8 Telemarketing mistakes you MUST avoid

1. Superficiality. Beginning the conversation with “How are you?” to someone you don’t know screams SALES CALL! It feels unnatural and forced so it’s best left unsaid.

2. Pitching to the wrong person. Imagine the scenario; you have got on well, you have concluded your pitch and they like the sound of your proposition. So you go in for the kill only to hear the nightmare response, “Oh it’s not my decision. You need to speak to my colleague, but they’ve just taken on a similar service.” Do not waste time! Identify the decision maker as quickly and as politely as possible.

3. Pestering. At Perfect Pitch, we work on a metric that it takes 3-4 calls to speak with the contact. Constantly phoning someone will only create annoyance. However, we’ve that it is a much more effective strategy to try to find out from their colleague when it is best to phone them, and to diligently spread the calls apart over a reasonable period of time.

4. Not listening. Nothing annoys a prospect more than feeling like the person on the other end of the phone isn’t listening. By not listening closely you might miss a golden nugget of information and above all, it’s rude.

5. Being rude. Politeness is key with telemarketing. By minding your manners with gatekeepers, you might be able to build a rapport with them, and eventually get them to put you through to your prospect. One key tip is to NEVER eat whilst on a call. The sound is amplified and it is immeasurably impolite and unprofessional.

6. Using closed questions. You want to build momentum on the call which will make your prospect more inclined to open up. Instead of asking questions which have a yes or no answer, try those which begin with how, why or when.

7. Being underprepared. If you’re calling with the aim to book a meeting, make sure you have your diary to hand. Having to scramble around for it whilst on the call will only delay the conversation and could put off the prospect.

Equally, if you have a name of the person and the company you are calling, it is advisable to check out their website and see if the contact is on LinkedIn. Opening a question with, “I’ve had a look on your website and I think we can help with…” is much more impressive than, “erm, so what do you do?”

8. Over-talking and talking too fast. The prospect should talk for at least 75% of the call. This is your opportunity to find out as much as you can about what they need. Wait for your moment to strike, keep it concise and speak clearly and at a moderate speed.

 

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