dmClub customer news - July 2010
For this month's newsletter, we interviewed the dmClub sales team for their top 5 telemarketing tips.
If you're using telemarketing to build business leads, or are thinking about it, read on for some hints and ideas to make your campaigns a success.
Five tips for telemarketing success
Assess your business
Telemarketing is time-consuming. You'll need to judge whether your business can be promoted in this way. What are you good at selling? What type of customer are you good at selling to? Does it make sense to develop new leads through telemarketing, or do you make sales best through long-term relationships?
Prepare target lists
Prepare, prepare, prepare! You'll save yourself countless wasted calls by doing your research. What kind of people do you want to reach? Can you classify your ideal customers by business type, business size, geographical area? How will you get the contacts? If you're still testing telemarketing for your business, can you build a first contact list yourself?
Prepare telephone scenarios
Draft your calling script carefully. Find simple, persuasive ways to describe what you offer. Work out your response to common objections. Think through the stages of selling your product, and set yourself a simple goal for each call. Can you get the contact number for a decision maker? Can you get your prospect to agree to a follow-up call? Then prepare promotional material for follow-ups by post or email.
Set time aside, and review regularly
Block out specific times for working on your list. If you know that you'll spend an hour each day, at a certain time, making calls, you'll quickly get into the habit. And as you're making calls, take a 5-minute break after every tenth call to assess which calls went best. What days and times are most effective? When are you at your best? What have you learned from the calls that you can use elsewhere?
Play by the rules
Make sure you're only calling people who are willing to listen! It's unlawful to make cold calls to anyone who has opted out of receiving them. So if you're doing a high volume of cold calling, make sure your caller list is screened for numbers that have opted out of cold calling. You can either get your call lists screened directly by the Telephone Preference Service, or use a data compiling/screening service such as UK Consumer Data.
Recessions are tough, for businesses of all sizes. But the best way to get ahead is to keep selling. Good luck!