Telemarketing Lead Generation Blog

Teleprospecting: Using Open Ended Questions to Drive the Conversation

Posted on Feb 20, 2012 by Britney Bailey, Program Director

There have been numerous posts on how to make teleprospecting calls more conversational while maintaining some level of control over the route the call takes. Using a call guide is an excellent method for achieving a targeted conversation, however “Yes” or “No” questions in the scripting often hinder the teleprospector’s ability to get a true read on the contact’s level of interest. Asking more open ended questions allows the agent to gather which areas are top of mind, eliminate redundant questions, and maintain a conversation.

By incorporating multiple short answer questions into the conversation, you run the risk of sounding too much like a survey. Asking open ended questions instead, not only allows the contact to respond more freely to your inquiry, but also eliminates redundant questions. For example, asking “How is your IT environment currently configured?” allows the prospect to provide their best description of their infrastructure, most likely prioritizing the areas that are currently top of mind. This eliminates the agent asking multiple questions such as “What brand are you running for your hardware,” “what operating system,” “how many machines are on site,” etc.

We all know that on a telemarketing call, time is money for both the agent and the contact. A successful teleprospecting conversation requires a level of engagement from the prospect so that the pertinent information is accurately received. Asking simple questions that only require a one word response runs the risk of allowing the prospect to become disengaged in the call and lessens the likelihood that the conversation will result in an opportunity for your company. Meanwhile, asking more broad or open ended questions forces the prospect’s attention to remain engaged in the conversation. In turn, the teleprospector is successful in probing the key areas of interest, pain points and current needs of the prospect while delivering a meaningful message.

When training your teleprospecting agents, remember to reiterate the importance of capturing details for each question in the call script while rephrasing the conversation to consist of more open ended questions. This will ultimately lead to more valuable data collected over the call and a more positive experience for your prospects overall.

Tagged: lead generation, teleprospecting, targeted lead generation, lead generation call guide, lead generation telemarketing script, lead generation telemarketing, lead nurturing

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