5 Outbound Mistakes Telemarketers Make With Clients

These days, most consumers get annoyed by any marketing calls from anyone at any point in the day, unless and until the marketers have something good to offer in less than 10 seconds. From the consumer point of view, the phone rings and they end up picking up the calls thinking they’re going to hear something important or interesting. Marketers, what would be your reaction if you got a recorded message being played or you got put on hold? Yes, you’d end the call and bang the phone flat on its face, wouldn’t you? These are just few glimpses of the ugliest mistakes telemarketers make. Here’s a closer look at a few more: Hesitant, Improper, Vague Introductions. One of the biggest mistakes that every telemarketer makes is failing to introduce oneself and the company he or she belongs to. Your introduction need not be long or contain a lot of information. (You can save that for email.) Initiating your conversation on a live wire (telephone) is as crucial as starting off a conversation with an acquaintance in real life. If you know little about the consumers at the other end, you don’t know how they will react or what their expectation are. [Editor’s note: Even with reliable CRM systems telling agents who customers are, introductions may still be necessary despite the age of caller ID.] But you will have almost won them over if you kick-start your conversation by hitting the right chord. It is a very old rule that people buy from real people, and it’s necessary to build a strong connection with them (customers and prospects). The connection starts right from the time you give your introduction. If you fail to introduce yourself and impress them at the same time, it’s more or less next to impossible to get the conversation going and sell them any products or services. Poor Improvisation. “Nothing is planned,” even though you have formulated the best-ever marketing strategy by doing months of research and study. You never know what has been running in the minds of your customers and prospects. Be prepared and keep your arsenals ready for any unexpected questions or instances from the conversation with your customers or prospects. A very pre-planned strategy must leave room for improvising to shift and adapt your response in accordance with your conversation taking turns to meet your customers’ expectations or to answer their queries. If at all you fail in impromptu shifts, you may lose business opportunities. Telling White Lies. Don’t lie about what you or your company stand for. This will reflect poorly on you and appear to be a sheer inclination of saying white lies and thus, it will hinder prospects’ trust in you. Don’t commit to what you or company cannot deliver, as most of the prospects are really vigilant and get offended and thus your sales opportunities along with credibility will eventually walk out of the door. It may well work initially — you may get past the gatekeeper and you may even connect with the prospect. However, the moment that your prospect finds out the truth, your credibility will crumble and your chances of converting them and their friends and families into customers may disappear. One-Way Communication. Just going “blah, blah, blah” about your products and company is not going to win you any brownie points. In fact, it may annoy your prospects and thus make them refrain from buying your products and services. Going on and on about the products, services and company as whole is sure to turn them off; especially if it sounds scripted. Be it existing customers or prospects, both always want to have their needs heard rather than being bombarded with self-obsessed introductions or product information. Disclosing Price Too Early. Disclosing your product or services price too early can be a big turn-off for your existing and potential customers. Take the conversation past your introduction and a two-way discussion of the features of your products and services before bringing up price. (Preferably, they ask.)

Performance Marketing

5 Outbound Mistakes Telemarketers Make With Clients

Michael Lundberg

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Michael Lundberg