How to complain and win
Wrangling with customer service representatives is an art form, but you can
do it successfully with a little knowledge and a stubborn streak.
It’s time to get mad.
Almost every day, I get another e-mail or letter from someone who has
suffered some outrage at the hands of a company, usually one that purports
to care about customer service. But instead of being livid, most of these
folks are resigned to bad treatment and just want to know how to minimize
the damage.
Here’s an example. Willi Sommer is a Navy submariner stationed in Italy.
AT&T took a $425 payment Sommer made to his direct-bill calling card account
and applied it, in error, to his mother’s wireless account.
Any company can make a mistake, of course. What counts is how the company
fixes it.
AT&T fixed Sommer by turning his account over to a collections agency. This
is after Sommer sent the company copies of the cashed check and spent hours
on overseas phone calls with AT&T customer-service reps.
When AT&T finally realized its mistake, it gave Sommer a credit -- but only
for the amount of the payment that his mother hadn’t already “spent.”
You don’t have to take it anymore
I’d love to tell you AT&T’s version of these events. I tried for days to get
one of their public-relations people to speak to me about this. Instead, I
got transferred from one PR type to another, but nobody was willing to admit
that this problem fell within his or her purview.
Sommer had been dealing with this nonsense for six months. It’s no wonder he
became numb. All he was hoping for when he contacted me was suggestions for
fixing his credit report. He’d long since given up hope that AT&T would
actually give back the money it took or that it would apologize for treating
him so shabbily.
It’s time to fight back.
You really can win
I’m here to tell him, and you, that we just don’t have to take it anymore.
So what if customer service keeps getting worse -- you can complain
effectively, and get results. You just have to know how.
Know your rights. Sometimes companies get away with egregious behavior
simply because its victims don’t know the law. It’s illegal, for example,
for a company to knowingly report false credit information, or for
collection agencies to keep calling you after you’ve told them in writing to
stop. Knowing the law -- and letting the companies know you know -- is
sometimes effective in getting bad behavior to stop.
If your complaint involves a contract, warranty or guaranty, read all the
fine print that came with it. You don’t necessarily have to limit yourself
to the remedies prescribed in these documents, but you should at least know
what the company promised.
Know what you want. Be clear in your mind and in all your communications
with the company about what you want to happen. That way you won’t get
sidetracked.
After all, the customer-service rep’s job, typically, is not to make you
happy. It’s to get you off the phone.
If the rep suggests ways to fix your problem at all, it will usually be ways
that don’t cost her or the company much. When my new laptop’s hard drive
failed for the second time last month, Dell wanted to send me yet another
replacement part. But I knew from the start of my call that I wasn’t getting
off the phone until a replacement computer was on its way.
I’m assuming, by the way, that what you want is both reasonable and doable.
Your definition of those two terms may vary from the company’s, but you
can’t be ridiculous about it. The dry cleaner that ruined your jacket, for
example, should be expected to buy you a new one. You shouldn’t expect free
dry cleaning for life.
Be concise. Boil your story down to its essential elements; you might even
practice first with a friend before you pick up the phone. Nattering on
about irrelevant details will just make it easier for the rep to tune out or
miss the point. Besides, you’re going to have to repeat your story over and
over and over to get results. Might as well save yourself some time by
editing in advance.
Don’t be a jerk. My husband, the most effective complainer I know, puts it
this way: You don’t have to be nice, necessarily. You do have to be polite.
Hubby has used this not-nice-but-polite approach to get us a 50% discount on
a garage door that was incorrectly installed, a free upgrade on our Tivo
service (again, botched installation) and a number of other concessions from
companies that initially insisted there was no way to accommodate us.
He isn’t sweet, understanding or particularly patient when he deals with
people who resist giving him what he wants. But he is unfailingly civil.
Rude behavior just gives the rep an opportunity to hang up on you, or feel
justified in not helping you.
I’ve found being nice sometimes greases the wheels. Some reps are so used to
being berated by customers that they melt pretty quickly when dealing with
someone who’s pleasant. My favorite ploy is to chat them up, then ask them
how they would handle my problem if it were theirs, instead of mine. Many
times, they’ll respond to this treatment by connecting me with someone who
can actually solve my dilemma.
Know that the company’s problems are not your problems. Customer-service
reps love to tell you exactly why the company’s procedures don’t allow them
to do what you need them to do. Guess what: You don’t have to care. How the
company chooses to conduct its business is not your concern. What is your
concern is getting your problem fixed, however the company ultimately
decides to do it.
Carve out some time. I’m convinced some companies try to wear you out with
excessively long hold times. You can’t force them to pick up the phone, but
you can fight back by out-waiting them.
Get yourself a portable phone or, better yet, a portable with a headset.
That way you can do other things to keep your sanity while waiting for the
company to see reason.
It took me three hours on a Saturday morning to persuade Dell to see things
my way. I survived innumerable transfers, two disconnects and endless
stretches on hold largely because I wasn’t tethered to a desk the whole
time. Thanks to my portable head set, I was able to nurse and play with my
daughter, sort mail and even do a little light housekeeping while I talked
to Sandy, Matt, Phyllis, Jason, Raina and the rest of the Dell crew about
how they were going to get me a replacement computer.
Get names and call back numbers. Sometimes, you don’t have three hours in a
row to spend on the phone. Rather than start over from the beginning each
time you dial, make sure you know how to get back in touch with the people
who handled your last call. Having a name and number also comes in handy
when you get transferred into voice-mail hell or the phone simply goes dead
-- not that a customer-service rep would ever, ever deliberately hang up on
you.
Take notes. I don’t know why, but reps are inordinately impressed when you
can tell them exactly when you were told what by whom. These details can
also help when you’re enlisting others to come to your aid (see below).
When in doubt, get it in writing. Consumer advocates usually recommend
putting disputes in writing. The reality is that most problems get handled
over the phone, and you don’t necessarily have to conduct business by snail
mail.
If the issue involves a lot of money, taxes, legal issues or your credit
report, however, put everything in writing and send the letters certified
mail, return receipt requested. Keep a log of all your communications with
the company and copies of every relevant piece of paper.
Keep moving up the ladder. You probably know that if you can’t get what you
want from a phone rep, you should ask to speak to a supervisor. But the
folks with the real power may be several rungs up the ladder. If you strike
out, try the company’s marketing or public-relations division. A letter sent
to the company’s president or CEO can often break through a logjam like
nothing else.
If the company is violating the law, you may need to contact the appropriate
regulator. You’ll need to do some research to find the right office, and you
can’t necessarily count on results. The Federal Trade Commission, for
example, collects complaints about credit bureaus, but typically only acts
if it sees a pattern of problems emerging.
Desperate measures
If you’re having a problem with the government itself, the ultimate resource
may be your local, state or federal representative. Many lawmakers pride
themselves on taking care of their constituents on this grassroots level.
Then there’s always the option of alerting the media. (Caveat: Don’t alert
me -- I’ve got enough to do.) But if the company’s behavior has been
particularly terrible or you think you might be part of a trend, you can try
calling your local newspaper or television station to see if you can
interest them in your plight.
That’s the way one of my former colleagues at the Los Angeles Times
discovered that a local phone utility was charging many of its customers for
DSL service that didn’t work. The utility kept insisting that there was no
problem, or that customer complaints were “isolated incidents.” After the
reporter heard from a bunch of “isolated incidents” and wrote a front-page
story about them, the company was forced to stop billing people for
something they never got.
Finally, you can always hire a lawyer. It’s not the easiest or most
cost-effective way to get what you want, but sometimes it pays off.
Real-estate agent Judy Thomas tried for six years to get TransUnion to
remove another woman’s bad credit history from her credit report. Thomas
finally won a $5.3 million lawsuit against the credit bureau. The judge
later reduced the award to $1.3 million, but hey, Thomas made her point.
Monday, August 25, 2008
LINKS FOR ONLINE EXAM
Subject-Verb Agreement
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/quiz/subverb1.htm
English Comprehension
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/quiz/reading1.htm
Creative Problem Solving
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/tansfers.cgi
Mental Thoughness
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi
Sensitivity to Criticism
http://www.psychtests.com/tests/career/criticism_access.html
Self Esteem Test
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi
Myers Briggs Test
www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Customer Service Job Fit Test
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bib/tests/transfer
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/quiz/subverb1.htm
English Comprehension
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/quiz/reading1.htm
Creative Problem Solving
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/tansfers.cgi
Mental Thoughness
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi
Sensitivity to Criticism
http://www.psychtests.com/tests/career/criticism_access.html
Self Esteem Test
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi
Myers Briggs Test
www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Customer Service Job Fit Test
www.psychtests.com/cgi-bib/tests/transfer
SAMPLES OF REBUTTALS
Rebuttal Setup
Are you just concerned that the money is not available on the card at this time?
Is there something about this offer that you just don't understand?
Do you understand why you're receiving this offer? The sponsoring resorts are hoping that when you travel, you'll enjoy your trip so much that you'll invest in future vacations with them. You get a great vacation for free, and we get a chance to show you how great our resorts are! This way everybody is happy! Relax you're gonna have a great time!
Listen, whether you take advantage of this offer or not is entirley up to you, I know what a great offer this is..what I don't know is why anyone would want to pass it up...Care to share?
Call Back / Think About It
This is your official phone call! Once the person on the registration form is contacted and given their details, it's activated in the computer. Now, we don't need to know who's coming with you or when you are going, all we need to know is if you want to take advantage of the offer or not! Now, I know you want your free vacation, so let's get you registered!
I don't understand? When you were online you signed up for a chance to take part in this promotion. All we're doing is giving you exactly what you requested, a great offer, you're receiving a vacation that's valued at over $1300.00 for free! And all we ask is that you tour our resort, if you like it great, if you don't that's okay too. Either way you keep the vacation, so relax you're going to have a great time!
You plan on traveling sometime in the near future, right? And the Bahamas is a place you'd like to travel to, correct? Now I know you'd like to go for free, right? Then obviously, there's nothing to think about. What's your real concern?
Talk To Spouse
When you surprise your spouse with this offer, there are only two questions that are gonna be asked… How much is it? And When are we going? Now, you can say that all you had to pay is a refundable deposit of just $148 and that the vacation was absolutely free, and that you have 18 months to take it!
If there are any questions whatsoever, you can have your spouse call our customer service number, or visit our website. In the mean time we need to reserve this so you don’t lose out on the offer.
To be quite honest with you! I’ve never heard of a divorce or a break-up over a FREE vacation! What’s your real concern?
Something In Writing
Absolutely! You'll have everything available online at our website before we even get off the phone with one another!
What’s The Catch?
The only reason we can give you this great offer, is because we are looking for repeat and referral business! So the only thing you have to do is relax and enjoy the moment! Can you handle that?
Sounds Too Good To Be True
Oh no, not at all. What the Resort is hoping will happen is that you’ll come down and be so impressed with their resort, that you’ll invest in future vacations. That’s why they’re willing to provide you with such a great vacation for nothing!
Something In Writing
That's the number one reason that we promote ourselves via the Internet, all of the details concerning this offer were right there for you when you registered online. Are you just concerned that the vacation will not be everything that I have described?
Credit Card Over Phone
You have to understand; we have direct billing with all of the card companies. What I’m going to do for you is give you the authorization code that was issued to us directly from your bank, before we get off the phone… Then when we’re done you can contact the 800 number on the back of your card and give that code to them. That way you can verify with your own bank’s billing department the amount that was charged and our company name! Now I’m sure you trust your own bank right?
We have merchant privileges with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. In other words they’ve done a complete background investigation on us and given us the green light with full merchant privileges. Now we’re not about to jeopardize our relationship with them over a hundred and fifty bucks! That would be ridiculous! Understand there is a purpose behind our promotion. Relax you’re fine.
Legitimacy
You have to understand, the entire purpose behind this promotion is to gain your repeat and referral business...Now that's not going to happen unless we follow through with our promises! So you can be certain that you'll receive everything exactly as described!
Just so you know once we get everything registered in your name, the first thing that I am going to do is create your new account. As soon as this account is created you'll be able to go to our website and login. Once you are logged in, you will see a full brochure about you vacation containing complete details in writing, and instructions on how to reserve your dates of travel. This is for real it's OK to be excited.
Do you understand exactly how we can give you this vacation for free? It's really quite simple...when you take the tour of the sponsoring resort, what they are trying to do is impress you so much that you'll invest in future vacations with them. Now, the interesting thing is that 1 out of 7 travelers in fact do invest, the resort is hoping that you'll be that one person, and even if you're not, the profit margin from the traveler that does invest is good enough that it covers the cost of all seven packages. So basically the resort loses nothing, and at the very least what they do gain is referral business.
You have to keep in mind that in literally one minute I 'm going to activate your vacation so that you can go online and view all of the details, as well as print your certificate of entitlement for this vacation. Now, it takes at least 2 to 3 days for us to get the money from your account, so we're trusting that you'll make good with the processing fee, and you need to trust that we won't take advantage of you! This requires that we are both being honest with one another everything I have told you is guaranteed, the question is are you going to be able to cover the $148?
Are you just concerned that the money is not available on the card at this time?
Is there something about this offer that you just don't understand?
Do you understand why you're receiving this offer? The sponsoring resorts are hoping that when you travel, you'll enjoy your trip so much that you'll invest in future vacations with them. You get a great vacation for free, and we get a chance to show you how great our resorts are! This way everybody is happy! Relax you're gonna have a great time!
Listen, whether you take advantage of this offer or not is entirley up to you, I know what a great offer this is..what I don't know is why anyone would want to pass it up...Care to share?
Call Back / Think About It
This is your official phone call! Once the person on the registration form is contacted and given their details, it's activated in the computer. Now, we don't need to know who's coming with you or when you are going, all we need to know is if you want to take advantage of the offer or not! Now, I know you want your free vacation, so let's get you registered!
I don't understand? When you were online you signed up for a chance to take part in this promotion. All we're doing is giving you exactly what you requested, a great offer, you're receiving a vacation that's valued at over $1300.00 for free! And all we ask is that you tour our resort, if you like it great, if you don't that's okay too. Either way you keep the vacation, so relax you're going to have a great time!
You plan on traveling sometime in the near future, right? And the Bahamas is a place you'd like to travel to, correct? Now I know you'd like to go for free, right? Then obviously, there's nothing to think about. What's your real concern?
Talk To Spouse
When you surprise your spouse with this offer, there are only two questions that are gonna be asked… How much is it? And When are we going? Now, you can say that all you had to pay is a refundable deposit of just $148 and that the vacation was absolutely free, and that you have 18 months to take it!
If there are any questions whatsoever, you can have your spouse call our customer service number, or visit our website. In the mean time we need to reserve this so you don’t lose out on the offer.
To be quite honest with you! I’ve never heard of a divorce or a break-up over a FREE vacation! What’s your real concern?
Something In Writing
Absolutely! You'll have everything available online at our website before we even get off the phone with one another!
What’s The Catch?
The only reason we can give you this great offer, is because we are looking for repeat and referral business! So the only thing you have to do is relax and enjoy the moment! Can you handle that?
Sounds Too Good To Be True
Oh no, not at all. What the Resort is hoping will happen is that you’ll come down and be so impressed with their resort, that you’ll invest in future vacations. That’s why they’re willing to provide you with such a great vacation for nothing!
Something In Writing
That's the number one reason that we promote ourselves via the Internet, all of the details concerning this offer were right there for you when you registered online. Are you just concerned that the vacation will not be everything that I have described?
Credit Card Over Phone
You have to understand; we have direct billing with all of the card companies. What I’m going to do for you is give you the authorization code that was issued to us directly from your bank, before we get off the phone… Then when we’re done you can contact the 800 number on the back of your card and give that code to them. That way you can verify with your own bank’s billing department the amount that was charged and our company name! Now I’m sure you trust your own bank right?
We have merchant privileges with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. In other words they’ve done a complete background investigation on us and given us the green light with full merchant privileges. Now we’re not about to jeopardize our relationship with them over a hundred and fifty bucks! That would be ridiculous! Understand there is a purpose behind our promotion. Relax you’re fine.
Legitimacy
You have to understand, the entire purpose behind this promotion is to gain your repeat and referral business...Now that's not going to happen unless we follow through with our promises! So you can be certain that you'll receive everything exactly as described!
Just so you know once we get everything registered in your name, the first thing that I am going to do is create your new account. As soon as this account is created you'll be able to go to our website and login. Once you are logged in, you will see a full brochure about you vacation containing complete details in writing, and instructions on how to reserve your dates of travel. This is for real it's OK to be excited.
Do you understand exactly how we can give you this vacation for free? It's really quite simple...when you take the tour of the sponsoring resort, what they are trying to do is impress you so much that you'll invest in future vacations with them. Now, the interesting thing is that 1 out of 7 travelers in fact do invest, the resort is hoping that you'll be that one person, and even if you're not, the profit margin from the traveler that does invest is good enough that it covers the cost of all seven packages. So basically the resort loses nothing, and at the very least what they do gain is referral business.
You have to keep in mind that in literally one minute I 'm going to activate your vacation so that you can go online and view all of the details, as well as print your certificate of entitlement for this vacation. Now, it takes at least 2 to 3 days for us to get the money from your account, so we're trusting that you'll make good with the processing fee, and you need to trust that we won't take advantage of you! This requires that we are both being honest with one another everything I have told you is guaranteed, the question is are you going to be able to cover the $148?
7 Steps to Successful Telemarketing
7 Steps to Successful Telemarketing
Telemarketing is not as easy as it looks. Telemarketing involves talking on the phone to someone you do not know and trying to convince them to buy a product, use a service, or sign up for a special offer. Many times, telemarketers fail because they are not doing the job properly. Speaking is a skill, and there are techniques that can be applied to speaking that will help anyone become a successful telemarketer.
These are the seven steps to successful telemarketing.
1. Step: Motivation. One of the most important things in telemarketing is motivation. Someone has to want to do the job. The overall motivation will determine how they speak to people. So, successful telemarketers are very motivated to do the job.
2. Step: Product knowledge. In order to successfully speak about a product or a service, the telemarketer must know about the product or the service. Customers will ask questions before they buy or sign up for something, so the telemarketer should be able to answer the questions. Knowing the product or service will help the telemarketer make a successful deal.
3. Step: Know the call format. There telemarketer should have a call format or a call plan. They should know the order of the call: the introduction, the description of the product, the price, the value of the product, how to order, and the closing. Many companies will have a script to follow. A successful telemarketer will know the script and use it to their advantage.
4. Step: Attitude. Attitude is evident on the phone. When someone is happy and excited, those emotions will palatable, even on the phone. Angry, upset, or frustrated telemarketers are usually not successful. So, the successful telemarketer will have a positive attitude while doing their job.
5. Step: Know the customer. A good telemarketer will know the customer. Know when it is a good time to call. Calling during dinner, early in the morning, or late at night will not be successful. If you call at a bad time, ask the customer when a better time to call would be. Know what they are looking for. Do not try to sell them something they are not interested in. This will create hostility. Listen to what the customer has to say. Their comments and input can help you guide the direction of your call. Respect the customer's feelings and comments. Knowing the customer is a successful technique for any telemarketer.
6. Step: Visualize your success. Many telemarketers receive bonuses or rewards for a job well done. A successful telemarketer will visualize his or her success. They set goals and work towards those goals. Having a vision of what you want to get out of this job will help create a successful telemarketer.
7. Step: Enjoy the success. A successful telemarketer will always take the time to enjoy the fruit of their hard work. They will be proud of their successes and will continue to strive for future success.
In conclusion, these seven steps are simple techniques that any telemarketer can immediately apply to be successful. The way the materials are presented, the attitude, the knowledge, and the motivation are all integral parts of a successful telemarketer. Telemarketing is not an easy job, but it can be a very successful and rewarding job by following these seven proven steps to success.
Telemarketing is not as easy as it looks. Telemarketing involves talking on the phone to someone you do not know and trying to convince them to buy a product, use a service, or sign up for a special offer. Many times, telemarketers fail because they are not doing the job properly. Speaking is a skill, and there are techniques that can be applied to speaking that will help anyone become a successful telemarketer.
These are the seven steps to successful telemarketing.
1. Step: Motivation. One of the most important things in telemarketing is motivation. Someone has to want to do the job. The overall motivation will determine how they speak to people. So, successful telemarketers are very motivated to do the job.
2. Step: Product knowledge. In order to successfully speak about a product or a service, the telemarketer must know about the product or the service. Customers will ask questions before they buy or sign up for something, so the telemarketer should be able to answer the questions. Knowing the product or service will help the telemarketer make a successful deal.
3. Step: Know the call format. There telemarketer should have a call format or a call plan. They should know the order of the call: the introduction, the description of the product, the price, the value of the product, how to order, and the closing. Many companies will have a script to follow. A successful telemarketer will know the script and use it to their advantage.
4. Step: Attitude. Attitude is evident on the phone. When someone is happy and excited, those emotions will palatable, even on the phone. Angry, upset, or frustrated telemarketers are usually not successful. So, the successful telemarketer will have a positive attitude while doing their job.
5. Step: Know the customer. A good telemarketer will know the customer. Know when it is a good time to call. Calling during dinner, early in the morning, or late at night will not be successful. If you call at a bad time, ask the customer when a better time to call would be. Know what they are looking for. Do not try to sell them something they are not interested in. This will create hostility. Listen to what the customer has to say. Their comments and input can help you guide the direction of your call. Respect the customer's feelings and comments. Knowing the customer is a successful technique for any telemarketer.
6. Step: Visualize your success. Many telemarketers receive bonuses or rewards for a job well done. A successful telemarketer will visualize his or her success. They set goals and work towards those goals. Having a vision of what you want to get out of this job will help create a successful telemarketer.
7. Step: Enjoy the success. A successful telemarketer will always take the time to enjoy the fruit of their hard work. They will be proud of their successes and will continue to strive for future success.
In conclusion, these seven steps are simple techniques that any telemarketer can immediately apply to be successful. The way the materials are presented, the attitude, the knowledge, and the motivation are all integral parts of a successful telemarketer. Telemarketing is not an easy job, but it can be a very successful and rewarding job by following these seven proven steps to success.
Selling is a Contact Sport:
Selling is a Contact Sport:
Keys to Effective Phone Calling
ts been said that salespeople who avoid making phone calls have skinny children. Prospecting for new business is critically important and for the majority of salespeople, it is by far the most challenging and stressful aspect of their profession. Successful salespeople are proactive and recognize the importance of prospecting for new business daily. They don't have to be reminded to ask for referrals or follow up on a sales lead, they do it automatically. This article is packed full of helpful phone calling tips and techniques which, if put into practice, will fill your appointment calendar with new business opportunities!
Don't shoot from the hip, use a script. If you want to sound confident and competent, I strongly suggest that you write out your opening and closing remarks.
If you sound in the least bit nervous or unprepared, people will immediately sense this and rightfully assume that you lack experience. Using a phone script for your opening and closing remarks is a good idea for several reasons. A well-polished phone script gives you a consistent approach that keeps you on message and guarantees you don't leave out important information. Be respectful of your prospect's time by designing your phone script to be short, sweet, and to the point.
Once you have prepared your phone script, it's now time to tape record yourself reading it aloud until you sound smooth and polished. While you might be tempted to skip this step, don't do it. Recording your phone script role-play session provides you with a golden opportunity to critique your performance and improve your delivery.
During a face-to-face conversation, first impressions are based primarily on appearance. While on the other hand, first impressions created over the phone are based on brevity, vocal quality, and attitude. An upbeat mental attitude is contagious and, unless taken to an extreme, builds rapport and creates a very positive first impression. Keep in mind that a smile can be heard over the phone.
The best way to build trust and rapport during a phone conversation is to match your prospect's energy level. This is accomplished by "subtly" matching their rate of speech and tone of voice. For example, if you have the tendency to speak fast/loud and your prospect begins speaking slow/soft, you will need to lower your voice and slow your rate of speech down to match them. The psychological power behind the principle of matching is based on the premise that people want to do business with salespeople who they feel are similar to them.
There is absolutely no substitute for preparation and practice. Like most successful endeavors, the key to effective phone calling has a lot to do with preparation and practice. Practice builds confidence through repetition. Ask your sales manager or an associate to schedule an hour role-play session with you. This session is important because it gives you a dress rehearsal and the opportunity to work the kinks out of your script. As they say in the military, train like you plan to fight. Create a realistic training environment by role-playing over the phone. Begin the role-play session with minimal prospect resistance and then, as your confidence builds, gradually inject typical prospect objections. While it is impossible to have a script that might address every conceivable objection, you must anticipate key objections and develop scripts to respond to them.
Remember to stay positive, polite, and professional. It is best to make your phone calls during the morning when both you and your prospect are rested and fresh. Be organized, do your homework, and take good notes. Before you contact your prospect, take a moment to research their company by visiting their website. By reading your prospect's company newsletter, annual report, and press releases you become familiar with their products and services. Stay organized and save time by using a contact management system, such as ACT, to record your notes after each phone call. Relying on your memory alone is a poor business decision and is bound to cost you money.
It is important to keep in mind that the primary purpose of any prospect phone call is to make an appointment, not a sale. Most salespeople make the fundamental mistake of overeducating their prospect and dominating the phone call in an attempt to showcase their knowledge. Obviously you will need to respond to some questions, however, questions that require a detailed response become an excellent reason to secure an appointment. Use your precious phone time to gather information through the use of open-ended questions. Your objective is to build your prospect's interest and arouse their curiosity through a series of well designed, probing questions about them and their organization. Just before you ask for the appointment, summarize the key points of your conversation for clarity and agreement.
Top producers don't take rejection personally, because they realize that selling is fundamentally a numbers game. It really doesn't matter what product or service you are selling; the key to your long-term success is directly linked to your ability and desire to prospect effectively. Phone calling in today's marketplace is much more challenging than in years past, but fortunately the basics never change. Selling is, after all, a contact sport!
Keys to Effective Phone Calling
ts been said that salespeople who avoid making phone calls have skinny children. Prospecting for new business is critically important and for the majority of salespeople, it is by far the most challenging and stressful aspect of their profession. Successful salespeople are proactive and recognize the importance of prospecting for new business daily. They don't have to be reminded to ask for referrals or follow up on a sales lead, they do it automatically. This article is packed full of helpful phone calling tips and techniques which, if put into practice, will fill your appointment calendar with new business opportunities!
Don't shoot from the hip, use a script. If you want to sound confident and competent, I strongly suggest that you write out your opening and closing remarks.
If you sound in the least bit nervous or unprepared, people will immediately sense this and rightfully assume that you lack experience. Using a phone script for your opening and closing remarks is a good idea for several reasons. A well-polished phone script gives you a consistent approach that keeps you on message and guarantees you don't leave out important information. Be respectful of your prospect's time by designing your phone script to be short, sweet, and to the point.
Once you have prepared your phone script, it's now time to tape record yourself reading it aloud until you sound smooth and polished. While you might be tempted to skip this step, don't do it. Recording your phone script role-play session provides you with a golden opportunity to critique your performance and improve your delivery.
During a face-to-face conversation, first impressions are based primarily on appearance. While on the other hand, first impressions created over the phone are based on brevity, vocal quality, and attitude. An upbeat mental attitude is contagious and, unless taken to an extreme, builds rapport and creates a very positive first impression. Keep in mind that a smile can be heard over the phone.
The best way to build trust and rapport during a phone conversation is to match your prospect's energy level. This is accomplished by "subtly" matching their rate of speech and tone of voice. For example, if you have the tendency to speak fast/loud and your prospect begins speaking slow/soft, you will need to lower your voice and slow your rate of speech down to match them. The psychological power behind the principle of matching is based on the premise that people want to do business with salespeople who they feel are similar to them.
There is absolutely no substitute for preparation and practice. Like most successful endeavors, the key to effective phone calling has a lot to do with preparation and practice. Practice builds confidence through repetition. Ask your sales manager or an associate to schedule an hour role-play session with you. This session is important because it gives you a dress rehearsal and the opportunity to work the kinks out of your script. As they say in the military, train like you plan to fight. Create a realistic training environment by role-playing over the phone. Begin the role-play session with minimal prospect resistance and then, as your confidence builds, gradually inject typical prospect objections. While it is impossible to have a script that might address every conceivable objection, you must anticipate key objections and develop scripts to respond to them.
Remember to stay positive, polite, and professional. It is best to make your phone calls during the morning when both you and your prospect are rested and fresh. Be organized, do your homework, and take good notes. Before you contact your prospect, take a moment to research their company by visiting their website. By reading your prospect's company newsletter, annual report, and press releases you become familiar with their products and services. Stay organized and save time by using a contact management system, such as ACT, to record your notes after each phone call. Relying on your memory alone is a poor business decision and is bound to cost you money.
It is important to keep in mind that the primary purpose of any prospect phone call is to make an appointment, not a sale. Most salespeople make the fundamental mistake of overeducating their prospect and dominating the phone call in an attempt to showcase their knowledge. Obviously you will need to respond to some questions, however, questions that require a detailed response become an excellent reason to secure an appointment. Use your precious phone time to gather information through the use of open-ended questions. Your objective is to build your prospect's interest and arouse their curiosity through a series of well designed, probing questions about them and their organization. Just before you ask for the appointment, summarize the key points of your conversation for clarity and agreement.
Top producers don't take rejection personally, because they realize that selling is fundamentally a numbers game. It really doesn't matter what product or service you are selling; the key to your long-term success is directly linked to your ability and desire to prospect effectively. Phone calling in today's marketplace is much more challenging than in years past, but fortunately the basics never change. Selling is, after all, a contact sport!
The Best Techniques to Use When Selling Over the Phone
The Best Techniques to Use When Selling Over the Phone
My Grandma Lillian was an entrepreneur. When her boys were in high school she raised violets; when they went to college she sold guppies; as they were getting married she was teaching china painting.
The summer I spent with her she was solidifying a new business by gathering customers and teaching other women that their dream of financial independence could be realized if they would do the same.
t age 14, with delight and glee, I flew from Oregon to Michigan. Plans of camp with my cousins and sleepovers with friends from first grade danced in my mind. And those were good times, I'm sure they were, but the memories I hold now are weekday mornings with Grandma.
From her I learned the value of business routine. Every morning, from 9:30 to noon, Grandma made prospecting phone calls. After that, the day was ours, until evening when she went out to build her business.
If you weren't fortunate enough to learn these lessons from your grandmother, here are four things you would like to know.
1: Work with a clean desk.
Even if this means sweeping the current piles into a shopping bag until your telephone time is finished, don't have anything on your desk except your calendar and your favorite pen.
You get two benefits: distractions are limited, and, perhaps more importantly, the person you are speaking with senses that they have your full attention.
If your prospect doesn't feel that they are getting your full attention, why should you have theirs?
2: Have a mirror on the wall in front of you.
If you doubt that the smile on your face carries through your voice try this exercise. Record your side of a prospecting telephone conversation. Play it back while you watch your face in the mirror. Surprise! Your face will match the feelings you had while you were on the phone. You will actually see the fear or anxiety or need that you felt.
Your tones affect your listener that way, too. A mirror on the wall in front of you increases your telephone prospecting profitability in these specific ways:
First, you can see what your listener is hearing. The added awareness of your own body language makes your verbal language more effective.
Second, because you keep your chin up to look at the mirror on the wall, your voice will automatically have more enthusiasm and energy.
Try this experiment with your tape recorder. Role play a prospecting telephone call with your head down, chin to chest, doodling on an order form. Now raise your chin, look in the mirror, and repeat the same sentences. Because you sound more successful you will be more successful - people like to do business with a winner.
3: Use Scripts.
A script is a group of words, in order, that generate predictably profitable results. A script is effective because your listener will know when it is their turn to talk, and they'll know what you want them to say. When a prospect asks you how much your product costs and you use the script "Well, that depends on how much money you have in the bank!" you will receive a predictably different result than when you use the script "Forty-five dollars a month. Less than most people spend on coffee and cokes."
Listen carefully to these two scripts: "That depends on how much money you have" tells your prospect to respond just as glibly with "Oh, about 25 cents." While a specific amount, followed by an example gives your listener the opportunity to say "Great, that works for me."
Prepare scripts for the nine questions you are asked most frequently. They are probably about product cost, delivery time, references, options and guarantee.
4: Keep your best result in mind.
When Grandma Lillian was making prospecting calls, her favorite result was to get an appointment. "You can't get a haircut over the phone," she told me, "what I want is an appointment in their home."
She had a second acceptable outcome - the prospect's permission to call again. "Shall I call you in about a month?" I heard her say sweetly, several times each hour. And then she put their name and phone number into her calendar for the agreed upon date.
Either way, Grandma Lillian felt good about herself and had customers and distributors who loved her, too.
Use these tips and you will experience the success she enjoyed. Ready. Set. Go Make Money!
My Grandma Lillian was an entrepreneur. When her boys were in high school she raised violets; when they went to college she sold guppies; as they were getting married she was teaching china painting.
The summer I spent with her she was solidifying a new business by gathering customers and teaching other women that their dream of financial independence could be realized if they would do the same.
t age 14, with delight and glee, I flew from Oregon to Michigan. Plans of camp with my cousins and sleepovers with friends from first grade danced in my mind. And those were good times, I'm sure they were, but the memories I hold now are weekday mornings with Grandma.
From her I learned the value of business routine. Every morning, from 9:30 to noon, Grandma made prospecting phone calls. After that, the day was ours, until evening when she went out to build her business.
If you weren't fortunate enough to learn these lessons from your grandmother, here are four things you would like to know.
1: Work with a clean desk.
Even if this means sweeping the current piles into a shopping bag until your telephone time is finished, don't have anything on your desk except your calendar and your favorite pen.
You get two benefits: distractions are limited, and, perhaps more importantly, the person you are speaking with senses that they have your full attention.
If your prospect doesn't feel that they are getting your full attention, why should you have theirs?
2: Have a mirror on the wall in front of you.
If you doubt that the smile on your face carries through your voice try this exercise. Record your side of a prospecting telephone conversation. Play it back while you watch your face in the mirror. Surprise! Your face will match the feelings you had while you were on the phone. You will actually see the fear or anxiety or need that you felt.
Your tones affect your listener that way, too. A mirror on the wall in front of you increases your telephone prospecting profitability in these specific ways:
First, you can see what your listener is hearing. The added awareness of your own body language makes your verbal language more effective.
Second, because you keep your chin up to look at the mirror on the wall, your voice will automatically have more enthusiasm and energy.
Try this experiment with your tape recorder. Role play a prospecting telephone call with your head down, chin to chest, doodling on an order form. Now raise your chin, look in the mirror, and repeat the same sentences. Because you sound more successful you will be more successful - people like to do business with a winner.
3: Use Scripts.
A script is a group of words, in order, that generate predictably profitable results. A script is effective because your listener will know when it is their turn to talk, and they'll know what you want them to say. When a prospect asks you how much your product costs and you use the script "Well, that depends on how much money you have in the bank!" you will receive a predictably different result than when you use the script "Forty-five dollars a month. Less than most people spend on coffee and cokes."
Listen carefully to these two scripts: "That depends on how much money you have" tells your prospect to respond just as glibly with "Oh, about 25 cents." While a specific amount, followed by an example gives your listener the opportunity to say "Great, that works for me."
Prepare scripts for the nine questions you are asked most frequently. They are probably about product cost, delivery time, references, options and guarantee.
4: Keep your best result in mind.
When Grandma Lillian was making prospecting calls, her favorite result was to get an appointment. "You can't get a haircut over the phone," she told me, "what I want is an appointment in their home."
She had a second acceptable outcome - the prospect's permission to call again. "Shall I call you in about a month?" I heard her say sweetly, several times each hour. And then she put their name and phone number into her calendar for the agreed upon date.
Either way, Grandma Lillian felt good about herself and had customers and distributors who loved her, too.
Use these tips and you will experience the success she enjoyed. Ready. Set. Go Make Money!
The Critical Skills on Telemarketing
The Critical Skills on Telemarketing
In each of the elements in the telephone call framework (opening, client, positioning, objections, close, and follow-up), the following six critical selling skills are used over and over. They are the tools for selling.
Presence
Relating
Questioning
Listening
Positioning
Checking
The skill level determines selling strength and flexibility. These skills are used over and over throughout the sales process( as the telemarketer, finds needs, matches up a product or idea with the client's needs, resolves objections, and closes, these skills are used continuously. These skills are interdependent, they will help a telemarketer become a valued consultant to clients, know more about the clients, and sell more to them.
7. Presence
Presence is the level of comfort and confidence that a telemarketer projects. Through presence an individual can engage the audience's attention. Voice presence can have an impact on telephone sales success. Voice presence is created by tone, pace, diction, inflection, level of enthusiasm, confidence, wit, and the ability to think on one's feet.
Although sales enthusiasm may come naturally in face-to-face calls, it requires special effort in telephone sales calls. Most salespeople would not appear bored when meeting with a client face to face, but in telephone selling sustaining interest and enthusiasm in one's voice can be challenging. The more one modulates his voice, usually the more interesting he sounds. He can emphasize words with his voice.
Keeping an interested and positive voice when selling over the telephone is even more of a challenge in highly routinized and comparatively unchallenging telephone selling situations. Some selling borders on order taking, when salespeople have to take information only to make a referral to a different division. Salespeople in these rote roles can drift into sounding bored. To avoid this, remember that the objective at all times is to create a positive image of the organization to the client as well as to sell or close profitable business.
Whether a telemarketer is taking information or a message for a colleague, he should remember the following:
In conjunction with the other critical skills, presence adds to sales strength and flexibility and helps create a flow between the client's needs and the telemarketer's products.
8. Relating
If you cannot relate to your clients, you won't sell to them. This is as much a rule of human nature as it is a rule of selling. Relating is even more of a challenge over the phone, since the phone can depersonalize the situation. Yet it is possible to establish rapport and build relationships over the telephone.
Successful salespeople do have strong relationships with their clients, but they also know where to draw the line between what is friendship and what is business. A good relationship forms the basis for good business. What is a business relationship but a series of transactions? In most businesses, important transactions don't occur without a relationship. Whether it is primarily a one-time sale or there is the potential for ongoing business, rapport helps form the foundation so that a transaction or many transactions can take place. Rapport goes beyond small talk. Rapport is consideration and thoughtfulness; it is trust and value added.
9. Questioning
Being able to establish rapport and knowing how to question are the heart of consultative selling. Salespeople who increase their questions increase their sales. Because of the generic product environment of the nineties and the fact that product alone cannot be counted on to be the differentiator, questioning is more important than ever. This is because questions enable a person to position (tell a story from the client's point of view). But it is easy to fall into the trap of "telling," especially over the telephone. Of course there are times to tell, but how a person tells will be determined by what is asked and what is heard. Questions will help keep a person on at least a parallel track and eventually get on the same track as the client. Questions will also help qualify clients.
A look at the range of questions that will need to be asked and then the questioning skills which should be employed to ask them follows:
A. Decision-Making Questions
Who are the key contacts on the account( decision makers and influencers?
"How does your decision-making process work?"
"Who will be involved?"
"How long do you need to reach a decision?"
B. Relationship Questions
"How are we doing?" (How the client sees the relationship with you, performance, and his or her relationship with competitors.)
"Am I doing the right thing?" "What do you want me to do?" (Action steps) (How you as an individual salesperson are meeting the client's needs.)
"How satisfied have you been with our service except for this? How do you feel we handled...?"
"Is our billing detailed and timely enough for you?" (Logistics of the account.)
"When is a good time to call?" "When shall I call back?"
"May I ask who you do business with?" "Who is the best? What do you like about them? Who else do you work with?"
"Who else have you spoken to? Have you gotten proposals? What do you think...?"
C. Operation Questions
"How do you do it?" (How does the client's production or organization work?)
"How many or how often...? What is their...?"
"What budget have you set?" (Does this customer qualify?)
D. Problem Questions
"What is going on? What would your ideal situation be?" "What gaps do you see? (Don't ask this question too early( the right to have it answered must be earned.)
E. Strategy Questions
"What is your strategy/thinking in...?"
"May I ask why you want to go from X to Y?" (For example, manual to computer( find out why the customer wants to change.)
"How will... affect autonomy of..." (Changing roles in client organization.)
"Longer range, how are you...?" (Checking the 5-year plan.)
F. Interpersonal Questions
"Where do you live?" "Where do you go on vacation?" (What are the client's interests, family, situations?)
G. Need Questions
"Where are you looking to achieve?" "How is that working?"
"To what extent have you bought...?" (Likes/dislikes( what does the client buy/not buy?)
Questions are the tools used to help clients. They get beneath the surface of demands, and they expose needs. If a caller doesn't let clients talk, he may never get to know what their concerns are, and will probably miss getting their business. Questions are the best way to get them to talk; then he must listen well and leverage what is learned.
10. Listening
Being a good listener is one of the critical skills in selling, whether the selling is face to face or over the telephone, but listening is even more important in telephone selling.
Some tips for developing telephone listening skills are:
Do not interrupt. Be conscious of this. Let yourself be interrupted; stop talking and listen.
Make an effort to focus on what the client is saying. You are "on duty," so stay tuned in. Don't mentally abandon your post. Take notes as you listen and underline words your clients underscore with their voices so you can incorporate them in what you say.
Listen for pivotal words, wide words, key ideas, words that are inflected, and concerns and jot them down. These can be neon words that light up the client's voice or wide or ambiguous words you will need to clear up.
Listen for tone and pace and match both to become congruent with the clients, not to mimic them. For example, if the client is speaking softly and slowly, you are bound to be out of sync if you are loud and fast. Slow it up and soften it a bit to create a congruency. Pick up the client's approach and language. For instance, when the client is upbeat and highly articulate, be upbeat, articulate; when the client is serious and straightforward, be serious, straightforward. Always be professional. Avoid being down.
Be careful in how and when you use jargon. Jargon is good shorthand only if everybody understands it. Often in a face-to-face call you can read confusion or a question from the client's expression, but over the telephone this is not possible. So limit your use of jargon unless you are absolutely certain the client is familiar with it. When you do use a term that your client may or may not know, briefly define it, almost parenthetically. And as you cover each key point, remember to check if the client has any questions.
11. Positioning Product
Positioning is truly the super skill. By knowing the client's perceptions, preferences, and needs a telemarketer will be able to craft his product or idea accordingly. Positioning enables one to personalize, tailor, and get into a flow with the client.
To help position a product as it is sold over the telephone a telemarketer can follow these suggestions:
Play devil's advocate before you pick up the telephone and ask yourself "What is in it for the client?"
Come up with three compelling reasons why this client might be interested in your product. But remember to use the reasons one at a time and to check (question) before and after each one.
Do your homework on your clients and their organizations( begin to identify their business and nonbusiness needs.
Know your features and benefits so you know what you are talking about.
Ask "open" need and strategy questions so that you will understand the client.
Listen.
Tailor your statements and questions to the client you are approaching. An engineer may want to know details on how things work, but a purchasing manager may want to focus more on price and warranties.
Personalize your messages as well. Ask questions to get specific information on each client's approach and style.
Use your total offer. (core and value-added features and benefits)
Know your objective. For example, if you are an institutional salesperson, ask yourself if this is a call to do a trade now or a call to build the relationship for a trade in the future?
Plan your action step( know what your follow-up plan is and initiate it.
Use your features and benefits one at a time (at most two at a time) and check for feedback.
Use benefits early or your client is likely to say, "Listen, I've got to go."
When you don't have an answer, say, "Let me look into that. What specifically...? When...?"
Be selective. You have limited time over the telephone, so select key features and benefits and present them with an eye toward what the client wants to do.
Link features with their benefits by using words such as which means and so that to bond features with benefits. ("feature" which means "benefit")
Listen to what your clients say and incorporate their ideas into your responses.
Take notes as you listen so that you can incorporate your client's words now and again later. But don't repeat inflammatory words such as "absurdly low trade-in figure" which may further reinforce a misperception.
Listen to the client's voice. Read between the lines and adjust.
Speak your client's language.
Avoid jargon unless you are talking to another "Pro." Jargon is a great shorthand only if everyone understands it.
Match the client's level of sophistication( avoid talking down to clients or talking over their heads.
Be accurate in the information you provide, but don't wait until you have perfect information. Let your clients know when your information may be imperfect, but also let them know you care about giving timely information.
Choose your own words selectively. Avoid phrases such as "You wouldn't be interested in..." or "I'm just calling about..." Instead, use persuasive, confident words.
Avoid the term product. It is better to say, "We have a way to increase interest..." rather than, "We have a product called X."
Check( ask for feedback, keep the dialogue going, get a measure of how you are doing throughout the call, especially since you don't have the benefit of reading the clients' facial expressions to gauge their reactions. Keep checking. Keep asking, "How does that sound?" Get feedback.
Keep a positive attitude( remain helpful.
12. Checking
Checking lets a person get feedback from a client on what is being discussed. Checking means asking questions to gauge the client's reactions and is an essential skill in telephone selling, since one cannot see the client's reactions. Checking helps avoid waiting until the end of the call, if even then, to find out where the client is.
Checking means asking the client questions throughout the call to get direct feedback on what was just said. Checking allows one to find out something far more important than what he thinks. It helps find out what the client thinks.
Checking is not designed to get the client to say yes. It is designed to get at what the client thinks( Yes or No. Checking is an essential skill for salespeople who want to know, really know, their clients' needs and how well they stack up to meet them. It's designed to get good or bad feedback so that the salesperson can position and close.
All six critical skills( presence, rapport, questioning, listening, positioning, and checking( work together. They are interrelated, they form a skill set. A weakness in any one of these six critical skills will lower overall performance. The six critical skills are sales muscles; they provide sales strength and flexibility for salespeople.
In each of the elements in the telephone call framework (opening, client, positioning, objections, close, and follow-up), the following six critical selling skills are used over and over. They are the tools for selling.
Presence
Relating
Questioning
Listening
Positioning
Checking
The skill level determines selling strength and flexibility. These skills are used over and over throughout the sales process( as the telemarketer, finds needs, matches up a product or idea with the client's needs, resolves objections, and closes, these skills are used continuously. These skills are interdependent, they will help a telemarketer become a valued consultant to clients, know more about the clients, and sell more to them.
7. Presence
Presence is the level of comfort and confidence that a telemarketer projects. Through presence an individual can engage the audience's attention. Voice presence can have an impact on telephone sales success. Voice presence is created by tone, pace, diction, inflection, level of enthusiasm, confidence, wit, and the ability to think on one's feet.
Although sales enthusiasm may come naturally in face-to-face calls, it requires special effort in telephone sales calls. Most salespeople would not appear bored when meeting with a client face to face, but in telephone selling sustaining interest and enthusiasm in one's voice can be challenging. The more one modulates his voice, usually the more interesting he sounds. He can emphasize words with his voice.
Keeping an interested and positive voice when selling over the telephone is even more of a challenge in highly routinized and comparatively unchallenging telephone selling situations. Some selling borders on order taking, when salespeople have to take information only to make a referral to a different division. Salespeople in these rote roles can drift into sounding bored. To avoid this, remember that the objective at all times is to create a positive image of the organization to the client as well as to sell or close profitable business.
Whether a telemarketer is taking information or a message for a colleague, he should remember the following:
In conjunction with the other critical skills, presence adds to sales strength and flexibility and helps create a flow between the client's needs and the telemarketer's products.
8. Relating
If you cannot relate to your clients, you won't sell to them. This is as much a rule of human nature as it is a rule of selling. Relating is even more of a challenge over the phone, since the phone can depersonalize the situation. Yet it is possible to establish rapport and build relationships over the telephone.
Successful salespeople do have strong relationships with their clients, but they also know where to draw the line between what is friendship and what is business. A good relationship forms the basis for good business. What is a business relationship but a series of transactions? In most businesses, important transactions don't occur without a relationship. Whether it is primarily a one-time sale or there is the potential for ongoing business, rapport helps form the foundation so that a transaction or many transactions can take place. Rapport goes beyond small talk. Rapport is consideration and thoughtfulness; it is trust and value added.
9. Questioning
Being able to establish rapport and knowing how to question are the heart of consultative selling. Salespeople who increase their questions increase their sales. Because of the generic product environment of the nineties and the fact that product alone cannot be counted on to be the differentiator, questioning is more important than ever. This is because questions enable a person to position (tell a story from the client's point of view). But it is easy to fall into the trap of "telling," especially over the telephone. Of course there are times to tell, but how a person tells will be determined by what is asked and what is heard. Questions will help keep a person on at least a parallel track and eventually get on the same track as the client. Questions will also help qualify clients.
A look at the range of questions that will need to be asked and then the questioning skills which should be employed to ask them follows:
A. Decision-Making Questions
Who are the key contacts on the account( decision makers and influencers?
"How does your decision-making process work?"
"Who will be involved?"
"How long do you need to reach a decision?"
B. Relationship Questions
"How are we doing?" (How the client sees the relationship with you, performance, and his or her relationship with competitors.)
"Am I doing the right thing?" "What do you want me to do?" (Action steps) (How you as an individual salesperson are meeting the client's needs.)
"How satisfied have you been with our service except for this? How do you feel we handled...?"
"Is our billing detailed and timely enough for you?" (Logistics of the account.)
"When is a good time to call?" "When shall I call back?"
"May I ask who you do business with?" "Who is the best? What do you like about them? Who else do you work with?"
"Who else have you spoken to? Have you gotten proposals? What do you think...?"
C. Operation Questions
"How do you do it?" (How does the client's production or organization work?)
"How many or how often...? What is their...?"
"What budget have you set?" (Does this customer qualify?)
D. Problem Questions
"What is going on? What would your ideal situation be?" "What gaps do you see? (Don't ask this question too early( the right to have it answered must be earned.)
E. Strategy Questions
"What is your strategy/thinking in...?"
"May I ask why you want to go from X to Y?" (For example, manual to computer( find out why the customer wants to change.)
"How will... affect autonomy of..." (Changing roles in client organization.)
"Longer range, how are you...?" (Checking the 5-year plan.)
F. Interpersonal Questions
"Where do you live?" "Where do you go on vacation?" (What are the client's interests, family, situations?)
G. Need Questions
"Where are you looking to achieve?" "How is that working?"
"To what extent have you bought...?" (Likes/dislikes( what does the client buy/not buy?)
Questions are the tools used to help clients. They get beneath the surface of demands, and they expose needs. If a caller doesn't let clients talk, he may never get to know what their concerns are, and will probably miss getting their business. Questions are the best way to get them to talk; then he must listen well and leverage what is learned.
10. Listening
Being a good listener is one of the critical skills in selling, whether the selling is face to face or over the telephone, but listening is even more important in telephone selling.
Some tips for developing telephone listening skills are:
Do not interrupt. Be conscious of this. Let yourself be interrupted; stop talking and listen.
Make an effort to focus on what the client is saying. You are "on duty," so stay tuned in. Don't mentally abandon your post. Take notes as you listen and underline words your clients underscore with their voices so you can incorporate them in what you say.
Listen for pivotal words, wide words, key ideas, words that are inflected, and concerns and jot them down. These can be neon words that light up the client's voice or wide or ambiguous words you will need to clear up.
Listen for tone and pace and match both to become congruent with the clients, not to mimic them. For example, if the client is speaking softly and slowly, you are bound to be out of sync if you are loud and fast. Slow it up and soften it a bit to create a congruency. Pick up the client's approach and language. For instance, when the client is upbeat and highly articulate, be upbeat, articulate; when the client is serious and straightforward, be serious, straightforward. Always be professional. Avoid being down.
Be careful in how and when you use jargon. Jargon is good shorthand only if everybody understands it. Often in a face-to-face call you can read confusion or a question from the client's expression, but over the telephone this is not possible. So limit your use of jargon unless you are absolutely certain the client is familiar with it. When you do use a term that your client may or may not know, briefly define it, almost parenthetically. And as you cover each key point, remember to check if the client has any questions.
11. Positioning Product
Positioning is truly the super skill. By knowing the client's perceptions, preferences, and needs a telemarketer will be able to craft his product or idea accordingly. Positioning enables one to personalize, tailor, and get into a flow with the client.
To help position a product as it is sold over the telephone a telemarketer can follow these suggestions:
Play devil's advocate before you pick up the telephone and ask yourself "What is in it for the client?"
Come up with three compelling reasons why this client might be interested in your product. But remember to use the reasons one at a time and to check (question) before and after each one.
Do your homework on your clients and their organizations( begin to identify their business and nonbusiness needs.
Know your features and benefits so you know what you are talking about.
Ask "open" need and strategy questions so that you will understand the client.
Listen.
Tailor your statements and questions to the client you are approaching. An engineer may want to know details on how things work, but a purchasing manager may want to focus more on price and warranties.
Personalize your messages as well. Ask questions to get specific information on each client's approach and style.
Use your total offer. (core and value-added features and benefits)
Know your objective. For example, if you are an institutional salesperson, ask yourself if this is a call to do a trade now or a call to build the relationship for a trade in the future?
Plan your action step( know what your follow-up plan is and initiate it.
Use your features and benefits one at a time (at most two at a time) and check for feedback.
Use benefits early or your client is likely to say, "Listen, I've got to go."
When you don't have an answer, say, "Let me look into that. What specifically...? When...?"
Be selective. You have limited time over the telephone, so select key features and benefits and present them with an eye toward what the client wants to do.
Link features with their benefits by using words such as which means and so that to bond features with benefits. ("feature" which means "benefit")
Listen to what your clients say and incorporate their ideas into your responses.
Take notes as you listen so that you can incorporate your client's words now and again later. But don't repeat inflammatory words such as "absurdly low trade-in figure" which may further reinforce a misperception.
Listen to the client's voice. Read between the lines and adjust.
Speak your client's language.
Avoid jargon unless you are talking to another "Pro." Jargon is a great shorthand only if everyone understands it.
Match the client's level of sophistication( avoid talking down to clients or talking over their heads.
Be accurate in the information you provide, but don't wait until you have perfect information. Let your clients know when your information may be imperfect, but also let them know you care about giving timely information.
Choose your own words selectively. Avoid phrases such as "You wouldn't be interested in..." or "I'm just calling about..." Instead, use persuasive, confident words.
Avoid the term product. It is better to say, "We have a way to increase interest..." rather than, "We have a product called X."
Check( ask for feedback, keep the dialogue going, get a measure of how you are doing throughout the call, especially since you don't have the benefit of reading the clients' facial expressions to gauge their reactions. Keep checking. Keep asking, "How does that sound?" Get feedback.
Keep a positive attitude( remain helpful.
12. Checking
Checking lets a person get feedback from a client on what is being discussed. Checking means asking questions to gauge the client's reactions and is an essential skill in telephone selling, since one cannot see the client's reactions. Checking helps avoid waiting until the end of the call, if even then, to find out where the client is.
Checking means asking the client questions throughout the call to get direct feedback on what was just said. Checking allows one to find out something far more important than what he thinks. It helps find out what the client thinks.
Checking is not designed to get the client to say yes. It is designed to get at what the client thinks( Yes or No. Checking is an essential skill for salespeople who want to know, really know, their clients' needs and how well they stack up to meet them. It's designed to get good or bad feedback so that the salesperson can position and close.
All six critical skills( presence, rapport, questioning, listening, positioning, and checking( work together. They are interrelated, they form a skill set. A weakness in any one of these six critical skills will lower overall performance. The six critical skills are sales muscles; they provide sales strength and flexibility for salespeople.
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