|
Business life will always throw challenges at you. Anyone involved in running and building a business will testify to that. There’s a whole industry out there that deals with books, tapes, seminars and CD’s offering advice on how to better deal with what comes our way. If we are honest all of us at times get a bit wrapped up with issues which in the greater scheme of things may not be as “life or death” as we think. The other night I watched a documentary on television that frankly was inspirational and served as a really good reality check for all of us. I make no political point here or offer any kind of comment on whether our troops’ role in foreign conflicts is right or wrong- that’s for people to decide individually. However the content of the programme illustrated acts of bravery from which I believe we can all learn. We hear a lot about “feeling the fear but doing it anyway” in business. The documentary dealt with the daily lives of a team of “searchers” in Afghanistan. Their job is to walk across areas of wasteland with metal detectors trying to uncover explosive devices that have been hidden with the intention of inflicting maximum damage. Sadly in the course of their jobs many of these brave young men and women who search out the devices as well as the equally brave people who try to diffuse them, often only in their early 20’s ,are killed or badly maimed. As one of their commanding officers explained “They really don’t know whether the next step they take is their last” Puts things in perspective, and yes business can be challenging but few of us will have to face this kind of fear in the course of running our Companies. I’ve put a picture on my wall of some of these people just to act as reminder that when things become difficult compared to what others are dealing with, what most of us do is a walk in the park. |
|
I took a call earlier from a telemarketer calling from let’s just say a very large national company. To be fair, I was a bit surprised. I know for a fact that the organisation spend a fortune on training their people and had hoped that they would have moved with the times in terms of their style and approach on the phone. Bottom line is that from the time I said hello I didn’t get a chance to say anything else for what seemed like an eternity. Problem was that I didn’t have a great deal of time to deal with the call as I was due to leave the office. I’m a firm believer in asking people if it’s a convenient time to talk. After all, if it isn’t, they’re not going to be receptive to your call anyway, and so better to ask up front, and if necessary re schedule your call for another time when they will be ready to speak with you. (It’s important to point out however that the question should be delivered in a straightforward direct way as opposed to any kind of hopeful request which would actually create an entirely different impression and outcome) Old school sales trainers would fall off their chair at what I’ve just said because they would say “why give people an opportunity not to speak with you by saying that they’re busy or it’s not convenient” They’re missing the point-In reality it’s often the case that people are so surprised that you’ve even bothered to ask if they can talk they are more than happy to speak with you anyway, or will be really helpful in letting you know when is a good time to call back. Guess what too... when you call back spot on the agreed day/time you’ve already got a warm audience and you’ll be perceived as being reliable and on the ball. At Calls That Count we are not interested in making it difficult for people to not to speak with us-we’re more interested in making it easy for people to speak with us if and only if it’s a good time to do so- that’s just common sense isn’t it? |
|
Over the years I’ve met a number of business owners who have said things to me like “We tried telemarketing but it didn’t work.” I’m always interested when I hear this to find out what level of preparation went into the campaign before the calls were made. How was the target market identified?, Where was the data sourced from to ensure that they were speaking with up to date accurate contacts in the right job functions? What thought went into what was going to be said on the telephone? How were follow up requests to be dealt with? What were the objectives of the campaign-appointments-leads-both?- and of course who was actually making the calls and what was their level of experience? There are usually a number of holes in the prep phase but also and interestingly when it comes down to it the person who’s actually been tasked with making the calls unfairly, is inexperienced and poorly prepared for the task. For some reason telemarketing is often seen as a low skilled task that needs to be done and so an attitude of getting someone junior in a Company to get on the phone and “make some calls” prevails. Results not surprisingly are often disappointing and so therefore “telemarketing doesn’t work for us” I can do an oil change on my car, and can also change spark plugs, fit an air filter, and know a bit about basic fault finding but you wouldn’t want me putting your new gearbox in. I wouldn’t know where to start and my guess is that even if I did it, your car wouldn’t be able to go backwards when I’d finished. Telemarketing is a tough job, a skilled job, and when carried out in the right way can be a great addition to your overall lead generation strategy. Don’t ask anyone to do it however or you’ll end up with your gerarbox all over the floor!
Call us now on 01206 266888 or 01803 321206 to find out what Telemarketing can do for your business! |
|
Time permitting, I always take marketing calls from Companies because apart from the fact that the caller may have something of interest to us to talk about, I’m also always keen to hear how other telemarketing companies in the UK are going about their job. It keeps me in touch with the latest styles and approaches being adopted in the industry, and to be frank often confirms for me that our take on what telemarketing is all about is uniquely different to most and a refreshing change for the better. I do receive some brilliant calls from telemarketers who are a credit to our profession. One of the things that always makes them stand out is the fact that they are “actively” listening to what’s being said, and have the experience to know when a “No”, or a “not at this stage” means just that and to ignore that and carry on regardless is nothing other than a waste of everyone’s time. Old school mentality in sales tells us that “No doesn’t mean no”, and that if we “sidestep the no” and keep going for long enough we’ll get to where we want to be. Well, if you are telemarketing in the UK in 2011 I’d like to suggest that actually recognising and acknowledging a genuine “No” and bringing the call to an end with an agreement to speak again at a more suitable time (if your prospect has suggested that this is your best course of action) is the most professional and ultimately productive thing you can do. People don’t like to be pushed and prodded into working within a timeframe just because it suits you and will always react badly to anyone trying to get them to do that. They will however remember your professionalism and non pushy approach and be more than happy to speak with you again in the future rather than making themselves unavailable to do so when you call them again. I received a call the other day and told the caller that we had no intention at all in reviewing our current arrangements for their particular service within the next 12 months but if they wished they were more than welcome to put me in their pipeline for a call in 12 months to see if things had changed. My request was met with “but this, and but that, but I’m sure we can do this and that, and am I available to meet with someone next week....”It really is disappointing when that happens- I tried to just explain to the caller that in fact I was helping them by giving them a straight answer and a sensible timeline to call me back in-to be frank they just didn’t seem to understand what I meant. Like I say, old school is old hat. To sell, stop selling.
At Calls That Count we have conversations with people on your behalf to uncover genuine interest (or not) in what you have to offer- No if’s and no buts! Call us now on 01206 266888 or 01803 321206 |
|
Last week I needed to find somewhere to repair one of my watches. I Googled watch repairs to see if I could find somewhere I could send the watch to as I was feeling unwell with a virus and didn't want the hassle of going into Town. I identified 3 places and called them. Here's what happenned....
1.
First place didn't ask where I'd found their number. I explained what I was looking for and was given a price. I said I thought at first glance it looked a bit on the high side and that throughout the year as someone who has an interest in watches I need a number of repairs carried out- I asked if we could just check they'd quoted me for the right parts. No interest shown at all in potential ongoing work, told the price was the price which is fair enough, no conversation about the watch itself, and no attempt to ask me for my details. So in effect I'd made a strong sales enquiry and they left that call without even knowing who had called them.
2.
Next place, well basically said won't talk prices until they see it. I tried to just explain a little bit about the watch but was interrupted, told it doesn't matter what it is, I need to see it. Again didn't ask where I'd found the number, no interest in a conversation on any level, and no attempt to capture my details for ongoing follow up/marketing.
3.
Third place, very helpful lady answered the phone. Told me that although she could help me she'd prefer one of the Directors of the business to talk with me personally as in view of the fact I may have ongoing repairs she was sure he would be interested in speaking with me. Took my number and promised a call back. 20 minutes later I received a call as promised.
The Director I spoke with showed a real interest in the watch I had even though he's probably seen a thousand of them. Asked questions, we talked about my interest in watches and he told me enthusiastically a bit about his Company and why they are different. Not a pitch just a genuine passion for what they do. Turns out that they usually deal with large trade customers as well as the public but he was more than happy to offer me a slightly preferred rate as it may encourage me to send any other watches I have to them, even if the volume was considerably less than even his smallest of trade customers. The way he looked at it he said is that business is business and if we spread the word about his Company because he's helped me out then that is reward enough. Asked me where I'd found out about them and what made me ring them.
Suffice to say my watch is now being repaired and no prizes for guessing where I sent it!
So what was different..Simple, only one of these people wanted to have a conversation and take a genuine interest in my situation. What have they gained? Well, I'm now a new customer and ok this repair is just £30 but there will be others. Would I recommend them now? Sure I would and whats that worth?
You don't need a truckload of sales "techniques" to be good on the phone, thats the last thing you want. The third guy here proved that actually its pretty simple-be you, be real, show a genuine interest and find solutions for your customer.
At Calls That Count we carry out telemarketing campaigns for customers across the UK. If you want the truckload of "sales techniques" you won't find them here I'm afraid. That's not to say that we haven't been on all the courses. I can assure you that in the last 20 years we've been on them all, it's just that thankfully things don't have to be that way. Not for the person making the call and not for the person receiving it either. Things have changed, and all for the better.If you're looking for a down to earth real life view on what telemarketing is all about in 2011 based on years of front line experience- lets talk.
Call us now on 01206 266888 or 01803 321206 |
|
I was speaking with a really talented telemarketer earlier today who's about to join the Calls That Count telemarketing team. (We will in time be giving you all a lot more background on the people behind the Calls That Count voices) During our conversation I asked him what he really liked about his profession, and make no mistake about it professional telemarketing in the UK is a highly skilled job and very much a "profession" He said for him its about the enjoyment of making his calls in a style and with an approach that makes people feel comfortable in speaking with him the result of which is that he's able to develop business relationships of real value to the client he's calling for. He emphasised that its really important that the Company he's representing truly is a leader in their field and that he has confidence that the customers he introduces to them through sales appointments and leads will be given the highest levels of customer service and integrity. Great answer and easy to see why we were keen for our new member to join us.
At Calls That Count we must have confidence in the Companies we represent on the telephone.I'm proud to say that our clients are all without exception leaders in their field. That's why we conduct a thorough research and preparation phase before we'll even go near a telephone on behalf of a client. We don't always agree to work on a particular project and there can be a number of reasons for that but certainly a big factor is that we want to be sure that we are introducing new customers that we generate through our telemarketing calls to Companies that have everything in place to look after them. We are not and never will be a "gun for hire" so to speak available to everyone that wants calls made on their behalf. For us its always about quality in everything we do.
To find out more about Calls That Count and how we go about delivering telemarketing campaigns, call us now on 01206 266888 or 01803 321206 |
|
Maths wasn't my strong point at school but here's a maths question I do know
the answer to.
You have 8 warm prospects in your sales pipeline, and you know that for
every 10 new prospects one will convert into new customer status. You hit
the phones and through your telemarketing efforts you add another 2 warm
prospects to your original 8. From the 10, 2 tell you they are no longer
interested in progressing things and true to form, when you make a follow up
call 1 other agrees to a proposal you'd sent them. So now you have 7 left.
So how many prospects do we now need to fill up our pipeline to a level that
will produce another customer?
The first person to email us on
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
and give the
correct answer wins a free half hour telephone consultation with one of the
Calls That Count Senior Management Team to answer any questions you may have
about any aspect of Telemarketing and give you hints and tips on how it
could help your business.Good luck! |
|
We recently had a great lad who came over from France to learn more about a business environment and help us in the day to day running of Calls That Count. He was an absolute pleasure to work with and helped us no end. He has written a little bit about his experience with us and after paying him off to be nice here is what our French friend had to say.........
My experience at Calls that count
My name is Rémy Bezault, 18, I come from France and I travelled in Torquay to have a professional experience with Calls That Count ltd. I describe here what I learnt from this job in a business to business telemarketing firm.
The discovery of B2B
For most people who are not completely familiar with the huge world of business and marketing, the field of telemarketing is quite dark. Calls that count proved to me that I had a false conception of this area. Indeed, the company showed me another side of telemarketing: business to business (B2B). As a matter of fact, I only knew business to consumer (B2C) telemarketing, which comes in the form of telephone advertising from companies who call you when you come back home after work to sell you things you absolutely don’t need, and which make you furious because you ran to answer the phone. B2B is a similar sort of telecommunication, but companies only call other companies to promote their services or product. And Calls that count uses a method completely different from which used by B2C companies and most B2B firms.
The particularity of Calls That Count ltd
Actually, the firm wants to present a completely different view of telemarketing. I had the possibility to attend a meeting at the Innovation networking event in Paignton where a presentation of the company took place. Here they pulled down all stereotypes of this sometimes misunderstood activity. I discovered that Calls That Count was in fact the opposite of the classic telemarketing firm which just tries to target the highest amount of potential clients with a huge number of short and low quality calls. Conversely, they only hire business experts who call well targeted contacts in proper conditions so the objective is to have a pleasant, professional discussion. So they lay the emphasis on the quality of their calls, which seems to be obviously more efficient than stressing the quantity of the calls when one sells a product to a firm.
My job
I worked in a recent installation of the firm (which shows its expansion), in Torquay. Here I transferred the customers’ accounts to another website. I also worked on the firm’s website: for instance, I found interesting articles to provide information to visitors, particularly as concerns specific notions such as B2B (of course), B2B portals, differences between B2B and B2C, diversified points of view about telemarketing, the relation with the media… Then I provided information to Calls That Count concerning their competitors or data companies for example. I also took part in the presentation of the firm during the Innovation network event. I finally created a design for a banner stand for Calls That Count, which is displayed in the main hall of the Torquay’s Innovation centre.
What for?
In France, I am in the middle of my two years of preparation after my baccalaureate (the equivalent of the A level) to enter then into a business school. I needed to work in England to get a professional and linguistic experience, particularly useful for my entrance exam. But beyond that, I got a real immersion in the corporate world, and contacts with high ranked people in business.
Thanks
I obviously thank Calls That Count for this training which taught me a lot of useful business notions and marketing tricks, especially Adrian Howard with whom I worked, and Robbie Stepney for his information and Help.
Au revoir
Rémy
|
|
I was invited recently to be the guest speaker at an excellent business networking group based in Paignton, Devon. The event was superbly organised by South West Innovation Centres which is an organisation dedicated to supporting businesses in the Region. I had travelled midweek to this beautiful part of the world for a series of meetings with new clients at our Torquay Office which Adrian had organised. The speaking engagement on the Friday was a great finish to a really enjoyable and productive few days. The content of my presentation was centred around many of the quite negative (and rightly so) perceptions of telemarketing generally held by a large number of business people. We looked at why those perceptions exist not only from the perspective of people being called, but also we explored many of the negative feelings people experience when faced with picking up the telephone to call someone they don’t know, or to follow up with someone they’ve perhaps met recently. Fear of rejection, not knowing what to say, feeling under pressure to become the salesperson and perform, dealing with objections were all mentioned. I then suggested that many of these perceived problems or mental blocks were the result of years of being exposed to old school sales methology which dictates that we should always be looking for the sale, to move things along, to close, close, close, to control the conversation etc. Is it any wonder then that if people are picking up the telephone with this as their objective that the experience is neither a pleasurable one for the person being called or the caller.
I encouraged people to simply be themselves and not feel any pressure to “perform” but simply to have a conversation with the person on the other end of the phone which is designed to do nothing other than to find out if there is any common ground. If there is, then to explore this in a conversational natural way (not a heavy handed pitching and scripted way) the result of which may well be that there is a genuine request made to receive further information on a product or service or its agreed that based on the conversation an initial face to face meeting would prove productive. No pressure either way, just two people having a conversation. No one trying to be someone else by becoming “the salesperson” complete with different voice, accent or personality just because they’ve picked the phone up to make a call- and from the other persons perspective no need now to have to put the defences up to block the salesperson on the other end of the phone who as a result of the style of their call is simply reinforcing all the negative stereotypes none of us in business like. I suggested that people will relate to the real you, not a cardboard cut out salesperson version of you. If the call is approached as simply a fact finding mission for both sides then clearly there can be no rejection involved as the purpose of the call is not to sell at all costs but simply to engage in a natural way and find out where we both stand. If there’s no common ground then no problem.-is that reasonable? At the end of the presentation many of the business owners present approached Adrian and I and said that they could really relate to the content especially the part about just being yourself and taking away the pressure to be “the salesperson” Others also said that if the calls they received were based on this kind of approach they’d be more than happy to talk with people. Telemarketing can be an incredibly effective part of your marketing mix but only if the calls are the exact opposite of what people are expecting. So the message is clear, to sell you need to stop selling, remove all pressure from both you and the person you are calling, start having conversations and above all just be you-after all why would you want to be anybody else.
To find out more about our trial telemarketing campaign packages call us now on 01206 266888 or 01803 321206 |
|
“Let’s be frank about it, one of the things that gives telemarketing in the UK such a bad name at times is when telemarketers make contact with no interest whatsoever in having a productive conversation, but actually simply wanting to read a script at you in the hope that if they impose their will on you for long enough and “get the script out” you’ll cave in and agree to whatever it is they are asking you to do. These calls are prevalent in both B2C and B2B telemarketing sectors. The fact is that by taking this approach they are immediately alienating people who may well have a need or requirement for what they have to offer but because of the way that they’ve been approached they simply put up the barriers from the moment they realize its “one of those telemarketing calls”. At Calls That Count we call these kinds of calls “Telephone Dalek” calls (if you’ve ever seen the Daleks in Doctor Who you’ll know why!) The other night I was at home and the phone rang. I picked up and said “Hello” That was the last word I said. For the next few minutes the telemarketer who was from let’s just say one of the largest household names in the country read a script at me which really was designed to make me feel that my boiler could pack up at any time and probably within the next 30 seconds and that it really would be a good idea to replace it. I tried a couple of times to interject and get a conversation going but absolutely no chance of that happening. Actually I would have been quite open to discussing it with them but they wouldn’t let me! In the end the telemarketer got to the end of the script and said to me “How does that sound to you?” I replied with “Sorry to interrupt but is there any chance of a conversation about this?” The reply was (as clearly my response was not one of the scripted answers) “Er…what do you mean” That in a nutshell is why many business people conjure up in their minds some pretty negative stereotypes when they hear the word telemarketing. The good news is that day in day out professional telemarketers are setting sales appointments and generating sales leads for their clients that add real value. Not by being Daleks but by simply having productive conversations with both people on the call participating. Must go and have a look at that boiler”…… |
|
|
