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Be Prepared - Avoid Just Checking In and Instead Become a Valuable Resource

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 by Ashlea Harris, Vice President of Program Management

Now more than ever, given the economic climate in the marketplace, make sure to have a primary objective for your call and be confident in your questioning. One reason agents may wander with questions is that they’re not prepared or confident. Prepare your agents with meaningful questions ahead of time and make sure to role-play to build confidence.

The objective of your telemarketing opening is to pique interest and curiosity so that your contact is willingly and enthusiastically interested in learning more and engaged in a dialogue with you. Before you call your prospect, ask the question, “What’s in it for the listener?” Have something of value to say on every telemarketing call. Particularly calls to existing customers or those that you are nurturing. Avoid, “Just checking in with you to see if you needed anything,” and, “Just calling to touch base.” This can be more bothersome rather than of service. Be certain the contact is better off after your call than they were before it, even if they did not turn into a lead opportunity during the conversation. I always tell agents to call with news or ideas that will be of interest to the prospect. Mention that you were “thinking of them” and tell them why. For example, “I just ran across a webinar that I thought you might be able to benefit from.” Or “I know your servers are reaching end of service life in the next year and the last time we spoke, you were not ready to take action, but we have a special offer going on right now that I thought may be of interest to you”. It’s the small things, that cause customers and prospects to say, “He always has something good for me when he calls,” as opposed to, “Every time he calls he’s just looking for me to buy something and doesn’t care about what’s going on at our company and what we need.”

A good way to end a call where you don’t accomplish your primary objective is to plant a seed for the future. Give them something to look for, based upon what you uncovered during the call … something that might just cause them to call you back. For example, “Mike, it sounds like there isn’t a need today, but as your data center continues to grow and you look into expanding your center and possible relocation services, please give me a call as questions arise. We specialize in those type of projects, and would welcome the opportunity to educate you and your team.” Position yourself as an expert and a resource they can utilize in the future!

Whether you’re in sales, managing an internal lead generation team or you outsource your lead generation activities, what’s working for you?

Tagged: telemarketing best practice, lead generation telemarketing, lead generation, lead generation telemarketing best practice

Comments

Huey C. Lindsay said:

With emphasis on nurturing programs, an agent coming across as an expert, who is informed from previously acquired contact information and positioning yourself as a resource, are great nuggets for letting the prospect know there is something for them in the call. Having special offers, news of upcoming webinars or recalling approaching end dates for contractual obligations with other vendors, will help avoid those mechanical “checking in” and “touching base” type of calls.

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