Teleprospecting to Latin America? Must Read Tips
Posted on Sep 2, 2011 by Kathy Rizzo, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Latin America is very ripe and receptive to teleprospecting, with decision-makers who are often quick to talk, enthusiastic and happy to receive a call. In fact, B2B teleprospecting into Latin American countries can produce truly exceptional results, far exceeding metrics that are traditionally yielded from U.S. targets. However, to ensure success from your efforts into South America, you must do more than speak the language. You must understand the culture and how business relationships are forged.
While each country has unique requirements, there are several teleprospecting best practices, which can be applied across the board to help initiate a positive dialogue, and lead to successful results. These include:
- The languages and cultures of Latin America dictate utilizing a more formal calling etiquette, compared to the US. For example, in Spanish, it’s recommended to always address people in the context of business with the formal singular “usted”; only when invited may you move to the informal singular “tu”. This simple formality is a strong signal of respect and should always be used with someone you just met, anyone older than you, anyone giving you service or buying something from you. This is also a strong indicator of a higher or more sophisticated education- something desirable for most in the business world.
- Telephone systems tend to be older and in many cases are not automated. Transferring throughout an organization, leaving voice mails and pressing “zero” to get to a receptionist are not always options. In many cases, a greater number of attempts to identify and reach the correct person are needed.
- Marketing localization is important. Not only does the teleprospector need to fluently speak their language, but also websites need to have a local “feel”. Additionally, there must be available content that is localized and ready to provide as a “next step” after a successful conversation.
- Where it’s made matters too. Generally accounts want to purchase from manufacturers that at least assemble products locally within their country. Proactively addressing this common objection is a key to success.
- The purchasing processes differ. There is the “official” way to purchase for established refresh projects and then there is the “project defined” or “special” process for purchasing; listening for subtle hints on how things REALLY work is critical and enhances understanding for project detection.
For information on TeleNet’s international services, please click here .
Tagged: teleprospeting, targeted lead generation, lac teleprospecting, lead generation lac, lead generation latin america, telemarketing lead generation
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Comments
Anabel said:
The first step that often takes place when developing a corporate strategy, planning a purchase or deciding on a partnership is research. This key phase that occurs at the very beginning of a process often involves stakeholders reading, comparing and theorizing about what to do…what’s best…essentially thinking about what’s out there. Often, during this key stage, teams are polled and opinions are gathered within the organization- and these discussions- regardless of culture or country happen in the local language. If a company promotes something in a foreign country and is not sensitive to fully localizing information for their future constituents or clients- they will never get “mindshare”. If the target organizations cannot easily understand from the initial stage what a partner or supplier can do for them they will not favor it- it’s hard to validate something when you do not easily capture all the value. It’s hard to win when competing against vendors that thoroughly present their value in the local language. I agree with Kathy that localization is a critical consideration when marketing in a foreign country.
Jené Sanders said:
Calling into a Latin American company is a moving teleprospecting experience. As Kathy stated, the majority of the people you contact are excited to talk to you and to hear more about the products or services being sold. It is important to be sensitive to localized events that might impact the conversation, for example security concerns. By proactively identifying any negative or positive factors that will bear weight on the conversation and by adjusting the conversation appropriately, you enhance your chances of a well received and informative call. Because it is impossible to identify all local facets that could impact a teleprospecting call, it is equally important to be flexible, communicate localized issues, and adapt the calls as information is uncovered. Understanding local culture, events, and business related matters is a crucial strategy to ensuring successful conversations.
Anabel Foucart said:
One of my favorite things to see/ hear when calling into Latin America is the agents livening up the conversation with anecdotes about the country they are calling. This REALLY warms up the calls and opens up the contacts to talking- it builds almost immediate trust. When listening to calls into LAC I get a vivid picture of the lovely lush countries I personally experienced as a young child- the TeleNet teams are excellent at blending marketing and product information with real “local color” to generate results.