n order to get the other person involved in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions – appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are examples; "My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialise in generating business for our clients at the same time as lowering their marketing costs. I've got a few ideas I'd like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company”. Or: "This is Sophie Grierson with Cleanways UK. I'm calling because we may be able to cut your expenses for the exact same cleaning items you're now buying.Telesales personnel are a growing number across the world in an ever-widening range of fields from Insurance, Double-Glazing and Healthcare, to Advertising, Building, Manufacturing, and National and Regional Newspapers. And the list becomes more and more extensive. Even Charities now employ Telesales personnel to increase donations.

Across the UK and internationally, many companies exist solely to contact people via the telephone, with contracts from a number of businesses. At a conservative estimate, there are many tens of thousands of full and part-time personnel engaged in the Telesales industry in the UK alone. Each of these wants to earn good commission, (because the basic wage is generally low). Turnover of personnel is high because of ‘burn out’ due to insufficient training.

• As fuel costs increase, on-the-road sales personnel become fewer. Telephone costs, however, are coming down in cost regularly, with more options available from the independent telephone companies.

• Postage costs remain prohibitive for the many, and e-commerce does not.

allow for person-to-person contact. Telephone contact is the viable option.

• Every individual Telephone sales person wants to earn more money.

• Managers and Telesales personnel alike want to highlight the skills and techniques of effective telesales management.

So what are the basics of effective telesales and how do you get them applied in your telesales department?

Openers

Very early on in the telephone conversation, your personnel will have created one of two effects: Interest or resistance. And it’s one or the other. Most callers can create a resistance almost immediately, bringing an early close to the telephone call and a sense of loss to the caller. Listen. Nobody is sitting in their office just waiting for your telesales department to call. Most often, the person you’re calling is busy, and has little time to speak on the telephone. How often are you ready and available to answer the telephone – nothing else happening, sitting comfortably and nothing else to do? The chances are that if those circumstances fit you too often, your P45 won’t be too long coming also. Those first moments of telephone communication are vital and all-important. Here’s a good procedure for telesales personnel:

• Introduce themselves and their organisation.

• Make a statement that stimulates interest and creates a curiosity, about some benefit the prospective client could gain from the telephone call.

• Ask appropriate questions in order to get the other person involved in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions – appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are examples; "My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialise in generating business for our clients at the same time as lowering their marketing costs. I've got a few ideas I'd like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company”. Or: "This is Sophie Grierson with Cleanways UK. I'm calling because we may be able to cut your expenses for the exact same cleaning items you're now buying.

wants to earn good commission, (because the basic wage is generally low). Turnover of personnel is high because of ‘burn out’ due to insufficient training.

• As fuel costs increase, on-the-road sales personnel become fewer. Telephone costs, however, are coming down in cost regularly, with more options available from the independent telephone companies.

• Postage costs remain prohibitive for the many, and e-commerce does not.

allow for person-to-person contact. Telephone contact is the viable option.

• Every individual Telephone sales person wants to earn more money.

• Managers and Telesales personnel alike want to highlight the skills and techniques of effective telesales management.

So what are the basics of effective telesales and how do you get them applied in your telesales department?

Openers

Very early on in the telephone conversation, your personnel will have created one of two effects: Interest or resistance. And it’s one or the other. Most callers can create a resistance almost immediately, bringing an early close to the telephone call and a sense of loss to the caller. Listen. Nobody is sitting in their office just waiting for your telesales department to call. Most often, the person you’re calling is busy, and has little time to speak on the telephone. How often are you ready and available to answer the telephone – nothing else happening, sitting comfortably and nothing else to do? The chances are that if those circumstances fit you too often, your P45 won’t be too long coming also. Those first moments of telephone communication are vital and all-important. Here’s a good procedure for telesales personnel:

• Introduce themselves and their organisation.

• Make a statement that stimulates interest and creates a curiosity, about some benefit the prospective client could gain from the telephone call.

• Ask appropriate questions in order to get the other person involved in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions – appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are examples; "My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialise in generating business for our clients at the same time as lowering their marketing costs. I've got a few ideas I'd like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company”. Or: "This is Sophie Grierson with Cleanways UK. I'm calling because we may be able to cut your expenses for the exact same cleaning items you're now buying.

to highlight the skills and techniques of effective telesales management.

So what are the basics of effective telesales and how do you get them applied in your telesales department?

Openers

Very early on in the telephone conversation, your personnel will have created one of two effects: Interest or resistance. And it’s one or the other. Most callers can create a resistance almost immediately, bringing an early close to the telephone call and a sense of loss to the caller. Listen. Nobody is sitting in their office just waiting for your telesales department to call. Most often, the person you’re calling is busy, and has little time to speak on the telephone. How often are you ready and available to answer the telephone – nothing else happening, sitting comfortably and nothing else to do? The chances are that if those circumstances fit you too often, your P45 won’t be too long coming also. Those first moments of telephone communication are vital and all-important. Here’s a good procedure for telesales personnel:

• Introduce themselves and their organisation.

• Make a statement that stimulates interest and creates a curiosity, about some benefit the prospective client could gain from the telephone call.

• Ask appropriate questions in order to get the other person involved in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions – appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are examples; "My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialise in generating business for our clients at the same time as lowering their marketing costs. I've got a few ideas I'd like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company”. Or: "This is Sophie Grierson with Cleanways UK. I'm calling because we may be able to cut your expenses for the exact same cleaning items you're now buying.

s little time to speak on the telephone. How often are you ready and available to answer the telephone – nothing else happening, sitting comfortably and nothing else to do? The chances are that if those circumstances fit you too often, your P45 won’t be too long coming also. Those first moments of telephone communication are vital and all-important. Here’s a good procedure for telesales personnel:

• Introduce themselves and their organisation.

• Make a statement that stimulates interest and creates a curiosity, about some benefit the prospective client could gain from the telephone call.

• Ask appropriate questions in order to get the other person involved in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions – appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are examples; "My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialise in generating business for our clients at the same time as lowering their marketing costs. I've got a few ideas I'd like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company”. Or: "This is Sophie Grierson with Cleanways UK. I'm calling because we may be able to cut your expenses for the exact same cleaning items you're now buying.

n order to get the other person involved in a conversation. Then listen and respond with more questions – appropriate ones. Tell them that in order to deliver the potential benefit, you need to get information. Here are examples; "My name is Roger Aspen, with Apex marketing. We specialise in generating business for our clients at the same time as lowering their marketing costs. I've got a few ideas I'd like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you and your company”. Or: "This is Sophie Grierson with Cleanways UK. I'm calling because we may be able to cut your expenses for the exact same cleaning items you're now buying. To determine this, I'd like to find out what you're using for . . . "

Get your telesales personnel to put themselves in the position of the person hearing it, and ask: “would you want to hear more if you were the buyer?” “Would you set aside whatever you were doing and participate in the call? If not, they need to work out a new approach along the same lines. The opening line must say as much as possible, with as few words as possible - that’s an interesting exercise in itself. By appealing to the prospective clients’ desire to gain, or his fear of losing something, will you cause them to spend productive time with you, and eventually buy from you.

Telephone image.

Others form an image of the way we are by our telephone manner. Try it for yourself. The next time you receive a telephone call from someone you don’t know, grab a piece of paper and a pen, and note down the positive and negative images of the other person which form in your mind as the conversation progresses. How does this affect any decisions you have to make about this person or their company? Image is all-important. Tone of voice, manner of speaking, the words we choose, all instantly position us in the recipients’ mind and cause judgements to be made of which we are unaware. Listen to yourself on the telephone. How do you rate telephone-image-wise? Have your telesales personnel do this as an exercise. It is very revealing! Anyone who works with words and voice, actors, speakers, musicians, - all listen to how they sound, because they know it is so vital.

Make time to review

Many telesales personnel make one call after another, as if there is a record to be broken. Many telesales and telemarketing companies give their personnel targets to achieve (100 calls an hour in some cases). To me, these companies have given up on true professional telesales. It has become ‘just a numbers game’ to them, so possibly this does not apply to them…. My advice here about reviewing your last call is intended for the telesales manager and caller who wants to get it as right as he or she can. If you were unsuccessful in your last call, if the potential client put the telephone down on you without ‘giving you a chance’, ask yourself – Why? What on earth did I do wrong there? Review the call - What did I like about this call? What would I have done differently on this call? Don’t think your personnel haven’t the time to do this on every call. You can't afford not to.

Preparation

Take the time to know something about the company you’re cal