Are you listening?

Latest News

Member of the Federation of Small Businesses

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

Blog

Inspirational Documentary

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...

Is this a good time to talk?

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...