Cold Calling

Telephone selling has increased in popularity in recent years in response to greater access to personal telephone details and the use of call centers in overseas destinations. Cheaper labor rates in countries such as India and the Philippines that have high English skills has promoted companies to add this style of selling to their marketing approach. When executed in a professional manner, companies can enjoy great returns from their investment in telephone selling.

In some cases, telephone selling is being used as a direct approach to move goods and services. In other cases, telephone selling is being used to set the appointment with potential business decision makers. An example of this is business to business selling whereby telemarketers attempt to set the appointment for sales executives to perform sales demonstrations and focus on closing the sale. This eliminates the time consumed by high caliber sales personnel prospecting and working towards lead generation and allows executives to focus on what they do best; closing the sale.

Successful telephone selling takes a well refined approach and the ability to handle rejections. Many individuals resent callers who make intrusive phone calls for the express purposes of making a sale. Telephone selling can encounter a high rejection rates so companies often use the dedicated services of an outsourcing company. These companies employ experienced professionals who have diverse exposure to different industries and are trained to deal with rejection.

Training in telephone selling techniques is available for companies that want to commence using telephone selling. This is an advantage to companies that are experiencing high staff turnover rates, low conversions or do not have a current business framework for telephone operation. Candidates are often subject to real life simulation and playback in preparation for live conditions. This is also beneficial for companies that need exposure to a refined sales script that has proven to work over time.

Selling over the phone involves convincing the customer that the product will help his/her needs or will solve a problem. For this, the caller is expected to have a full knowledge of the product and its functional features. This allows the telephone operator to handle technical questions and convey the products benefits and features in technical and non technical terms.

Sometimes, customers get agitated and frustrated. Successful telephone selling requires operators to be able to handle a diverse range of customer behavior. Because telephone sales are essentially a numbers game, having a well crafted and disciplined approach and exercising persistence can contribute to a companies long term success.

Privacy Policy | Contact Us |