First impressions last, so you should always aim to make a positive one.
For telemarketers this is crucial, as first impressions can either make or break your opening call with the prospect. If you come across as pushy, bored or untrustworthy within the first few sentences of your call it can be difficult to come back from.
Making a good first impression always helps the call to get off to a good start and builds the groundwork for a fruitful long-term business relationship.
In this article, we’ll be covering some ways that you can make sure you’re making the right first impression when on the phone with a prospect.
Listen, don’t just talk
When you first start speaking with a prospect, don’t just go in throwing lots of information about your business at them and continuously explaining how you can help.
While to some it may seem like a good way to impress, by conveying the details of how great your business really is, this approach doesn’t always work out and can overwhelm the prospect.
Even if you do believe you’ve got the best business out there and you want to share that with the world, the person on the other end of the phone doesn’t always have the time or patience to sit there and take in all your business spiel.
Simply put, busy high-level decision-makers couldn’t care less about how many years you’ve been in business or how many awards you’ve won. They’ll just want to know what you can do for their business specifically, and the only way you’re going to find out what their needs are, is by taking a step back and actively listening to what they have to say.
Try to avoid going off on a tangent when speaking about your business, and instead ask more probing questions and adapt your pitch to explain exactly what you can do to fulfil their needs and address their problems.
Prospects will appreciate it much more when you actually listen and structure your conversation around their needs to become more personalised to the company’s situation, explaining how you can help them specifically, not just talking about great your business is.
Find Common Ground
Finding common ground with a prospect is the key to building stronger business relationships.
Especially in today’s competitive market, your customers will have lots of options when choosing which company to deal with. However, these customers are much more likely to choose a business they have a good connection with, which can give you the upper hand over competitors.
That’s why it’s so important to build a connection, by establishing that rapport and finding the common ground between you and the prospect. But that’s sometimes a little easier said than done.
It’s always best to try to engage in more off-topic chats with the prospect in order to get to know them a little better and build on that business relationship. Although this doesn’t mean just moaning about how it’s been raining recent or what they got up to on the weekend.
Actually do some research by looking on their website or connecting with them on social media platforms like LinkedIn to find something you could mention on a call to start a friendly conversations.
People tend to like others who are just like them, so finding this common ground will really help you to make that great first impression and build a strong relationship with the prospect.
Making it Memorable
Decision-makers get dozens of sales calls every week, so you don’t want to become just another generic script reader the prospect has heard a thousand times before.
If you’re sounding like every other uninspired salesperson over the phone, you’re sure to make a bad first impression with the prospect. You need to be delivering a pitch that actually grabs their attention and gives them something they are likely to remember.
Aim to create more engaging sales stories that build curiosity in your offering and leaves the prospect thinking about the call even after you’ve finished the conversation.
A good case study or customer testimonial story can be a powerful tool in a pitch, demonstrating how you’ve helped customers in the past. Stories about how you’re different to competitors can also be great as well, giving examples of how you’ve handled a situation or customer needs with a unique approach.
With a memorable pitch, you are far more likely to stand out from the many other calls a DM receives on a daily basis, and you might come to mind next time they are looking for a business like yours!
Outsource to the experts
Now you’re not always going to be able to make a good first impression with every prospect you speak with. Some prospects will be harder to build rapport with than others, and sometimes it can take a great deal of work to win them over.
Although, with the right telemarketing knowledge and training it can be a lot easier to make a good first impression on most of your calls. Experience in telemarketing is often needed to be able to handle all the different prospects you’ll face and effectively establish rapport.
Many companies do decide to outsource their telemarketing, so they can utilise the strategy with the professional and skilled team that is needed, without having to spend lots of in-house training and equipment.
If you’d be interested in outsourcing, the team at River B2B is here and ready to help you start generating more qualified leads and sales.
Learn more about the services we provide by visiting the ‘Our Services’ page or heading over to our ‘get in touch’ page to see how we can help!
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