In any telemarketing training that is ever done, there will be a section on preparing for the call. What does that actually mean?
I had a call yesterday that went something like this.
Me: Hi it’s Phil
Caller: Good morning, sorry good afternoon. Ha, ha, ha can I speak to Phil Richardson please (he had already asked for me from reception)
M: Speaking
C: Good afternoon, how are you?
M: Fine (in a short impatient voice, this is a pet hate of mine if you don’t have the personality to pull it off)
C: Excellent, how is the weather where you are?
M: I’m sorry I don’t have time for a sales call can you call back at another time?
C: Okay bye.
This was without doubt the most pointless call that has ever been made and the worst thing is somebody was paying him money, during a tough economic climate, for that call. To me it went wrong in the very first second, after which he was on a back foot with very little prospect of turning it around.
I’m not talking about getting the time of day wrong, he wasn’t listening at all to me. I answered with “Hi it’s Phil,” he already knew he was through to Phil, as I had answered with my name and reception had put him through to me, but still asked if I was Phil Richardson. He then asked an irrelevant question to which I gave a very curt reply and so he asked an even more irrelevant question as a follow up. I was trying to show I was busy and want him to get to the point at which point he should have started the sales pitch, but no he asked another irrelevant question. At this point I was annoyed, not only with him wasting my time but his also.
The whole point of preparing for a call isn’t just having your script ready, smiling, sitting up straight etc. Preparation is about being prepared to change your approach in an instant, every person you call will be unique your approach needs to reflect this.
I answered the phone quite informally with my first name, his reply should have been “Hi Phil, my names John and I’m calling from………”
I’m sure in his mind he was prepared, he had his script, his first questions and quite a pleasant manner, but that isn’t enough to make a good salesman.
I left feeling very disappointed with the call and having experience in cold calling and sales first hand, I can assure you he, as a salesman, felt the same; him probably noting that I was rude and not prepared to talk and me disappointed that I had just wasted a few minutes of my life and potentially missed out on something that may have really helped me.
So remember being prepared is as much about being prepared to change attitude, style and approach, as it is having the answers to overcome objections or having that killer opening statement.
