Marketing Blog 30/06/10 - Telemarketing & Cold Calling

A wise man once said “those who have enemies, have at some point made a stand!”.

The Client is always right ...right? Except when they are wrong.

I have had to say no (to working with them at all)to a client just today ,this was because they were starting to be both unclear and did not provide what I needed to effectively do the job for them .This is something I don’t like to do ,as it both needs to be done delicately and with preserving your band in mind .But people being people someone usually gets bent out of shape. This is ok as if this client is left the situation usually get worse  anyway .So to quote another old maxim “A stitch in time saves nine “.If you address this quickly and as well as you can you can save yourself both some time and effort.

And my last quote is from a certain beer commercial “sometimes what we say no to defines us“

Marketing Blog 17/06/10 - Telemarketing & Cold Calling

Exert for my Sales training course, please call for details on how to book.

How does your industry market itself, generally? Is it:

• Radio
• The local paper (editorials, or just ads?)
• From a in-house Database
• Post outs, or email campaigns? (as unsolicited emails is illegal and has a $5000NZD fine attached to every offence)

This is important as if these things are being done already you need to know what is being said, offers given past and present.  And more importantly, the favour of the advertising, was it professional and concise, or cheeky and relaxed. This is so you can flow not just the advertising but the favour or style in which it was presented. If there is no material to follow on from see the sales manager and ask the questions, this is important as it is the brand that people will associate with the company. This is also important as there might be some leads you can start with via a database of mail out people or the brand is established though some form of advertising (So there is brand awareness).......

This is just a small sample of the course, for more details, please call Cory on 03 982 7182

Marketing Blog 18/02/10 - Telemarketing & Cold Calling

Today’s world is changing fast. Where we used to seek out opinion or experts on things big and small, we now use Google to find out that information, or Utube to get a demo on how to do what you are looking at doing.

Is this information accurate, up to date or what you are looking for?

For the most part yes, and because there is so much information, you can compare it for inconsistency or falsehood.  But the funny thing about this is that our expectations are low and we are usually surprised to find what we are looking for, and the quality is usually good.

But this takes time because we have to disseminate  the information and this means we need to take time to do it. And, as we know, time is usually what we don’t have because we are traditionally “time poor”.

How does this compare to the business world? Well accessibility for one, I can get on the phone and find the information in minutes by talking to someone in that field without having to spend an hour searching the net.  Also when you are in a business with high demands on your time and focus, you naturally expect the same from other companies. Sadly, this is not always the case.

The problem being delivery on expectations, usually through a lack of understanding of sales or a salesperson misrepresenting  their product which then leads to misunderstanding time frames.

Some companies I have worked with manage expectations before the sale ....is this wrong? No, this is basic boundary setting (a must in all relationships, business or otherwise).  And this sets rules for delivery (not some vague idea, but focused rules about the product or services). These are not just rules of engagement but also rules of non-delivery i.e. if we don’t deliver the service you get a credit (in the instance of phone companies).

Most people have insurance as a form of assurance, so why not disclose things up front to give the potential client assurance/s.....the problem can be that  the young sales person wants to make a sale or because sales are low this month.

In conclusion:

Set the rules of play early, and refine these at every opportunity. Stay away from acronyms, industry and office jargon, e.g.  “let’s  touch base”.  Expand on your point. You’ll gain respect early and everyone will know what you are an expert of.

Most people just want to be taken care of when making a purchase or service or sales and wish to know the rules of play before the game starts.

If you feel that these are some of the things you need to work on, feel  free to email me, I also run a sales course  cory@leadon.co.nz

Marketing Blog 09/07/09 - Telemarketing & Cold Calling

Sales People are Telemarketers.

I often get asked “... surely our sales team should be telemarketing for us?”

My answer is, yes they should do a small amount of telemarketing. But wouldn’t you like to get sales people out doing what they are not just good at - but what they are paid for doing... Selling!

Getting more sales leads is just a matter of covering ground and available ground. For example, let’s say there is 2000 targetable business for you in the greater Christchurch region, of which you have a market share of 30% of these (600 clients total) and you need to get around the other 1400. How is one, if not two sales people going to cover this ground? Especially when the true figures are double the numbers quoted, and more for Wellington and Auckland!

The Answer is that they are not, because you always have to service existing clients and manage trouble shooting. Then there is ongoing sales training and product training for your sales staff. Also networking in the form of BNI meetings, dance meetings, other networking groups and non-competitive general networking and let’s not forget quote writing, and site visits. Other factors might be a staff member whose numbers are down due to holiday, illness or just lack of focus. Filling the leads basket is what you need to be doing for your sales staff so they can spend %70 out of the office client or prospective client facing.

Covering more ground is getting sales leads from an external source.

Next Week: Cross marketing, benefits and pitfalls.

 

Marketing Blog 18/06/09 - Telemarketing & Cold Calling

Now I don’t mean to brag ....but

Thinking of advertising ????...what mediums do we have ..?
.internet (website)...gets around inquirers a month

Personalised Plate .....2-3 inquirers per month ...
Not bad ...but remember I said inquires ...this doesn’t necessarily   preclude a sale

TV ....if you can afford it ...around 20 inquirers ...but then tails off as ads aren’t shown

Radio ....three to four a week .....( after running you ad about 2 months, and the ad has to be memorable i.e. catchy or very good )

Mail box drops ......history tell us 1 to 3 % effective.

Again I don’t mean to brag but Calling ....one its own ....can produce 2-5 qualified leads for you a week depending the time you put to it a week. And this gets you emails for email campaigns
So again I don’t mean to brag ....oh hell I do!!, calling gets you more qualified lead to see that any other medium in a short term return. Yes advertise the other ways ...but follow this up with calling!

There I did brag!!
Lead on, getting leads for you for now and an ongoing basis for the growth of your business.

Marketing Blog 06/06/09 - Telemarketing & Cold Calling

I would like to begin with a quote ....From William Butler Yeats
“Think like a wise man, But communicate in the language of the people.”
This is appropriate to what I do .
Here are some factors for that could help get more appointments:

External Factors – Public holidays, school holidays, short weeks, weather.

We might have to call in this time i.e. there could be a couple of short weeks to contend with. And the weather we can’t control either.  We need to discuss with you and find if we can do a quick turnaround. Try to create a sense of urgency. Or we Take details and follow up adding to the number of potential sale in your data base.

Mature market – already targeted this year, already purchased this year. How do you apply the product to help the customer?

Work thought the industry types and find out for you who have been targeted (for calling), we can report this back and find the ones that haven’t been targeted for you.

Consumables & warrantees. Place a focus on lease or warrantee. Can the contract bought out?

Keep note of when contract ends. Find out a review time. We don’t like to spend a great deal of time on this. The real value for our calling is hang up from that call and start another whereby filling the database for you.

Try to find out what the opposition is offering, either via you or we can research for you. Do they have contract?, what’s the contact for?, does it cover warrantees? , if so how? Etc for how long and who with. When we have that info it goes straight into your database so you can find out how that market sector buys and who they buy from.