Written by One of the biggest questions a lot of people have when it comes to B2B Telemarketing is whether or not it actually works. The simple answer is yes. But, like most things, it’s not quite as simple as that. Most people can’t just pick up the phone and start ringing round and suddenly drum up a load of business (fair play to you if you can).
For most businesses, effective telemarketing comes from doing it right, putting the work in, and dealing with a lot of “no” before you get the “yes” you’re looking for. Which is why a lot of businesses simply don’t bother – or they try it for a week or so, don’t see a value, and give up.
Well, if you want effective telemarketing, you’ve got to put in the work – or outsource it, of course.
Planning and preparation.
Planning is king, queen, and all of the members of the royal court. You’ve got to know who you’re going after, what they’re looking for, how you can fill their need, what kind of objections you’re likely to get, what you’re trying to achieve with your activities, and how you’ll go about doing it.
Who will be doing your telemarketing? In-house or outsourced – either way, your plan is your roadmap that tells you if what you’re doing is working, if you need to change things up, if you’re on track.
Validate the data.
Bad data equals bad results. It’s like they say with computing – garbage in, garbage out. It works for any kind of data. If your data isn’t up to scratch, it won’t matter how many calls you make, you won’t get very far.
So how do you validate the data? Well, you’ve got to start with knowing and understanding your target market – who are the decision makers? What industry are you focusing on? What roles do you need to reach?
One way to do this is through outsourcing the data cleanse or data gathering part of your telemarketing – for example, our K8 package is designed to build your database with enriched data about your target contacts, so that your telemarketing activities are being directed to the right people.
Play the numbers.
Once you’ve got good data, the next thing is to start calling. And this is where it’s a numbers game. Because not everyone will be interested, not everyone will be available, and not everyone is in the right place at the right time to be ready for what you’re offering.
The more calls you make, the more opportunities you’ll uncover. It’s that simple. The hard part is doing it. Hearing a lot of “no” can be tough to take (it’s why a lot of people just don’t want to do telemarketing) but it’s a part of the process. It also makes each yes that much sweeter.
Speak naturally and effectively.
Scripts are necessary – if you make things up on the spot, you may miss something, or ramble, or just not hit the right elements that make for an effective call. Plus it makes it harder to play the numbers game, because you’re trying to come up with something new each time to keep things fresh. Don’t forget, you may have said the script a hundred times, but each person you’re calling has only heard it once.
The key is to have a script that doesn’t sound too much like a script. Build a script that sounds like natural speech – write it in your own tone of voice, or build in some pauses and filler words.
An effective script not only sounds natural, it also hits the pain points of the person you’re talking to. If you’re talking to procurement managers, for example, chances are that costs are one of their big concerns. Your script should always be written with the end customer in mind – what matters to them? What keeps them up at night? Why should they care what you’re saying?
Have a good offer.
This is a big one – because if you’re asking a lot from your call recipients, but they can’t see the value of talking to you, you’re going to hear a whole lot more “no” than “yes”. As we said above, why should they care?
They need a reason to listen and to take the next step that you’re asking them to take. If your script is all about you, they’ve got no reason to care. You need to have something compelling for them. If you’re trying to set up appointments for your sales team, don’t start by asking to set up an appointment – why would they want that? Tell them what you can do for them, how you’ve solved a problem they’re facing, or what they get out of talking to you.
Embrace objections.
Objections are as inevitable as a dog chasing after a stick. So there’s no point wishing to avoid them. In fact, you should embrace them. Why? Because they give you valuable data.
The more objections you get, the more you can refine your script, your offer, and your approach. Take not of the different objections you hear and learn from them. You might find that you’re targeting the wrong people (maybe they’re not the decision makers, or they don’t have a need), or your offer isn’t right for the audience. Maybe you’re calling people just after their sales cycle and they’ve already got something in place.
As you gather objections, you can start understanding better how to overcome them. That may be through changing your script, having supplementary scripts for specific objections, or even keeping track of contract-renewal dates so you can call back at the right time.
Build momentum.
Momentum is everything. If it’s a numbers game, then you need to keep adding to the numbers. The more calls you make, the more chances you have to build in warm call backs at convenient times. Momentum creates future chances, but it won’t happen if you operate your telemarketing in a stop-start manner. Each time you start over, you’ll have to build everything back up. It’s why our packages are 3-month-long campaigns, because you need time to create that pipeline.
Don’t give up after a week or two – keep going.