50 Professional Telemarketing tips to do

Telemarketing is still an important route to market for many SME’s and even large corporations. It makes sense, therefore, to ensure you follow the best telemarketing tips and advice to make the most out of your calling. Below are our Top 50 Do’s and Don’ts of Successful Telemarketing. Use them to evaluate how you measure up.

1. Ask for what you want — an appointment, a demo, a sale – Don’t be shy. It’s the reason you are calling.
2. Ask great questions — Open ones to encourage the listener to talk and find info. Closed ones to qualify and filter
3. Be confident – It radiates to your prospects. Expect to succeed and you will
4. Be honest — it really is the best approach. You WILL get found out if you lie.
5. Be motivated  —  People buy people. If you’re not positive about what you offer, why should your prospects be interested?
6. Be patient – Telemarketing can take time and perseverance
7. Be prepared to make your calls at times to reach your decision-makers e.g.  before 9am and after 5pm if necessary
8. Build rapport  —  Use frames of reference, name drop, mirror their language and use their name (but not too often)
9. Call out of normal hours and lunchtime – the gatekeeper won’t be there to protect your Decision Maker
10. Change your pitch if it isn’t working. Plan a call structure that is like a good story. An attention grabbing start, a compelling middle and a great ending!
11. Secure a good call list. Make sure it is clean before calling. A good list is the best asset to your success
12. Ensure your phone line is clear – No gremlins in terms of interference
13. Find a ‘Trojan Horse’ — To get under their radar so that they will engage with you especially if they have already a current supplier of your services
14. Follow up – Make your follow up calls on time and keep doing so until you know where you stand
15. Get agreement from your prospect to call them back at a later date. Even if they aren’t interested now, things can change
16. Have a pen and paper at the ready at all times. Take down concise and good notes including language, style and key info
17. Have your diary open and ready to give available dates
18. Keep control of calls with the gatekeeper. Sound authoritative and you have a better chance of getting through. Keep what you say short. KISS!
19. If you feel you must leave voicemail messages, make sure they are enticing and compelling with a good call to action
20. Listen carefully — You have two ears and one mouth
21. Sound professional on the phone with a good speaking voice, pace and tone. Match your prospects if you can
22. Make sure you are calling for the right decision-maker contact. Ask the question
23. Make sure you have a relevant email to send should the prospect ask for more information
24. Make sure your data is as fresh as possible
25. Make you are able to talk ‘off script’ to really engage the prospect
26. Make sure you are passionate about your product or service
27. Make sure you fully brief your agency if you are outsourcing calls
28. Make the calls — Don’t delay. Just get on the phone. Inertia is your worst enemy
29. Prepare likely objection handling questions and techniques. You know the objections. Plan for them
30. Plan your calls — Know your products, market, competitors, pitch and the issues your company resolves or the opportunities your company creates
31. Read between the lines of what the prospect says. Clarify if you’re unsure.
32. Role-play or record your calls to see what could have been done better. Listen back to improve your techniques
33. Send timely info when requested including appointment confirmations
34. Set realistic objectives — based on your market, experience and proposition
35. Set realistic targets – how many calls per hour?  How many appointments do you want to make? Over what time frame?
36. Smile — It transmits to your voice
37. Sound authoritative. You need to sound at least as important as the person you are speaking to. It’s peer to peer and you won’t get past the gatekeeper if you don’t.
38. Summarize the conversation with the prospect to ensure that you have listened and understood their ‘pains’ before you go ahead and pitch / recommend your product or service
39. Take good notes — Include info on verbatim comments, language, tone, pace and personality
40. Try to fool an IVR by dialling 0 to get to the switchboard. Or call accounts and try to be put through that way
41. Use a good CRM system — so you can quickly search and find follow up calls
42. Assume you are going to get what you want and ask for it with that assumption in mind
43. Use evocative and compelling words like huge, massive, significant, dramatic and so on — It adds impact but don’t go wild!
44. Use the ‘feel, felt, found’ technique to combat objections along with good open questions
45. Use frames of reference — Past work, client reference points, and industry examples
46. Treat people how THEY would like to be treated. Consider their motivations and needs and treat them accordingly.
47. Use natural engaging language — sound natural. Use simple English. It helps rapport
48. Use technology to speed things up eg click to dial CRM and Skype number recognition enables 1-click dialing
49. Use telemarketing to follow up other marketing activity eg emails or visitors to your stand
50. Have a glass of fresh water available for those ‘parched’ moments. Watch out for how caffeine affects you