What do you consider to be "good" telemarketing skills?

Hi Lauren,

Good telemarketing skill can have followings:

1. Good call opening
2. Personal Rapo building
3. Listening Skills (more important)
4. Identify the needs of the customer
5. Effective and quick presentation the solution for customer needs
6. Gain the commitment from client for next action/step.
7. Excellent closing..

Apart from all these, product knowledge, market understanding etc will help in a great way..

Thanks,

Prashant

Ask before telling and learn before selling. That is, diagnose and then prescribe, in that order.

Listen. Really listen.

Say the word "you" three times as often as "we" and five times as often as "I"

Overtly ask your contact to take the next forward step.

1. Good conversation skills
2. Understanding sales objectives
3. Fluency at executive levels, both in how to gain access and speaking to the right topics of business impact
4. Understanding corporate management structure and how to navigate throughout

Those are all foundational skills a telemarketer needs to have in enterprise/B2B sales.

Telemarketing can address many stages of sales development, from early stage awareness to executive level engagements—the profiles of the telemarketing teams are different depending on where they are in the sales cycle identification. The more advanced the results need to be, the more the approach needs to move away from a scripted volume-based mentality.

Telemarketing shouldn't feel like "telemarketing" to a prospect. Getting a call should be seamless with any other valuable business discussion a prospect has throughout the day.

While most everyone can use a telephone - not everyone is cut out to work in a Call Center environment. Someone may have “The Right Stuff” to deliver great Customer Service & Support – it doesn’t necessarily follow that the same individual is also a good fit for the more demanding & sales-oriented requirements of Inside Sales or Telemarketing.

Hiring the wrong Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agent to begin with is the Root Cause of most Call Center Performance Issues. It’s also a significant drain on your Budget & Bottom Line, on Customer Satisfaction Ratings, and on Sales Results. Every failed hire represents wasted dollars down the drain. Not to mention the Lowered Productivity, Poor Morale & Higher Absences associated with a Poor Job Fit.

Typically there are 3 grades of Agents found in an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Call Center: (Above Average), (Average), and (Below Average).

(Above Average) Agents seem to have “The Right Stuff” that pushes them to succeed & a natural compatibility with the duties of the position. They work hard - exceed expectations - do more than asked - achieve high-quality consistent results - can always be counted upon - need little direction & work extremely well with everyone.

(Average) Agents perform their duties adequately enough “to get by” - but no better. They are the partially competent. Generally they’re strong from a Skills standpoint but missing a key ingredient or two from a Job Fit and Sales Closing standpoint.

(Below Average) Agents are the people who just don’t fit somehow. Sometimes they’re good people in the wrong jobs. They need extra coaching & supervision just to achieve average results. Often they cause unnecessary conflict. (Below Average) Agents have the Highest Levels of Absenteeism, Lowest Levels of Productivity & Sales, Poorest Performance & Customer Satisfaction Ratings, and generally have a Negative Impact on Team Morale. They represent the real problems in a Call Center workforce.

While (Average) & (Below Average) Agents may seem fully qualified at the Interview Stage – they’re a Poor Job Fit – the cost of hiring them is enormous – with little value add to an organization.

Top performing Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Call Centers drive their Revenue & Performance through superior hiring tactics. We help employers gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of Candidates would perform up to, or beyond their established standards. You can find out about a Free Trial of SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software at http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html

The answer to this question will of course change a lot depending on what market you are working with, product and so on.

But I think these 3 are traits that any telefon salesperson need.

1. Hunger - Without a passion for selling you will not be able to sell over the phone.
2. Tempo - Telefon sales is mostly a numbers game, if you make twice as many calls you make twice as many sales. A sense of urgency is therefore important.
3. Enthusiasm - You need to be able to hear the energy in the salesmans voice. Most telefon sales use spontain decisions to get the sale. Having someone sound interesting makes all the difference.