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| DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH TELESALES |
Copyright 2002 Carol Ann Waugh The last tip I wrote talked about how this company followed up my catalog request with a simple customer service call -- "Do you have any questions and can I be of any help" -- and how that personalized service made a vary positive impression. This week, I'm going to give you some tips on how you can make these calls productive in generating revenues as well as generating good relationships. Plan Before You Call Every call should have a stated objective and that should be the answer to "What action do you want the prospect to take?" A sample would be "I want the prospect to agree to a 30 trial of my product." Gather Information About Your Prospect Before you pick up the phone, you should know everything you can about the school/library and person that you are calling. How large is it? How many students/patrons? How much money do they spend? What products have they ordered from you? When was the last time they placed an order and for how much? And I can go on and on. The more information you know, the easier it will be to personalize the call and make your objective. Make Your Opening Statement Compelling You need to say something right off the bat that will generate some curiosity and interest on the part of the prospect. It could be something about their last order, a follow-up to how a program is working for them, a free offer that you sent them in the mail and they have not yet responded to, etc. Your main mission here is to get them to start talking with you and not thinking, "How can I politely get rid of this guy". Engage Your Prospect by Asking Questions and then LISTEN Asking questions is a wonderful way to establish a rapport with a potential customer. But, the trick is that you have to "listen" and then respond accordingly. This is why scripted telesales calls don't work as well as open-ended calls. Make sure you can talk about your product from a variety of needs satisfactions. Present Your Product as a Solution to Their Problems If you have questioned them skillfully enough, you should be able to present your "objective" in a way that talks to the "hot buttons" of the prospect. If you present them an opportunity that will make their lives easier, chances are, they will agree to "try you out". Schedule Your Follow-up Call Remember, besides meeting a specific objective for the call, the telesales channel is a relationship medium. One call does not a relationship make! And remember, your sales call doesn't stop when you hang up the phone. Sending out a personal, hand-written message to the prospect will always pay big results. Telesales can be a very important part of your marketing mix so start building those relationships today! ABOUT THE AUTHOR This article was written by Carol Ann Waugh, President of Xcellent Marketing, a marketing and new business development firm specializing in the educational and library market. Xcellent Marketing offers a variety of marketing services to help publishers increase their revenues and profits from identifying new markets, providing critiques of web sites and marketing communications such as direct mail, catalogs, advertisements, etc. as well as developing effective traditional as well as Internet-based marketing plans. Carol can be reached at (303) 388-5215 or at cwaugh@xcellentmarketing.com. |
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