Successful Teleselling

About an hour ago, I read an article on Linkedin relating to telesales and how important this skill is in the development of business relationships. I could not agree any more with the author when it comes to appreciating the value attached to picking up the phone and making direct contact with your target market but when push comes to shove, why is it that telesales is the 'thorn in the side' for most people involved in selling?

Rejection

The honest answer from most would be 'fear of rejection' and it's not uncommon for people to shudder at the thought of making these types of calls. But what if this 'activity' was renamed to 'profile raising' or 'helping people' or 'business to business communicating' for example? What if the 'sales' part was removed from the original labelling and changed to something else? What impact would that have for you as a business developer?

Pointers

Furthermore, what would it be like if you 'managed your expectations' in relation to telesales? What is going to happen realistically and how can you prepare yourself better for this communication task? Here are some pointers to assist:

1. Understand the purpose of your proposition. With only seconds to create impact it is essential that you are able to quickly and easily highlight the benefit, secondary gain or value attached to your offering and create a powerful 'business purpose statement'. Focus on the headache you remove or benefits you bring and create a sentence that highlights just those things. Rehearse this statement until you are comfortable with it rolling off your tongue.

2. Know your customer's business. Visit the website, learn 5 key things about the company in case you are asked 'What do you know about us?' A friend of mine is Head of Procurement for a large corporate and she said that the difference that makes the difference with sales calls is the caller 'understanding the business' and tailoring their communication towards that.

3. Explain to the prospect that you'd like to 'show' them how your business works and create a timescale for how long this will take. "It will take only 10 minutes of your time to show you how this can work for your business." The word 'show' presupposes that an explanation cannot be given over the telephone and it is necessary to meet face to face.

4. Demonstrate that you are taking a risk! You'd like to meet the prospect so explain to them that if after you have presented the solution and if at that point there is no mutual ground then they are entitled to end the meeting.

5. Create a form that charts possible outcomes attached to this activity and list your results. Knowing what could occur makes accepting possible occurences easy.

You might get through to the contact or you may not.
You may get a chance to pitch, or not.
You might pitch and get interest, or not.
You might pitch and get a meeting, or not.
You might get to pitch and the client have a valid reason for not wanting your offer.
You might get to pitch and the client not be ready for your offer.
You may be requested to call again later/remain in contact.

6. Commit to a number! Whether its 45 minutes or 45 calls - make a numeric commitment!

Special advice!

Most importantly remember these two 'special' pieces of advice. Firstly, you cannot fail at this activity, you only receive feedback. When you get your result, think about what happened, how you got your outcome and what you could have done differently.

Secondly, think about what you might ask 'you' if you were receiving a call from you and your business. How would you handle those questions? Again, identify and rehearse until you are comfortable with the elegance of your response.

Still not keen? Ever phoned a travel agent or booked a taxi? Ever called a restaurant to reserve a table? Ever called someone you don't know..........

Telesales or 'communicating on the phone' is a learned skill and can be developed. Don't let your learned reluctance get in the way of developing you and your business!