Archive for the ‘communication skills’ Category

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Telesales masterclass – 20th & 21st February 2012 – Leicester Northampton

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Telesales masterclass for telesales and telemarketing. Our next 2 day telesales masterclass will run on 20th & 21st  February 2012 at a venue in Leicestershire or Northamptonshire.

Telesales masterclass - February 2012

Telesales masterclass - 20th & 21st February 2012

The course will cover all the key elements of telephone techniques and communication skills, and how to structure an effective sales call. We’ll be covering top tips and techniques for dealing with objections, listening skills, and questioning skills – what the different questions are, when to use them and how to structure a powerful telephone sales call around good questioning. Add into that an introduction to the 2 stage process for directing the conversation, and a couple of hours on how to structure powerful telesales and telemarketing calls and you have the basic tools to make sure you convert more opportunities, for more value, more often.

Business conditions are challenging for many organisations at the moment. Those who are best at converting the opportunities that are there, will prosper. Contact us for more details on 01858 461148. You can download a copy of a telesales course schedule directly from the site http://www.tomarket.co.uk/course-schedules.php

Course fees are £399 + VAT per delegate for the 2 day course, although there are discounts for 2 or more delegates attending from the same company.

This 2 day course is ideal for telesales and telemarketing personnel in Leicester, Northampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Cambridge, Peterborough, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Oadby, Market Harborough, Hinckley, Oakham, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford on Avon as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and East Midlands.

BOOK NOW for places on 20th - 21st February 2012 Telesales masterclass course. Get your sales year off to a promising start.

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, Forthcoming courses, Internal sales, Overcoming objections, sales development training, telemarketing, Telemarketing management, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales tips | No Comments »

How to close a telesales call – properly!

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

How to close a telesales call – properly! It is easy to lose focus on your call at the end of your conversation with your customer or prospect. You know it’s about to end and so do they. However there are still certain things to do to ensure your telemarketing or telesales call is professional.

telesales verbal handshake

get the sign-off right at the end of the call

  • summarise
  • build in some ongoing continuity
  • the verbal handshake

Summarise

You may have had a long call, or maybe not. Either way remind them of what you’ve both agreed. You may have covered a lot of ground and it is unrealistic to expect the customer to remember it all. This way you’re starting to set some expectations of what you want from them too. “OK, so I’ll send you an introductory e-mail. I’ll get that out to you within the next hour or so. And then I’ll call you in the middle of next week, once you’ve had a chance to talk to Sarah about it.”

That way you’ve told them what to expect from you, and setting a timescale for when you’ll do it reinforces your professionalism and sense of action. Then it lets them know that they better speak to Sarah, because you’ll be on their case in a few days time! But all done respectfully, politely and professionally of course.

Build in some ongoing continuity

With the vast majority of outbound calls you make, you want to contact them again in the future. By seeking permission subtly to do this, you make sure your next call to them isn’t a cold call. “Ok, so you’ve got your board meeting at the end of the month, on the 28th then. Is it ok if I call you to find out what happened the middle of the following week?” Very, very seldom do people say No. It works. Try it. Furthermore remember that I always advocate asking questions. Questions are the answer. The fact that you’ve framed it as a question gives them the chance to offer you feedback. They might say, “I tell you what, make it the following week, because I’m away for a week straight after the meeting.” Or more promisingly “yes, and if the management team are keen on it, we’ll ask you to come in to discuss what you could do for us……” If you’ve not signed off with the question, they are less likely to volunteer information are they?

The verbal handshake

I am sure you will be polite at all times. This is important as you conclude your call. Even if they’ve given you chapter and verse on the 14 reasons they’d never buy from you, at least you’ve learned some interesting and potentially useful information. So thank them. “Thank you for your honesty and your feedback. I appreciate it.” And more common sign-offs may include “thank you for your time today” or “it’s been great catching up again.” Let them know that you as a human being respect them as a human being. Remember always that ‘people buy from people’ or other versions ‘people buy from people they like’ or ‘people buy from people like them.’

Follow this practice and you will ensure the last impression they have of you is a positive one. Happy selling!

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, Sales tips, Selling advice, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales tips | No Comments »

Telesales & telemarketing masterclass – 12th & 13th December 2011

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Our next 2 day telesales masterclass will run on 12th & 13th December 2011 in Coventry.

Telesales telemarketing training

Telephone sales masterclass - December 2011 East Midlands

Just 3 weeks away.  This course will cover all the key elements of communication skills and how to structure an effective sales call. We’ll be covering top tips and techniques for dealing with objections, listening skills, questioning skills – what the different questions are, when to use them and how to structure a powerful telephone sales call around good questioning. Add into that an introduction to the 2 stage process for directing the conversation, and a couple of hours on how to structure powerful telesales and telemarketing calls and you have the basic tools to make sure you convert more opportunities, for more value, more often. Business conditions are challenging for many organisations at the moment. Those who are best at converting the opportunities that are there, will prosper. Contact us for more details on 01858 461148. You can download a copy of a telesales course schedule directly from the site http://www.tomarket.co.uk/course-schedules.php

Course fees are £399 + VAT per delegate for the 2 day course, although there are discounts for 2 or more delegates attending from the same company.

This 2 day course is ideal for anyone in Coventry, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Cambridge, Peterborough, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Oadby, Market Harborough, Hinckley, Oakham, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford on Avon as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and East Midlands.

BOOK NOW for places on  12th - 13th December 2011 Telesales masterclass course.

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, Forthcoming courses, sales development training, Selling advice, telemarketing, Telemarketing management, telephone techniques, telesales, telesales team management | 2 Comments »

Inbound calls represent the best selling opportunities there are

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Inbound calls represent the best selling opportunities there are. They do really. Just consider it. They’ve decided to call you. Generally speaking they will be for one of a number of reasons ;

-                      To gather information or advice

-                      To enquire about a price or some other factor relating to a direct sale

-                      To check progress of their order

-                      To complain

Well let’s start by discounting the 4th one. You’ve got your customer service sorted, so you don’t receive many complaints right?! But seriously, you will have another process set up and designed to take care of this situation. Even this represents an opportunity. Good, caring customer service builds the relationship and increases your chances for sales next time. However don’t be too hard sell when they’ve got a problem or a crisis. You hold your ‘sales’ fire and the opportunity will come. But for the rest, make the most of the golden opportunity that has just landed in your lap.

Internal sales making the most of inbound opportunities

Internal sales - making the most of inbound opportunities

First, the very fact that they’ve called you is significant because it shows motivation. Everyone’s busy and so for them to have called you indicates a desire for action on their part. They’ve called for a bit of advice. Great. You can demonstrate your expertise and knowledge and guide them to a great solution for them based on good attentive listening and questioning. These 2 aspects of communication are underrated and will increase the chances of a sale greatly.

If they phone to get a price from you, or to check delivery times, that demonstrates at least that they’re thinking about your product or service. Again, demonstrate interest, spend some time with them on the phone, and who knows you may in many instances guide them to a better solution or alternative product – better perhaps than the one they thought they wanted. You can sense that they’re unlikely to go elsewhere once you’ve gone to all that trouble. Especially if they’ve contacted other suppliers already and been quoted for what they thought they wanted! They’re far less likely to go back and ask the other suppliers to requote. It is simply so much easier to give you the business. And quicker too.

Also be a bit intelligent about it too. If they’re a previous customer, use your questioning skills to mention or introduce new products. “I see you buy the xy machine from us, but do you know we also supply the consumables that go in it?” Or if they’re a brand new prospect, once you’ve found out a bit about them, you can use that to introduce relevant products. “oh, that’s interesting, so you’re in electronics? We already supply DEF Electronics and they buy a lot of product a & product b from us. Who do you get those products from at the moment?” 

This is one of the central themes that we cover on telephone sales training courses for inbound sales teams. These courses are run across the Midlands, in towns including Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Birmingham, Coventry, Derby, Nottingham, Daventry, Wellingborough, Cambridge, St. Ives, Huntingdon, Milton Keynes, Leamington Spa, Warwick and Stratford on Avon. Contact us with info@  and then tomarket.co.uk or call us directly on 01858 461148 if you want to generate more business from your inbound sales calls.

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Posted in communication skills, Complaint handling, customer handling, Inbound sales, Internal sales, sales development training, Sales tips, Selling advice, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales tips | No Comments »

Why your elevator speech is important – sales advice

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

There are many reasons why your elevator speech is important. This is all part of effective sales advice.

First what is an elevator pitch? It is as you’ve probably guessed an American term, which we use in the UK unaltered. It is a finely honed script that you use when someone asks you what you do for a living. The theory is that you can deliver it in the time it takes to take a ride in an elevator (or lift if you’re British.) It is the sort of thing you do often – especially if you’re a business person who attends networking events.

How to prepare your elevator speech

Get your elevator speech nailed

How long should it be? Well I reckon 30 seconds should do it tops. Remember that although people ask you what you do, they’re not that interested – not really! What they really want to talk about is themselves.

Make your description short, and specific. I may use something like “…..I train telephone based teams. So telesales, telemarketing and customer service. In fact any group of people who spend all their working day talking to customers on the phone. And so it’s not industry specific. I work with many different industries. And what do you do?”

Avoid grand, wordy, vague descriptions. How often do I meet business consultants who say something like “….we help companies leverage more profit by helping them optimise the working performance of their employees…..” I don’t know what they generally say after that as I’ve already switched off! Apart from which that’s what all conusltancy based services do. And I’m still none the wiser about what you ACTUALLY do!

I came across this example recently, and this was an example of a GOOD WAY to do it. “…to do so effectively, I’d like to know more about you and your interest in my work. Then, I’ll have a context for telling you about my work and can relate what I do to your specific situation.” Ooh dear no ! It might work in America, but it’s not a wise strategy in the UK.

You may want to finish your introduction with an example of your work – name dropping a client if appropriate.

“I’m a web designer, specialising in e-commerce site and recently I worked on the new site for ABC Print.” or “I’m a freelance financial director and I was working on a large merger for DEF Engineering in Nottingham recently.

This all helps give you creedence.

Work on your elevator speech (or pitch), make it concise and then use the same one consitently so that it sounds natural – until such time as you decide to change it.

The best of luck. ‘Inspire me, don’t bore me’ is the motto!

To Market runs telephone sales and telemarketing training courses across the East Midlands, Peterborough, Cambridge, Leicester, Northampton, Derby, Nottingham, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Coventry, Birmingham, Lichfield, Solihull, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, Milton Keynes, Lincoln, East Midlands as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, Field sales training, Marketing, owner managers directors, Sales tips, Selling advice, telesales, Telesales tips | No Comments »

Customer Service masterclass 29th – 30th June 2011 – Leicester / Northampton

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Customer Service masterclass training – Leicester or Northampton – 29th – 30th June 2011. This telephone skills course covers all the things you need to know to build better, stronger, more productive customer relationships over the phone. 

Customer Service training Leicester June 2011

Customer Service masterclass - end June 2011 - Leicester

This 2 day course is ideal for anyone who talks to customers on the telephone in a customer service role : customer service, call centre, contact centre, or internal sales etc.

The customer service 2 day training course will cover key communications skills for offering exceptional customer service. Includes questioning skills, listening skills, mixed messages (why the message you send is not the message they receive) plus we’ll show you how the first 6 words you say to someone over the phone can tell the other person 40 plus things about you.

If you want more customers, and to develop more loyalty from the people you currently sell to, we’ll show you how. Get more customers, more often, who will stay for longer and spend more. Follow the link to find out about the dates of all forthcoming open courses. http://www.tomarket.co.uk/courses.php We’re all aware that modern day customer service is about exceeding customer expectations and delighting the customer. During this course we’ll show you how.

2 day customer service training course is ideal for anyone in Leicester, Northampton, Birmingham, Cambridge, Peterborough, Kettering, Corby, Stamford, Grantham, Wellingborough, Loughborough, Coalville, Oadby, Oakham, Uppingham, Rutland, Derby, Coventry, Nottingham, Hinckley, Lutterworth, Warwick, Leamington, Stratford on Avon and all parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. 29th – 30th June 2011.

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Posted in communication skills, Complaint handling, customer handling, customer services | No Comments »

Benefit selling on the phone

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Benefit selling on the phone is really important. You only have 4 seconds to make that impact, and at that point the customer or client will decide whether to mentally switch off from what they were doing and ‘engage’ with you.

So you have to make it sound attractive.

Benefit selling on the telephone is key to effective selling

Benefit selling on the phone - Master it - for better results

Make your call stand out from the crowd. Make them want to sit up and pay attention. Talk specifics where you can. Inane phrases such as “we’re one of the leading suppliers in the UK of ‘blah-blah’” doesn’t cut it any more. Anyone can say that and many do. However saying we supply 40 of the FTSE Top 100 companies would make me sit up and take notice. So would “we are the only company in the UK who offers a full 5 year warranty on our products” as would “we are the second largest company in the UK who ……”

Work on identifying what makes your company or products stand out from the crowd. Then nail it. Say it frequently and often (is that the same thing?!)

That’s the reason special offers and campaigns work. There is a benefit from buying it from me today!

Also use evocative adjectives to describe your products. Words like New, extended the range of, improved, now come with ……… and even ‘exciting’ if you feel comfortable using it are all words that will motivate the customer to want to listen. And if you achieve that, you’re half way there. The best of luck.

To Market runs a range of telephone sales courses all across the Midlands : Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Derby, Nottingham, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Coalville, Milton Keynes covering this subject and a range of communications skills topics. Find our more here http://www.tomarket.co.uk/courses.php

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, sales development training, Selling advice, telemarketing, Telemarketing management, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales team assessment, telesales team management, Telesales tips | 1 Comment »

Telesales training Coventry – testimonials

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Telesales training Coventry – testimonials. Read about what some of the delegates on our courses have to say about the interactive 2 day telephone selling courses we run. We ran a telesales telephone techniques course recently for a Coventry based company in the I.T. services industry. They supply hardware, software and support packages. We had a lively couple of days and they made some interesting comments …..

Brad thought “practising sales conversations on the tape recorder was helpful.”
Andy wrote “Very good course, & very well presented, didn’t lose concentration once!”  He’d like our follow up work on “overcoming blocks and objections.”
Elizabeth noted “I feel this course has helped me understand a bit better, what and how I should be doing my sales job.” 
Jason said “..you were friendly and personable”
Telephone sales course Coventry
Telephone sales course Coventry
We’re looking forward to working with these guys again. If you are in Coventry and are interested in some ideas for how you can advance and develop your customer service, telephone sales, internal sales or telemarketing team give us a call. We’ll come to you, you supply us with the coffee and we can talk through some ideas. E-mail us at info@tomarket.co.uk
I.T. industry sales and customer service training run in Leicester, Coventry, Northampton, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Cambridge and Peterborough.

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, sales development training, telemarketing, Telemarketing management, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales tips | No Comments »

Telesales masterclass – 14th & 15th December 2010

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Our final 2 day telesales masterclass will run on 14th & 15th December 2010 in Northamptonshire or Leicestershire.

telesales training - 2 day Masterclass - Leicestershire / Northamptonshire

telesales training - 2 day Masterclass - Leicestershire / Northamptonshire

We’ve chosen these dates as clients tell us things often get a bit quieter just before Christmas and as a result it is a better time for training.  This course will cover all the key elements of communication skills and how to structure an effective sales call. We’ll be covering top tips and techniques for dealing with objections, listening skills, questioning skills – what the different questions are, when to use them and how to structure a powerful telephone sales call around good questioning. Add into that an introduction to the 2 stage process for directing the conversation, and a couple of hours on how to structure powerful telesales and telemarketing calls and you have the basic tools to make sure you convert more opportunities that come your way on the phone. Contact us for more details on 01858 461148. You can download a copy of a telesales course schedule directly from the site http://www.tomarket.co.uk/course-schedules.php 

This 2 day course is ideal for anyone in Derby, Nottingham, Coventry, Leicester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Peterborough, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Oadby, Market Harborough, Hinckley, Oakham, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford on Avon as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and East Midlands. BOOK NOW for places on  14th - 15th December 2010 course.

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Posted in Cold calling, communication skills, Forthcoming courses, Overcoming objections, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »

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