An extremely important aspect of your profitable B2B telemarketing is locating and taking on the best people. It’s not as if you can just put someone on the phone with expectations of good results. Once understanding the main objectives of your telemarketing efforts, you’ll need to take the specific role that telemarketers will play into the equation. You will want to assess the abilities and personalities which are required to fulfill the role and meet each overall objective. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do these telemarketers have an adequate background and knowledge?
- Will you mandate that they’re familiar with Microsoft Office or the CRM software they’ll be using?
- Should they already be expert at the time of hire, or will you quickly train them?
- What are the minimums candidates will need in terms of skills and traits?
- Does the job require high energy, task-oriented, or easy-going people?
- Will you require certain levels of professional maturity from these telemarketers?
- Is it imperative that they understand how to prevent and solve problems?
Workplace Today magazine lists the 5 qualities which make great sales people:
1) Empathy
2) Drive
3) Motivation to Service
4) Conscientiousness
5) Self esteem
Locating Candidates
It is first necessary to start with the correct candidate pool. Recruiter ads which are written well can be found at one of the plethora of online recruitment sites such as monster.com, careerbuilder.com and jobs.com. It’s also possible to create a list of open positions with the university career center and senior citizen center in your area. It’s possible to place inexpensive ads describing the open positions on (cable) TV or radio, even buying spots which are seen before the feature movie begins at the local cineplex.
Also be aware of service-people at the restaurant, supermarket, and theatre. These people’s friendliness and articulate ways are often traits which are translatable and useful in telemarketing. I also recommend that you think about awarding a fee to staffmembers if their lead to a new telemarketer is successful. This is known at the end of a 90-day period for training and probation. A last word on the help wanted ads is this: try not to use ‘telemarketing’ or ‘telemarketer’ in the advertisement, instead opting for a term such as ’supporting sales’ or ‘customer service’ – these terms appeal to a larger group of potential candidates.
A Better Hiring Process
Instead of first asking for resumes as you most likely would for other types of positions, ask potential telemarketers to phone in to a special number. Make certain the call is immediately directed to voicemail, with an outgoing message that describes your business and the position – then asks the called for their name and number, offering a minute or two for them to let you know why they’re the right person for the position. Just taking time to listen to the candidate speaking on the message machine, and they way they ’sell themself’ is a great indicator of who will make the cut and proceed to the next step.
Deduction
Conduct phone interviews from those who leave a good impression with you from their voice message. Keep an ear out for those who ask questions about the business, the industry and what you will expect from them on the job. Those who are thoughtful enough to ask tend to be the kind of focused self-starter that you’ll need to get leads generated on the telephone. The best of them aren’t simply going from the script but are instead trying to carry on a conversation. Good skills at listening and questioning are better than those who simply deliver the pitch. The remaining candidates who still are impressive can be asked to send in a resume along with a cover explaining why they’re the right person to hire. This allows you a chance to take a closer look at their background to find out if they can write as well as they can speak on the phone. Then, schedule final interviews in-person with your top screened finalists.
Training
The leading way to prevent frustration and failed phone marketing effort is to make investments in proper training. Training programs give your new workers the necessary skill and confidence to find success in a variety of situations. The amount of training that they need depends on both the sort of telemarketing they’ll be doing and their experience in the past. Included in the basics of training are industry info, and the history of the role of your company and that of your competitors. Then talk about your products and services, providing a good description as well as the potential benefits to those who may decide to purchase. Telemarketers require good knowledge of pricing and the sales process which they are a part of.
Spend the time to show them the best and most effective way to apply the software system to the needs of the job. Take time to discuss company policy, responsibilities, and what you will expect from them. Set some targets for call volume, and number of sales per week or month to make it easier for new telemarketers to compare their performances and better budget their time as a result. At the end of the day, finding and retaining the correct people is the premiere way to drive the successes of your B2B marketing program.
M. H. “Mac” McIntosh is described by many as one of America’s leading business-to-business marketing and sales consultants and an expert on sales leads. He is president of Mac McIntosh Inc., a sales and marketing consulting firm that helps companies get more high-quality sales leads and turn them into sales. More tips at Mac’s Sales Lead Insights: B2B Marketing Blog.
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