Turning cold calls into warm, productive business relationships is one of the biggest challenges telemarketers face. It requires skill, diplomacy, and experience and can be a challenge even for expert telemarketers. However, as the benefits of cultivating a strong business relationship are so pronounced, it’s well worth putting the effort into developing your techniques and training your staff.
Play the long game
If you really want to cultivate a warm relationship from a cold call, you may need to begin by changing the objective of your initial contact. Most of the time, telemarketers are tasked with getting an appointment, securing a sale, or achieving another tangible goal from each call. Though this may help hit their targets in the short term, it’s less likely that enduring business relationships will develop from these targeted sales calls. Instead, try to make the relationship the focus of the call. Think about how you can engage the person you’re speaking to, build a connection, and develop a level of trust. If you can do this, you’ll be well on your way to creating a meaningful business relationship.
Start a conversation
Instead of simply talking at the contact, or giving a presentation over the phone, try to turn your pitch into a two-way conversation. Making an effort to engage the person you’re speaking to will show you’re genuinely interested in what they have to say and that, to you and your business, they’re more than just another number on the call sheet.
Ask an open question
An open question is a great way to start a conversation; instead of asking something that can be answered with a simple yes/no, ask a question that requires a bit of thought on the part of the contact. Ideally, this question should also give you an insight into the needs of the business and provide you with the information you need to ask an engaging follow up question.
Offer a solution
In general, people buy from people they like and companies that can help them. If you can talk to the contact, find out their needs and requirements, and demonstrate how the product, or service you’re offering could make their life easier – it will show you care about their company and that you’re really listening.
Using an intelligent call list
A call list that’s been carefully put together using up to date data and an intelligent approach is much more likely to yield contacts that can be transformed into warm business relationships. Ideally, all of the contacts on the list will have an interest in the products or services you’re offering.
If you think your telemarketing team could benefit from extra training when it comes to cultivating warm business relationships, we can help. Get in touch with Blue Donkey to find out more.