This is probably a guide that most telemarketers wish they were given before they began their job. The truth is, telemarketing is hard work. People don't like being called in the middle of dinner only to be asked what brand of toothbrush they prefer or if they would be interested in a free trial subscription to Redbook. Potential customers can get very nasty. Some will simply hang up, but what happens when you get one who actually wants to talk to you? These tips on handling those who do and those who don't will help a lot.
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Telemarketers are given a script. They are told under no uncertain terms to follow the script. But the truth is, these scripts can get annoying and make you sound like a robot. So if you find an opportunity to get away from the script, even a little bit, do it. Don't let your supervisor bully you. If he should catch you and asks you why you deviated from the script, tell him that you felt it was necessary to do so. If you ended up making a sale, show him your sheet. That should shut him up.
Part of the script is of course inserting your name. This is something you'll only learn from experience but if you are of an ethnic background, such as Jewish or Spanish, you need to have an understanding of the area you're calling. For example, if your name is Sam Goldberg and you're calling an area that you know to be predominantly Jewish, then by all means keep your real name, but if you're calling an area that you know to be predominately Christian then you might want to think of changing your name to a more Christian sounding or even neutral sounding name for these areas. Perhaps Stan Green will do fine. Believe it or not, it makes a difference to how people will relate to you.
When talking to people on the phone who are generally interested in what you have to offer, if they ask you a tough question, one that you know the answer to will not make them happy, don't lie. It will only come back to haunt you and the company in the form of a returned item or worse. Tell them the truth, but always stress the benefits over that one negative. Try to make the customer see that it would be in their best interests to at least give your product a try. Tell them that it comes with a money back guarantee so they can always return it if they're not satisfied.
If you're a telemarketer doing a demographic survey where you have to ask the person a lot of questions about themselves and their buying habits, try to mix in some casual discussion with the questions. For example, say you are asking them what their favorite soap is and they say a brand that you never heard of. Tell them you never heard of it. Ask them what they think of it. Ask them if it's any good. If they say it's great tell them that you may try it sometime. Be personable with these people. It will make the conversation go a lot quicker.
More important that anything else, b2b lead generation be yourself. Try to enjoy what you're doing. If you let your personality shine through in the calls then people will enjoy talking to you and your job will be a lot easier. For those who are nasty with you and hang up on you, don't take it personally. Shrug it off and move on to the next call.
Tired of all those telemarketing calls? Why put up with them when there are ways for you to protect your phone privacy, and there are different actions you can take to make the calls stop? Instead of always allowing telemarketers the upper hand by doing your best to ignore your ringing telephone, take control of the situation and reduce the number of calls you receive.
How can you achieve this? The following are helpful and effective suggestions:
Register your phone number with the Do Not Call List - A National Do Not Call Registry exists and it is free to join. Register all of your telephone numbers with this service, and after 31 days from the time you registered, you are protected from all unsolicited calls except for those made by non profit organizations, survey and political groups. If a telemarketer phones you and this call goes against the Registry's regulations, you are then permitted to file a formal complaint.
Ask the telemarketer to put your number on their internal do-not-call-list - By law, all telemarketing agencies are permitted to have their own company-specific do not call list. Instead of always telling the telemarketer you are not interested and hanging up on them, legally put a stop to the calls by remaining on the line and saying "please place my phone number on your do not call list". As soon as you make this official request, they must adhere to it and refrain from calling you back in the future.
Tell the solicitor you are registered with the NDNCR and will be filing a formal complaint against their company - If you receive unsolicited calls obtain the name of the agent, their company and any other pertinent details. Then let the telemarketer know you won't put up with their invasion of your privacy, and inform them you will be filing a formal complaint with the FCC or FTC.
Make them wish they never called you - If you encounter an exceptionally persistent telemarketing firm, you can stop telemarketers and annoying calls from ever wanting to contact you again by being the most irritating phone consumer you can possibly be. This doesn't mean you should be rude or threatening (as this is never a good way to deal with any form of harassment), instead, reverse the tables and make the telemarketers want to hang up on you!
This can be achieved with a little creativity, such as:
- attempting to sell something of your own to the caller
- Telling them someone is at the door and putting them on indefinite hold while you go about your business.
- Telling them all of your problems, ailments and complaints if they ever ask the question "How are you today?"
- Etc.
As you can see, there are a number of ways you can stop telemarketers from calling you. You will find that depending on the telemarketing call, you may need to resort to different actions.