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Closing techniques used by appointment setting companies

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Closing techniques used by appointment setting companies

Besides your opening sentences, the way you close a call is one of the most important skills in telemarketing. For appointment setting companies this ability is critical to achieving client goals. The words used, the tone of voice and manner, all leave a lasting impression on the person being spoken with. So whether the call is designed to close a sale, or close with the objective of getting a meeting in the diary, it’s important to make sure you get it just right.

Structure

Like anything else in life, having a structured format is a good way to be effective and efficient. Appointment setting companies like Blue Donkey generally have a structure for calls that guides the telemarketer. This should not be a script, or a set dialog but a general principle about the flow of calls. For example, most good telemarketing campaigns will include an opening, then an open question, then a response built around the buyer’s needs, then the close where the meeting or sale is agreed. If the structure is followed appropriately and guided by the decision maker’s contribution, the close should be easy. So really, the best closing technique is to get the buyer talking about their needs as a business.

Do close!

Astonishingly, one of the biggest barriers to success at the closing stage of the call is actually a complete absence of a close. Many people find it really hard to just ask the question. Appointment setting companies use training and adopt standard methods for closing, including certain phrases that become second nature over time, such as “from what you are telling me, it sounds like we can help you, throw some dates at me and we’ll have someone come and see you”. Of course, it’s really important to only use such a phrase where it’s genuinely applicable, and where a proper two-way conversation has taken place. A basic test for whether this has happened is to ask yourself: Who spoke more? If you ask good open questions, that generate a flowing discussion, the decision makers you speak with will do most of the talking. If on the other hand, a telemarketer has rushed through a pitch, does all the talking, then attempts to close, they’ll get the negative response they deserve.

No need to be pushy

The last thing any business needs is a reputation for being pushy. Putting too much pressure on the person you’re speaking to will irritate and repel even the keenest customers and make your business come across as aggressive, or desperate. The call should have been positive, informative, and persuasive enough that you won’t need to put any pressure on. However, if the decision maker you’re speaking to is still not convinced enough to agree to a meeting by the end of the call, ask if it’s OK to call back another time.

Appointment setting companies routinely use what’s called a trial close, where they plant the idea of a call at an agreed date with a view to setting up a meeting then. This works wonders for building a future pipeline and creating the best possible impression of the company brand. Giving the decision maker the time and space to set the pace of your relationship will help demonstrate your values as a potential partner.

Respect

Years ago the concept of the ‘hungry’ sales person was embraced. Especially by organisations that were fighting for market share in highly competitive markets. Thankfully that kind of thinking died with the yuppy and has since been replaced with the idea that its respect, not hunger that builds businesses. Likewise, appointment setting companies are careful nowadays to ensure telemarketers are not so focused on their targets that they forget to respect the person they’re speaking to has priorities and goals of their own. Where the right questions were asked and the benefits of the product or service have been exchanged, if the decision maker isn’t ready to meet its appropriate to suggest another call, gain consent for email, and plant the seed in their mind that you’d like to arrange a meeting if it’s suitable for them at that point.

Summarise

If the call has been a long one, a good way to close it is to sum up what happens next. Particularly where a close was successful, and a meeting or sale has been agreed. Appointment setting companies use this as an opportunity to check the details of the meeting, site address, parking, invite other key decision makers at the organisation and perhaps check emails phonetically to ensure accuracy. Apart from anything else, it’s so easy for decision makers to come off the phone, and be interrupted by someone so they forget the meeting was agreed. Following up with a confirmation email is a great way to demonstrate professionalism and remind them of your contact details should they need to change the meeting time. Be clear about any information you intend to record or share, GDPR is very clear about the growing importance of personal information. Information about companies is not personal data, but information about individual employees where it relates to them as an individual may constitute personal data. You can check out the rules at the ICO.

To learn more about powerful telemarketing techniques, or if you think your team could benefit from a bit of expert help, take a look around our site or contact a member of our team to find out more about what we do.

How B2B lead generation companies use the phone to build brands

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How B2B lead generation companies use the phone to build brands

B2B lead generation companies know that unlike social media, advertising, or events, telemarketing has the advantage that it allows you to reach potential clients direct, instead of waiting for them to come to you. As well as making the telephone a powerful sales tool, this also makes it the perfect way to build your brand and reach a whole new customer base. Instant, affordable, and effective – the telephone and brand building go hand in hand.

Reminding existing customers

Even if you offer an outstanding product or service, your company name can sometimes slip the mind of your existing customers. If you’re involved in an industry that’s especially competitive, it’s possible your clients’ heads could be turned by competitors with more aggressive marketing strategies. This could cause a drop in sales and a drop in return custom. Regular telemarketing campaigns will help to ensure your brand stays at the forefront of your existing customers’ minds. B2B lead generation companies are often employed for customer service projects designed to gently call a client base every few months to keep the lines of communication open and prevent your clients from turning to your competitors and keep brand awareness high. These calls are also a great opportunity to ask questions about your client’s business, their needs, and plans moving forward, taking the time to refresh your mind about the client’s brand and goals as well as reminding them about yours.

Prospecting for new customers

When using the telephone, the power is in your hands. You decide who to call, how to represent your brand, and how to exploit the unique benefits and differentiators you offer. This makes the telephone unique among marketing tools. Placing you firmly in the driver’s seat, it means that – with the right database and the right approach, you have the power to exponentially increase brand awareness and get under the skin of your best prospects. Another benefit of using the telephone to build your brand is that it gives your company a face and a personality. Everything B2B lead generation companies do from the tone of voice they use to the words chosen will have an impact on how prospects view a brand. Experts at hubspot suggest treating your brand as a person and defining your narrative are the first steps to giving your brand a personality. The next step would be infusing this personality into your marketing efforts.

The words you use and the sentiments you express are all part of this process, so whilst having an individual personality in telemarketing is great, this should always reflect the values of your brand foremost.

Answer queries

Unlike other forms of marketing, the telephone gives you the opportunity to answer customer queries instantly. So, if one of the decision makers you call has a question about the services you offer, you can answer them immediately and use the call to demonstrate to them how your product or service could meet their needs. As the telephone offers an immediate and personal way of communicating with your target audience, it’s a great choice for businesses looking to grow their brand. To find out more about the power of the telephone, contact a member of our team today.

What every appointment setter should know about lasting first impressions

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What every appointment setter should know about lasting first impressions

Whether your role is about managing customers or you’re employed as an appointment setter, first impressions matter. Though it may be a cliché, it’s true that you only have one chance to make a first impression. As well as getting your sales process off to a good start, a positive first impression will lay the foundation for a rewarding long term business relationship.

First impressions

Though first impressions take just seven seconds to form, their impact can be very long lasting. Come across as pushy, bored or, untrustworthy, and your brand’s reputation could be in tatters before you’ve even started your pitch. Come across as likeable, professional and knowledgeable on the other hand and your call could be on track for success from the start. Business publisher Forbes.com say you should speak slowly and clearly. When you start talking to someone for the first time, don’t worry about conveying lots of information as quickly as possible — while this may seem like a fast way to impress others, it can overwhelm them. Instead, speak slowly and clearly: It will make you seem more articulate and intelligent, and it will give your listener more time to digest what you’re saying. Speaking slowly and deliberately is also a sign of confidence, which is indispensable in making a good first impression.

And watch your posture: Keeping good posture, with your shoulders back and your head held high, makes you seem more confident and powerful to other people, strengthening your first impression. It may also increase your own feelings of confidence, giving you more power in your interactions.

These skills are as relevant to the appointment setter by phone as they are when you meet face to face, maybe even more so, since you have fewer senses with which to capture and keep the right kind of attention.

Making a good first impression

Recovering from a bad first impression can be difficult at the best of times. For the appointment setter trying to win face time, they will need to work all the harder to impress a decision maker well enough to warrant their time in a meeting. This means it’s essential for salespeople to make a good first impression if they want to hit their goals.

Though there are no hard and fast rules for making a good first impression, there are techniques you can use to start calls off on the right foot. As we’ve said before, it’s important to smile as you dial, this gives your voice a more engaging tone and puts you in a more positive frame of mind.

Another popular technique used by the successful appointment setter is positive visualisation. By thinking about a person and visualising a face an appointment setter will be able to engage with the contact on a more human level, cutting out some of the unnecessary awkwardness or formality that can sometimes happen in a cold call designed to generate appointments. At Blue Donkey we encourage our telemarketers to get excited about the product or service they’re promoting by helping them focus on its competitive benefits before they pick up the phone. This enthusiasm will come across in the call, helping to create a great first impression and successful outcomes.

Improving your technique

By continually working to improve the quality of the first impressions you and your team make, you can help your sales department to achieve its goals and create positive relationships with the companies you contact. If you need help developing your telemarketing techniques, or if you think there’s more your team could learn from us, get in touch with Blue Donkey today.

Research – Preparation or procrastination? What lead generation companies believe

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Research - Preparation or procrastination What lead generation companies believe

Lead generation companies know only too well that when telemarketers are nervous or procrastinating, research can suddenly seem like the most important thing in the world to them. Putting off calls can often begin with trawling a website, carefully looking up their products, services, and history, or mentally preparing for the dialogue they are expecting to have on a call. Though this sounds like a sensible and thorough way to prepare for a call – and there’s no denying that a bit of research can make a difference to the quality of your communication – spending time researching a company every time you make a dial is impractical and inefficient. Even just 5 or 10 minutes a call will add up to a lot of wastage over time. Not only is it unnecessary to the quality or the output of a call, research is time consuming so it will negatively impact your productivity and can prevent an organisation from getting the results it needs from its telemarketing campaign.

Productivity

Reaching key decision makers within an organisation takes lead generation companies on average between eight to twelve dial attempts. If a telemarketer spends minutes researching a company before picking up the phone for every dial their productivity will be severely reduced and it will take much longer to achieve their business objectives. At Blue Donkey, we’re used to making the most of every moment we’re working on a project so to give our clients maximum value, we’ve developed some methods for making our research more efficient and our call rate more productive. According to James Clear, author of the international bestselling book, Atomic Habits, productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task. We often assume that productivity means getting more things done each day. Wrong. Productivity is getting important things done consistently. And no matter what you are working on, there are only a few things that are truly important. Being productive is about maintaining a steady, average speed on a few things, not maximum speed on everything.

Research

Instead of looking through a company’s website before we pick up the phone, we begin dialling while simultaneously logging onto their homepage. This gives us the time we need to have a quick look through the products and services and to get a sense of who the company are and what they do. This is usually enough to provide lead generation companies the information needed to ask insightful open questions and get the person we’re calling talking. As well as boosting productivity, this mini research technique ensures our teams don’t develop unhelpful preconceptions about a business or how they’ll react. By avoiding assumptions, we can ensure we approach each call on its own merits and get more out of our interactions with key decision makers.

Benchmarking

Lead generation companies are usually outsourced providers hence everything we do at Blue Donkey needs to be benchmarked, measurable and based on best practice. Our time has to be deployed effectively on the phone, not desk researching. To help us to achieve time sensitive goals, we’ve developed a basic toolbox of telemarketing techniques including open questioning techniques designed to engage decision makers deeply and expansively about the things that are important to them. These tools give us the ability to gain a clear and compelling understanding of the products or services we’re representing. By using them in our working practices, we’re able to take on the voice of our clients and understand what it is they do, what makes them special, the industry they operate in and how the products or services we’re representing can help the decision makers we’re speaking to.

By turning research into a fine art and carefully honing our telemarketing techniques, we’re able to get some of the best results lead generation companies can offer, quickly and efficiently. To find out more, take a look around our site or contact a member of the Blue Donkey team.

Smiling as you dial will help your lead generation marketing shine

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Smiling as you dial will help your lead generation marketing shine

Lead generation marketing is tough at the best of times, so while it’s easy to assume that today’s strange conditions will make success harder than ever, we think it doesn’t have to be the case. At Blue Donkey we’re always looking for ways to innovate, push the boundaries, and improve our methods. Sometimes we have to accept that the old techniques are the best. One that really does make a difference, is smiling.

A great way to improve the quality of your lead generation marketing calls, connect with the person you’re speaking to and make your workday more enjoyable is painting on a smile. Smiling before you pick up the phone could transform your telemarketing success rate. If you’re not convinced, here are just a few of the benefits of this fail-safe technique.

Can a smile really change anything?

Research suggests that even faking a smile can help us feel better. According to experts at Psychology Today magazine it reduces stress and lifts our mood. If smiling does not come naturally for you or seems distasteful, the principle of “fake it til you make it” may be good advice, especially with people you know and feel safe with.

Though the person you’re speaking with can’t see you smile, they can hear it in your manner and voice. The tone, pitch, and flow of our speech are all profoundly affected by a smile, and the person you’re communicating with will definitely hear the difference. This is very important for lead generation marketing because when you’re speaking with someone by telephone, you are reliant on the ability to communicate engagingly, navigating gatekeepers and convincing decision makers even though you can’t make eye contact.

First impressions

No one wants to answer the phone to someone who sounds bored, miserable or uninterested. Buyers will need to be immediately engaged in the call if they’re going to be convinced. If the person making the call is smiling, those crucial opening sentences are going to be exponentially enhanced, creating a good first impression, engaging the decision maker and giving the call a better chance of hitting the mark.

Communication

The vast majority of the information the person you’re speaking to will gain during the call comes from the tone of your voice. If you smile when you dial, the person you’re calling will hear it in your voice and it’s likely they’ll respond more positively to you. The way you speak, rather than the words you use, will help them decide if you’re trustworthy, if you’re genuine and if they can connect with you on a personal level. This will have a big impact on the success of your call and could even be the crucial factor that tips the decision for or against you.

Company image

If you want your business to be seen as positive, passionate and energetic, ensuring your team are smiling whenever they pick up the phone is a great place to start. If every interaction a business has with your company is engaging, positive, and fun, they’re much more likely to feel a connection to your brand and use your company in the future.

Sometimes, the simplest techniques make the biggest difference. To find out other methods for improving the quality of your telemarketing calls, contact Blue Donkey today.