- Language
Are your telemarketing agents using everyday words with prospects and clients, or are their sentences packed with jargon and tech talk? Does the agent’s vocabulary fit the situation? Do they pronounce words correctly?
- Product Knowledge
Your agents need to have ingrained knowledge of the features and benefits of the products they are selling. If they don’t, they may hesitate, trip over their words, and miss opportunities to educate the prospect.
- Soft Skills
Because your agents are not face to face with contacts, their voice intonation, tone and pace are essential. An agent’s voice needs to have an energy level that says, “I’m enthusiastic about what I’m selling and how it can help you.” His pace needs to be just right. If it’s too fast, the telemarketer may sound as if he is rushing through the conversation because he is are nervous. However, if he’s too slow, he may seem bored and elicit the same feeling in the contact.
- Conversational Flow
If the call in any way resembles the robotic consumer calls that tend to interrupt us at dinner time, telemarketing will meet with natural resistance. Agents need to draw the contact into the conversation immediately and keep them engaged. That means a two-way conversation that flows naturally.
- Questioning and Listening Skills
By asking the right questions and listening to the answers, representatives will be able to ferret out prospect needs and help to solve their problems. Therefore, it’s essential that you point out to your reps when they:
- Interrupt a contact
- Fail to follow up on an important issue the contact relays
- Do not ask a question that could provide critical insights into the contact’s situation
- Systematic Sales Path
While every call is different, there is a logical route from initially qualifying a contact to creating interest in the product you are selling, and determining the next action steps. Ensure your reps are navigating the path effectively.
- Objection Handling
Whatever route your reps navigate, there are likely to be roadblocks in the form of objections. Do your reps empathize with prospect concerns, ask open-ended questions to get to the root of the problem, and educate prospects to help overcome their issues?
Also, if an agent receives an objection that no one has encountered previously, they may have difficulty countering it. You should share a recording of this situation with team members and discuss ways of handling it positively.
Ultimately you need to ensure that agents are skilled enough to achieve the call objectives. You can do so by showing them where they trip up, but also by having them listen to sales calls that are well executed by others on the team.
Sometimes, if an issue is specific to an individual, you’ll want to handle critique one on one. At other times, it’s best to call the team together to address a problem or opportunity that affects all of them. The advantage of this approach, of course, is that it saves you time and allows the group to brainstorm together and develop their team spirit.
To learn more about business to business telemarketing, call us now at +1 718-709-0900 (Americas) / +39 06-978446-60 (EMEA).
