This month's tip arrives hot off the wire from Arizona, US. Doug Helvig is Call Center Director/Consultant for Cohen Brown Management, Inc. With over 20 years experience in the financial services industry, Doug works with call centers around the world to help improve performance through sales and service behavioral training. Here he speaks on the importance of being human!
Telemarketing Integrity
How many times have you heard someone either joking or complaining about dinnertime calls from telemarketers? The interruption is rarely welcomed, which is why I've trained my 6 year-old daughter to answer the phone. This cuts down on the time I have to spend speaking to ill-equipped telemarketers, and she thinks it's fun!
The challenge confronting most telemarketing firms today is that they haven't been successful in hiring the right people for the job - people whose personalities are naturally outgoing, friendly, sincere and courteous.
To compound the problem, they're not effectively training their employees in what to say, and how to say it. Rather, they put a 'canned' script on a screen and instruct the telemarketer just to read what's there. This 'robotizes' the employee, and the resulting interaction with the client/prospect is stilted, rather than compelling. Most importantly, this mode of operation requires little thinking or learning on the part of the telemarketer, which should be an integral part of the telemarketing process.
I recently received a call from a Time-Life telemarketer, who began with this:
"Doug! This is Bob from Time-Life. What's goin' on, man?"
Now, I hadn't met this guy or talked to him before, but he treated me like a long-lost friend who was thrilled to reach me. He explained that there was a new set of CD's out and I was on the list of the first to hear about it. While some might not care for his approach, he effectively used his natural outgoing personality, along with great communication skills. I have no doubt that he pre-scripted, himself, what he was going to say, because he was well prepared to respond to my objections. Throughout the call he remained warm, personable, and genuine.
In contrast, my bank called me a few weeks ago with a credit card offer. This is MY bank. They have my money - not much, but it is pretty important to me. After painfully stumbling through my name, the Telemarketer began to read from a script. When I interrupted with an objection, there was dead silence. After a moment, the telemarketer said,
"I understand how you feel Mr. Hevlin... Halving... Helving"
(the name is Helvig) and then, he continued to read from the script!
Effective communication skills have a lot to do with style - not just what you say, but how you say it, utilizing your own personality (which is the essence of who you are).
The ability to project a positive personality and a compelling message on the phone in a clear and confident manner depends upon several elements:
- A consultative style rather than just a litany of content
- genuine sincerity
- telephone etiquette ("may I ask..?", "if I might suggest..", "shall we..?")
When telemarketers are
- clear about their message
- confident about what they're selling
- genuine
- truthful
- and gracious
their credibility and effectiveness as a salesperson - indeed, as a human being - substantially increases. The good news is that people with the right personality can be trained to master all of the elements of communication that are required to dramatically increase desired results.
Selling is the ultimate form of service, no matter what the product or service, so the next time your phone rings during dinner, take the time to listen carefully to the caller's communication skills and style - or, you can always hand the phone to your 6 year-old.
Many thanks to Doug Helvig for his contribution.
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