Telemarketing Lead Generation Blog

The Power of Successfully Answering the "Huh?" in each B2B Teleprospecting Call

Posted on Mar 3, 2011 by Laura Johnson, Senior Program Director

By rough calculation, I’ve heard somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 telemarketing calls in my years with TeleNet. In all of those calls, there is one key question I hear contacts ask over and over. One question that stands out as the first and most important place for an agent to bring their A Game. That question is, “huh?”

Most calls go a little something like this:

(phone rings)

Contact answers: This is Bob.

Agent: Good morning Bob. This is (agent name), calling on behalf of (company). We’re a leading provider of (products/services). The purpose of my call today is to discuss _____ and tell you about ____ to see if we can help you to _____, _____, or _____. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

Bob: huh?

Here’s the deal: it’s not that Bob’s slow. It’s that he’s minding his own business, doing his own job, maybe in the middle of some TPS reports, when the phone rings. Suddenly, he’s assaulted with buzz words and industry jargon. He’s not in that moment yet. It’s the agent’s responsibility to take him there. For Bob, “huh?” means “alright, give me a second to get on the same page.” For the agent, “huh?” means you’ve got about ten seconds to get to the point. The talented agent seizes on this opportunity to touch on the value proposition. Now is not just a time to restate the introduction. Bob heard the introduction; he just wasn’t ready to participate in the call. Now is not the time to pitch your product. Bob’s not participating yet. Now is not the time to delve into Bob’s current environment; he doesn’t even know who you are yet.

Now is the chance to invite him to participate. It’s that next sentence that can make or break a call. One sentence that sums up your offering while addressing some real problem or concern that Bob might be facing. The key to a successful campaign is being able to voice that in a single sentence. That’s really the question you want to consider as you begin developing your campaign. You’ve got to answer “huh?”

Tagged: telemarketing lead generation, telemarketing sales leads, targeted lead generation, lead generation, telemarketing leads

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