Effective telemarketing is what every business aims for. It is the backbone of a successful investment that leads not only client success but also career success.

Taken from Jay Powell’s 10 Techniques to Improve Telemarketing Effectiveness, here is our condensed version of the tips.

Planning

This might sound like preparing for a big event or a party but in truth, effective telemarketing also requires thorough planning.

Before getting on the phone, you will need to decide which sector or market you will target. By deciding on your target market, you can easily pick your call approach. Consider the pros and cons of your target market. Some questions you might need to ask yourself are: Why is that a good sector to aim at? Is there limited competition? Do you have a competitive advantage or differentiator? Is there a need for your service? Is time an issue? Have you got industry-leading knowledge or technology? What’s happening in the target market? Is there new legislation? Is source of supply an issue? Are there new market entrants?

Also, it’s important to use all resources. Linkedin groups or Twitter might be the best media to consult on.

Lastly, squeeze your creativity and plan for your call structure. Create an attention grabbing intro and good opening questions.

Define and understand your market

After careful planning, it’s time to get into the specifics of defining and understanding your target market. The tighter you define your target market, the more likely you are to reach your target person in the shortest possible time while understanding it lets you engage with your prospects and build rapport.

This point is important because it can break the major concern of almost all clients being cold-called on the phone. Once the telemarketer becomes more relatable and relevant, the less will he or she sound like a cold caller. Know their pains and address them. Once you’ve hit the spot, it give you a definite edge among all the telemarketers out there.

As for dealing with a specific person who’s most likely considered as the decision maker of the company or firm, try these techniques:

• Ask good questions
• Mirror tone (try to sound like the decision-maker). Listen carefully to how they speak and adapt your tone to suit
• Mirror the pace to be more akin to theirs
• Mirror language (using the words that they use without being like a parrot is a good thing)
• Don’t be boring. There’s nothing worse. Try to be upbeat but interesting and engaging rather than over-excited and pushy

Gatekeeper techniques

There are a few key things to consider.

• Sound authoritative.
• Keep control of the conversation.
• Don’t give any information unless you absolutely have to.
• Only engage if you sense the other techniques have failed or you know the decision maker is constantly out of the office.
• Recognise that the gatekeeper has the power to block you but not to hire you.

Objection handling techniques

Every telemarketer will need to learn how to deal with objections. Use good questioning to probe. Remember that not every objection should be taken negatively. Hence, it is a request for clarification that could lead to an opportunity.

Follow up

Effective telemarketing also needs following up. According to statistics, it usually take 5 or more calls to reach a conclusion in every sales call.

In every follow-up, make sure that any information requested goes out on time. Meeting confirmations should also be timely too. It could also help if you connect through Linkedin. But most of all, make sure to call back whenever you say you’ll back.

Telemarketer training and performance monitoring

Some telemarketers are lucky enough to have innate confidence and naturally talented on the phone. But for some who aspires to become one, training and performance monitoring is vital. This allows companies to hone the skills set of their telemarketers as well as monitor progress. Effective telemarketing definitely needs good monitoring.

Investing on training is a wise move. Backing it up with continuous monitoring will make one good telemarketer. In the long run, it will mean good business.