Sales is a tough, competitive field. To stand out from your competitors and make the sales, you need a considered approach that’s proven to deliver success.

In this piece, we’ve got 14 tried and tested tips, tricks, and tactics for nailing your telesales strategy and delivering valuable revenue for your organization.

Call center with telesales advisors

14 Tips to Boost Telesales Performance   

From beginners to hardened sales operative, these telesales tips are sure to boost your chances of increasing sales over the phone.

 

1. Nail the tone

This is something that comes with time but approaching every call in the correct manner is going to carry you a long way in telemarketing. Prospects can sniff out over-rehearsed lines or insincerity, so try to be as natural as possible. If anything, you need to not sound like a telesales caller at all. Approach the conversation as genuinely as possible and it will flow much better.

 

2. Be realistic  

Telesales is one of the most difficult roles in the book. Establishing an ounce of realism before you start can help when trying to measure success. Some analysis from the UK found that it takes an average of 80 calls just to establish a new opportunity in B2B telesales. Don’t head into telemarketing expecting immediate results – it will take time.

 

3. Plan your strategy 

Like anything in marketing, the chances of success are often already settled before you begin your campaign. Planning is everything. Get to know your audience, carefully consider your message, and segment your customers by their position in the buying journey. Then, make sure you have the right equipment for calls: include the right software, a business phone solution, and a VOIP headset.

An effective strategy is the beginning of any telemarketing campaign. Without it, you will not deliver success.

 

4. Craft an incisive script

One of the most important parts of a telesales strategy is the script. Carefully craft your script to remind telesales operatives of your key messages and selling points without becoming overbearing. This shouldn’t be a list of facts and figures, or a fully established word-for-word script ready for Oscar submission. A rough collection of key points to allow for a general flow of conversation is all that is needed. That allows the caller to remain flexible and not come across as over-scripted.

 

5. Learn the lines  

Telesales operatives should use the script as just a set of cue cards, there to remind you where to go next without taking over your entire speech. As long as you’ve memorized the key points, you’re better off leaving it at that and trying to remain as natural as possible throughout your calls. Just be sure to know the core benefits, otherwise you’ll struggle to secure any opportunities.

 

6. Refine your data  

Contact details change all the time. Before you embark on a new campaign, have a thorough cleanup of your data list, updating relevant information, and moving out prospects who aren’t relevant to this message. For example, it can be embarrassing calling a company and asking for someone only to find out they no longer work there. Smooth the rough edges of your contacts list and you’ll improve your chances of success.

 

7. Hit prospect pressure points 

This is a key aspect of getting your messaging right. How do you know what your audience needs? What are the issues your product can solve? Do your prospects even know your solution is what they’re looking for?

These are all questions you need to answer before you start your next telemarketing campaign. How do you find out? Ask your current customers. Use surveys or other methods of data collection to discover your customer pressure points. These form the backbone of your script.

 

8. Pull, don’t push  

The mindset you take into each conversation can have a big impact on your success. Try to adopt a communication style that “pulls” the prospect in, rather than trying to “push” your product and the direction of chat upon them. If you’re pushing, you’re the one driving the conversation, giving lots of options and direct statements, and hoping it convinces the prospect to convert.

By adopting a pull technique, you can draw the prospect in by asking them questions which in turn direct the travel of conversation. Quickly get to the bottom of their requirements, allowing you to tailor your approach to their needs.

 

9. Take a break 

Sitting at a desk all day with a long list of contacts can be daunting and exhausting. Taking breaks is important not only for one’s mental and physical health but it will also help improve your mood and productivity when you return to work.

At least every hour, get up from your desk and have a break. Go make a cup of tea or have a catchup by the watercooler. Anything that takes your mind elsewhere for a few minutes. Also, make sure you take those lunch breaks. A clear, refreshed mind and recharged batteries will result in better performance.

 

10. Constantly strive to improve 

If you’re motivated and inspired in your role, you should be looking to constantly assess your performance and strive to get better. This is where you need to work with your manager to create a roadmap for your success.

Identify weaknesses and outline how you plan on improving them. Establish a yardstick to success, and periodically measure yourself against it. For managers of telesales teams, focusing on the development and growth of your team is one of the best ways to deliver long-term success.

 

11. Upskill 

One way in which you might continue your growth is to learn new skills. Enquire with your organization about the training opportunities afforded to staff. Look online for marketing and sales institutions and find a relevant course that you think will provide new skills and techniques. Ultimately, this will result in better performance from you, so any organization that values its employees will be happy to enroll you in relevant training.

 

12. Incorporate upselling 

Looking for new sellers is just one part of any successful sales strategy. Upselling existing prospects can be just as valuable, bringing in vital recurring revenue to fund your attempts to onboard new customers. Some of your sales teams should always be allocated to upselling, analyzing opportunities across your client base, and identifying who could benefit from additional services.

Be sure to maintain quality relationships with all your clients – they will look much more favorably on you when you approach them with a new opportunity.

 

13. Empower your team 

Throughout this article, we’ve stressed how important it is to try and remain natural in your conversation. Give telesales advisors a bare structure but entrust them and empower them to work around it to make the sale. Micromanagement of each client and call will stifle your team and result in stiff, transparent pitches that don’t resonate with the audience.

Empower your team to make key decisions and they will respond and rise to the challenge.

 

14. Incentivize success

Sales is the kind of role that attracts instinctively competitive people. That’s why incentives are so popular within the sector. If you think you’ve got the right characters to deal with targets and respond to challenging goals, offer an incentive worth having to push them towards it.