Archive for the ‘telesales’ Category

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The magic ingredient that will help you get on in life – ENTHUSIASM

Friday, June 25th, 2010

The magic ingredient that will help you get on in life is ENTHUSIASM and it’s close associate ENERGY.

I often sit there watching TV at night wondering what makes those who offer us advice on all manner of aspects of our life, celebrities. Is it that they’re the most highly qualified in their field? Not usually. Are they the brightest or most experienced? Again not necessarily. But what they all possess in common is enthusiasm for what they do and energy around doing it. This is especially true of the TV chefs. I always think people like Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein really love what they do. The cynic may say, well yes “if I was earning what they were earning, I could be enthusiastic too.” But of course it doesn’t happen that way round does it? You have to put the effort in first and loads of energy, then the rewards will come. Ok, that’s the moralising over!

Enthusiasm and energy are what will get you waht you want from life

Enthusiasm and energy are what will get you what you want from life

If you’re selling your business to others as a business owner or director or you’re employed in a sales position, it is really important – vital in fact that you’re communication  reflects this positive attitude and strong belief.

Those of you who have already been on one of courses and done the work on ‘Expression, Energy and Emphasis’ will know that you can tell 40+ things about a total stranger from the opening 6 words of a telephone conversation! Remember grey, red, pink & fluffy and the brown man ?!

The energy in your voice will say more about you than you will ever realise. Make it part of your power of attraction. Jamie does.

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Posted in Independent audit of telemarketing team, Selling advice, Telemarketing management, Telesales tips, communication skills, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »

Make sure your telesales team is targeted on what you are targeted on

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Make sure your telesales team is targeted on what you are targeted on. Obvious advice in theory, but not every organisation with a telesales or telemarketing team follows this. It can be easy to dismiss the need to do this on the basis that the management looks after the commercial elements for instance.  We have worked with companies in the past who only target their team on sales and then have to manage a large volume of unprofitable orders.

Make sure your telesales targets reflect corporate goals

Make sure your telesales targets reflect corporate goals

We’re just starting a programme with a client just outside Birmingham who has a large team selling items business to business over the phone. We carried out a team audit with them recently (more details of team audits at www.tomarket.co.uk/teamaudits.php.)

The team actively promotes the fact that the goods are free on approval and “if you don’t want them, we’ll simply pick them up from you free of charge.” Also phrases such as “no obligation” appear frequently. Clearly this strategy is intended to get as many products out as possible which is great – but there is no sense of them being selective at all with who they mail out to. The result is that the company feels that too much of it’s sales activity is unprofitable.

The team is targeted on products sent out. It doesn’t take into account how many products come back.

It is really important that you understand what your business needs and ensure at least some of this is fed through to the telesales or telemarketing team on the front line. It pays to make sure everyone shoulders the responsibility for the overall success of the company. And the danger of keeping any part of  your team in the dark is that first they don’t understand what is important to the organisation they are working for, and worst they may not realise that what they are doing is counterproductive. Furthermore, how can you ever discipline someone for poor performance if they have every reason to believe they’re doing a good job?

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Posted in Commission schemes, Independent audit of telemarketing team, Telemarketing management, Telesales team assessment, Telesales tips, benchmarking telesales teams, sales development training, telemarketing, telesales team management | No Comments »

Why do sales people fail to close ?

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Why do sales people fail to close ? This is a question we spotted on a forum recently and it is an interesting question. With over 140 responses so far it has clearly got the juices going.

The key reason why sales people don’t close effectively is out of fear. They either don’t ask the question at all, or ask it at the wrong time.

Closing the sale - is all about overcoming the fear of rejection

Closing the sale - is all about overcoming the fear of rejection

For a sales person to close at the right time, all they need to do is understand where they are in the process and trust themselves and the process.

As a rule of thumb it is a good idea to open the prospect up by asking them some open questions (so that’s your 7 ‘W’s.) Then just listen attentively and pick up on both what they are saying and how they’re saying it. This will allow you to decide which aspects of your product or service are most relevant to them. You support this with some benefit statements explaining clearly and concisely why this is what they need – and then you watch for buying signals. Once you get a buying signal, the close should be the natural and logical next step.

And it should be remembered that the close is simply a question that’s all. No great drama, it’s just a closed question.

 If they decline at this stage you merely go back to asking questions to uncover more about their needs. To ask the question at the wrong time means you’ve not used the above process accurately enough.

Finally, remember that “everyone lives by selling something” so there should be no great shame attached to going for the close.

Like most things be relaxed, remember you’re a human, relate to them as a human and the close and successful selling should become a natural ‘next step.’

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Posted in Field sales training, Selling advice, Telesales tips, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »

Befriend the gatekeeper – it’s the only way !

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Befriend the gatekeeper – it’s the only way ! Honestly, it is !

Gatekeepers, receptionists, secretaries, PAs can be the bane of your life to any aspiring telemarketing or telesales person, and this is a hot topic when we discuss telesales or telemarketing training with clients. However it is important to remember a few truths.

Befriending gatekeepers - get them onside

Befriending gatekeepers - get them onside

First the gatekeeper has all the power. They decide whether they are going to put you through or not. So why take them on ? No point.

And like anyone else they will respond better to people they warm to. Be friendly and human with them. This doesn’t mean talking about lots of random “I’m trying to be your best friend” type of stuff either.

Use words like help, advise, suggest as this subtley shows that you respect their position. “I know Phil Smith is busy, but can you RECOMMEND the best time to get hold of him ?” You may be surprised how many times these types of approaches work.

Always be polite and respectful, and it will get you more of what you want.

If you speak to the gatekeeper a lot, then it is fine to develop a more social relationship – ask them about their holiday etc, but never do this if it may be considered to be inappropriate.

Getting past the gatekeeper is one of the hot topics at the moment on telesales and telemarketing courses, and so we are looking to include this in a series of short, sharp training sessions we will be running, monthly 2 hour open course training over a 12 month period. These will be offered to businesses across Birmingham, Solihull, Lichfield, Coventry, Derby, Nottingham, Mansfield, Leicester, Coalville, Loughborough, London, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Grantham, Stamford, Peterborough, Cambridge, Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford, Kettering, Wellingborough, Corby, Market Harborough,  as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, the East Midlands and West Midlands.

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Posted in Getting past gatekeepers, Overcoming objections, Selling advice, Telesales tips, communication skills, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales | No Comments »

Telephone techniques training course – 1 day

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Telephone techniques course – 1 day course. We’re just putting the finishing touches to our latest one day course in telephone techniques for all business people who use the phone talking to customers.  This series of one day courses is being offered at venues across the Midlands including Leicester, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Northampton, Loughborough, as well as Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, St Ives, Coventry and Daventry. 

Raise your game and build better relationships with your customers

Raise your game and build better relationships with your customers

Whereas our ‘full fat’ 2 day courses are generally aimed at either Telesales OR customer service, this one day compact course is for all staff who deal with customers.

It covers all the basic things you need to be aware of when dealing with customers. In just one day you will cover ;

  • Listening skills
  • Questioning skills
  • Expression (how your voice tells the other person more about you than you will ever know.)
  • Mixed messages (why the message you send is not always the message they receive.)

Attending our course will increase your awareness of yours and your customers communication skills. This will enable you to build better empathy with your customers, thus ensuring better long-term trading relationships.

Better communications skills and telephone techniques leads to more sales and a greater customer experience. If you are interested in this compact telephone skills course in Birmingham, Daventry, Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Cambridge, St Ives, Solihull, Lichfield, Loughborough or anywhere across the East and West Midlands, drop us a line to info@tomarket.co.uk and we’ll send you more information.

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Posted in Forthcoming courses, communication skills, telephone techniques, telesales | No Comments »

Telesales masterclass – Leicester / Northampton 26th – 27th July 2010

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Telesales masterclass – Leicestershire / Northamptonshire 26th – 27th July 2010.  Dates for the next open course for telesales and telemarketing personnel now set.

2 days to help you be better !

2 days to help you be better !

Our 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, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Oadby, Market Harborough, Hinckley and Oakham as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and East Midlands. Leicestershire 26th - 27th July 2010.

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Posted in Forthcoming courses, Overcoming objections, Selling advice, communication skills, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques | 1 Comment »

Buy some huge experience with a short term telesales manager

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Buy some huge experience with a short term telesales manager. There are other alternatives to simply recruiting and committing to the fixed cost that employing your own telesales or telemarketing manager involves.

The job market has changed a lot in the last 12 months or so, and there are a number of high quality people who have previously run successful telesales and telemarketing teams who are now out of work. And frankly the vast majority are open to suggestion.

There are alternative ways of getting the right manager for your team

There are alternative ways of getting the right manager for your team

You are therefore in a powerful position. You hold the cards. You therefore don’t have to recruit in the same way that you used to, at least not at the moment. A good quality interim telesales or telemarketing manager can help you by drawing on wide industry knowledge. You can benefit from cross industry best practice. Chances are the person currently heading your team the telesales manager, telesales team leader or telemarketing supervisor may have more limited experience.

An external interim manager should be able to offer you many things. They will know some great people to speak to, they can provide training for the team, and knowledge of how to set up systems that work, that are proven across industry.

We specialise in business to business for instance and have worked in many market sectors over the years including small business, insurance, packaging, plastic container manufacturing, automotive leasing, board printing, I.T., health and safety products, with directors of small to medium sized business, fork lift trucks,  software,  capital equipment, car finance, car dealerships, marketing agencies, outsourced telemarketing agencies, office cleaning, vending machines, event organisers, paper print, schoolwear, workwear, payroll training, healthcare insurance, optical services, plus many more !

We therefore have some good cross industry experience and we know of a few quality managers who are looking for the right position across the Midlands. For more information about how this may work for you, call us on 01858 461148  or e-mail us info@tomarket.co.uk. Get another job ticked off your list !

We can help you with phone team management and development across the Midlands including Birmingham, Coventry, Daventry, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Cambridge, St Ives

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Posted in Independent audit of telemarketing team, Telemarketing management, Telesales team assessment, benchmarking telesales teams, interim telesales manager, small business marketing, telemarketing, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »

Unsolicited telephone sales calls can be illegal

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Unsolicited telephone sales calls can be illegal. So this means you can’t simply start calling names and companies at random from a list. And you certainly can’t do what some companies used to do in the 80’s which was to call numbers out of the Yellow Pages to make sales calls. 

Make sure your telesales activity stays the right side of the law

Make sure your telesales activity stays the right side of the law

As long ago as December 2003, the government introduced legislation which made it unlawful to make unsolicited calls to individuals who have indicated that they do not want to receive such calls. Both consumers and businesses can register their unwillingness to receive telephone (TPS) and fax (FPS) communications on a central register.

Over 15 million consumers and businesses have already registered their numbers which means these businesses and consumers must not be contacted unless permission has been explicitly granted to the calling company. There is a potential fine of up to £5,000 for each breach of the legislation. So this means you must ensure your in-house list must be checked periodically, and any lists you buy in should already be TPS checked. Any reputable list supplier will do this as a matter of course.

Incidentally there is a shelf life of 3 months on these checks meaning that any list that has not been checked for 3 months should be checked again. There are many companies that will provide a service to check your numbers for you, such as www.numbercheck.co.uk.

We find that this is a much more serious issue if you operate and sell in consumer markets and phone people at home. Most companies don’t register their office numbers thank goodness as the whole economy would grind to a halt, but many householders do.

This is brought to you as part of  To Market’s public service! If you want further information or advice on this subject, we suggest you have a look at the telephone preference service’s website http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/ctps/what/ for all the official information.

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Posted in Independent audit of telemarketing team, Telemarketing management, Telephone preference service, owner managers directors, small business marketing, telemarketing, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »

Getting past the gatekeeper – 5 top tips

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Getting past the gatekeeper – 5 top tips. One of the parts of our interactive training sessions I particularly enjoy is when we brainstorm ideas as a group. This is one of the fun parts of our training work on getting past the gatekeeper, or getting past the receptionist as it often is.

Here are 5 top tips that have come from training groups we’ve run ;

  1. Build in continuity if you’ve spoken to them before “He asked me to call him” or if untrue, instead try “we agreed to speak round about now ……”
  2. Go via another department (accounts or HR for instance) and ask to be transferred. This also often helps get the name.
  3. Ask for them by name : directly, assertively and confidently. You could also simply ask for them by their first name if appropriate.
  4. Use the fear close. Spell out ‘dangers’ of not taking your call. Does depend on the industry you’re in. This can work with compliance industries such as Health & Safety. Not many receptionists will be brave enough to block you in response to lines such as “I just wanted to chat to him about the forthcoming legislation and I’ve got some information for him that will help you stay the right side of the law” will they ?! 
  5. Be prepared to engage the receptionist or PA in conversation. Use their name back to them, and use words like help, advise and suggest. You will be appealing to their ego and sense of power.

There are many m0re of these tips and we are collecting more all the time, but I hope these help you. They certainly help us, and the countless people we work with. The best of luck, and I mean that most sincerely folks !

To Market runs training sessions to include this bane of our lives across the Midlands including Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, Corby, Kettering, Loughborough, Daventry, St Ives, Cambridge and wider parts of the East and West Midlands

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Posted in Getting past gatekeepers, Overcoming objections, Selling advice, Telesales tips, communication skills, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales | 2 Comments »

What to do if you lose an order

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Sadly sometimes it’s gonna happen. Despite your best efforts and the positive thoughts you had about this job, you find out you did not get it. At this point many salespeople simply give up and move on. After all there’s plenty more fish in the sea. However you’re a professional and so you’re keen to learn as much as you can from this situation. Good !

Professional telesales & lost orders

Professional telesales & lost orders

Often you will hear of this lost order indirectly. It seems customers don’t want to deliver bad news in person. So strangely if you’re going to get additional information about what happened and why, you will need to make it easy for them ! As I said – strange that !!

Contact them by phone, and explain that you’re keen to learn from the experience both personally and from the company’s point of view. Phrases such as “I’m interested in knowing about how we stand in the market place and so I’d like to ask you why on this occasion we weren’t successful in winning your business. Hopefully that way we can learn from it, and improve what we do in future.”

Because their guard is down, you will often find out valuable information. It will also tell you about what is important to them in choosing a supplier. You will be amazed how often it isn’t the price !

Having a dialogue with the customer is important too as it helps you start the dialogue for next time. And as many of your other competitors won’t be doing this, it starts to build your opportunities for next time. Also of course, if your victorious competitor lets them down, they’ll be on the hunt for an alternative supplier. And if you’ve already spoken to them and they know you’re not harbouring a grudge, they’re much more likely to try you aren’t they ?

To Market runs training for companies across the Midlands including Birmingham, Lichfield, Solihull, Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, Wellingborough, Cambridge, St Ives, Corby, Kettering, Daventry and wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and the West Midlands

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Posted in Independent audit of telemarketing team, Telemarketing management, Telesales team assessment, Telesales tips, communication skills, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales | No Comments »

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