For most B2B companies, telemarketing is the standard way to contact leads and set appointments. It is a routine part of the job for most sales representatives- smile, dial, repeat.
Sounds like an easy task, right? However, despite its apparent simplicity, telemarketing can be one of the most dreaded parts of the job due to the constant rejection that callers face.
What is telemarketing, anyway?
The process of using the phone in generating leads, make sales, or gather marketing information is called telemarketing. This strategy is especially useful for small businesses and services whose customers are located in far-flung areas and, or when there are many prospects to be contacted to find interested ones who’ll make a purchase.
Cold calling is one aspect of telemarketing that gained a negative reputation despite being effective in generating leads and contacting prospects. You might have come across many blogs where it’s repeatedly killed off, saying “Telemarketing is dead”. While digitalization continues to outshine phone calling in terms of scope and accessibility, telemarketing is very much alive and thriving.
Check out our Latest Blog: B2B Telemarketing & Digital Marketing: The Power Combo for Your Conversion Success
Why do businesses still use telemarketing?
B2B businesses still use telemarketing to contact potential clients because it enables personalization and direct communication. Compared to other marketing forms like email or social media, telemarketing allows two-way communication between businesses, wherein they can converse with their prospects and address their specific concerns.
It also enables sales reps to build relationships and establish trust with prospects, which can eventually generate more sales. In addition, telemarketing can be a cost-effective way to reach a large number of potential customers, especially for smaller businesses that may have limited marketing budgets.
Explore our Services: B2B Telemarketing Services in Singapore and APAC
Telemarketing tips to close more deals and drive more sales
When asking about telemarketing success, you’ve probably heard the same old piece of advice one too many times: “Make your phone call more personal.” or “Listen actively.” However, that’s not always the case. There are situations where you need to take your strategies a step further to convert a prospect into a lead and seal the deal over the phone.
One of the biggest challenges in B2B telemarketing is effectively convincing people that they need what you’re offering them and that they’d commit to a phone call, an appointment, or a subscription. Of course, it’s not an easy feat, but with the right knowledge and skills, you’re all set to succeed. Here are some of the key abilities that every top-notch telemarketer should have:
- Confidence over the phone
- Good communication skills and minimal fillers such as “uhm” and “ah”
- Become more conversational and not rehearsed
- Handle objections properly
- Probe and know what questions to ask to identify if there’s a need
- Empathize with the prospect
- Be optimistic
Related: Teach Sales Reps to Sound More Natural Over the Phone
Here are some bulls-eye tips to help you increase your chances of closing more deals:
Research and Refine your Proposition
Before you launch your product, it’s crucial that you understand your audience and make sure that you reach the right people. Offering something they don’t need or want is wasted time and effort, after all. To avoid this, take time to do your research so that you can identify your target audience. Here are some guide questions to help you:
- Who are your buyers?
- Where are they?
- What do they want?
- What makes them want to buy?
- How can you assist them?
Understanding your audience goes beyond knowing who they are. It also means understanding their buying motivations and challenges. One must also know in which part of the decision-making process these prospects are.
Related: Prospect Research and Profiling Tips to Help You Build Your Contact List
Use your Credentials
It goes without saying that name-dropping helps. If you mention that you have clients such as; Microsoft, IBM, etc. in your email, call, or website, it helps remove any credibility issues from the get-go. So, think about who you can use as leverage when talking to a decision-maker. If you can’t actually name-drop or you don’t have these clients, you can still focus on what your prospect needs that you specialize in and emphasize how they can benefit if they would consider your product or service.
Empower your prospect
When talking to prospects, you should be in control of the call and not them. There will be instances wherein they will try to be in control of the call and ask questions instead of answering your questions. What you will do? Take it back! Answer the question of the prospect and ask the question again for the prospect to answer. Remember, the one who asks questions is the one who’s in control of the call. Here are The Dos and Don’ts When Doing B2B Telesales to guide you!
Persistence is crucial
You’re not considered a good salesperson if you’re not persistent or don’t know the different buying signals. Too often, salespeople, telemarketers, and small business owners abandon calls when they get immediate “negative” results. There are different reasons why prospects object such as:
- Need
- Price
- Feature
- Time
- Telemarketer/ Salesperson
So you have to know where your prospects are before giving up. Find out How Many Call Attempts Should You Do Before You Surrender a Lead.
However, you have to take note that being too persistent is not healthy for you and your prospect. Understand the reason why they object. Whether they don’t need it now, they find it too expensive, you don’t have what they’re looking for or they don’t have time to talk about it for now. Regardless of the reason, you have to respect it at some point.
Effective telemarketing means being persistent with the right prospect at the right time.
Find out how we reach out to the right prospect at the right time with Smart Calling.
Use a good CRM system
Having a good tool is essential to record all important notes from the call for you to use when you follow up with your prospects. Notes such as:
- Information about your prospect
- Information about their current set
- When is the right time to follow up on them
- Their plans, timeframe, needs, etc.
Outsource your telemarketing efforts: Only with an expert team
Those notes may help you prepare before you follow up on your prospects which will help rebuild rapport on the next call. Nowadays, there are a lot of cheap online hosted CRM systems available in the market. If you want good quality leads and reporting tools, many companies are offering B2B telemarketing services and letting you utilize their own tool to manage and nurture your leads and appointments.
Callbox is one of the companies that offer telemarketing services to businesses across different industries and locations across the globe. Having been in the B2B industry for decades, we have become an outsourced B2B lead generation services provider and a reputable partner of businesses aiming to succeed in the industry.
Our team of experts employs professional and persuasive communication to engage with prospects, gather relevant information, and foster relationships to drive conversions. Through our Multi-touch, Multi-channel approach, we use Voice, Email, Chat, Web, Social Media, and Webinars to reach our clients at any time and place and across various platforms.
Our services can be availed with flexible and tailored pricing according to your business needs (request for pricing).
Maximize your telemarketing strategies, secure leads, and gain revenue by partnering with a globally trusted lead generation provider. Contact Callbox today and schedule an appointment with us!
