only advice I could offer her was: Calling a stranger on the telephone is like asking a stranger for directions during a journey when you’re unsure of how to reach your destination.

Having sent that message out on Twitter, a handful of people replied or sent me a direct message saying that they liked the analogy and could relate to it.

What this article covers is the way we perceive things, and how to re-frame them when the labels we give them fail to support us. Most of us know that any great achievement or progress always begins in the mind. The better prepared the mind is for all eventualities then the better you’ll take the results you generate in your stride and become aware of the actions necessary to take that will alter those results.

In the end, on a call the bottom line is we’re looking for two things:

These words, unfortunately, sum up what a lot of people feel about the cold calling and telemarketing process they labour so painfully under.

If people buy for two main reasons, namely avoiding pain or attaining pleasure, then how will people ever consider talking to you, much less buying from you, if the calling you do represents these negative stereotypes?

This can be changed largely by ensuring that when you start a call your attitude and approach is based on honesty (how good do you feel about willfully deceiving people?), and that you will ask questions to continually assure yourself and the person you’re speaking with that you both understand each other and are comfortable discussing a given topic or situation. Nothing of mutual value can happen between two parties without agreement.

Yes, it’s one of those titles where two words look identical but are so different in their meaning.

The prompt for this came from celebrated Time Management Coach, Clare Evans. Having received multiple calls from the same company, it was obvious that for Clare, their telemarketing staff weren’t interested in the former (conversation), and largely as a result of that, wouldn’t realise the latter (conversion) in any case.