“Hello Mr. Smith,
I am Jane, and I am calling from ABC Company, and our company can do x, y and z.”
… Zzzz!
Sound familiar? We’ve all had to deal with a scripted telemarketer before…We take a very different approach when briefing our telemarketers, a method that seems to be working very well for us and, more importantly, our clients.
Initially we take our telemarketers to meet the clients; a lot of marketing companies leave their call staff in a room all day to get through their call list. We have found taking the telemarketer to meet the company for whom they are dialling, and letting them experience their working environment, provides job enlargement and ultimately more motivation.
With the initial meeting done, we fill out a questionnaire with our internal team including the tele-staff that were present. We complete this based on the information we have gained. As opposed to getting the client to fill this out, it’s better to do this yourself as it acts as a revision technique to ensure you know enough about the campaign to tell your client what they want to achieve. Not only will this help your understanding, but it will reassure your client that you know what you’re doing.
When this has been signed off by the client we start work on a flow chart. It’s important to note that this is NOT a script. It is simply a chart that guides the telemarketer where they need to go on the phone call. For example, if the prospect starts talking about a certain facet of your service, the chart will lead them to a section that gives them more information. The flow chart will also guide the telemarketer towards the right outcome.
This process has worked very well since we rolled it out at the start of the year, and our success rate is going up and up. The key is to make telemarketing interesting for the staff doing it; getting them involved in the project in the early days helps them build an attachment and a stronger desire to do well. Hammering out 180 calls a day is hard going for anybody, no matter what level of experience the telemarketer is, having a better understanding of what’s trying to be achieved is the true motivator here.