Need to create better telemarketing opening lines? Here are five and a half tips to help you create a more effective and more successful tele-prospecting opening statement.
Article written by & published courtesy of Jim Domanski, Teleconcepts Consulting Inc.
Secret #1: Make the opener about them.
Your prospects don’t give a hoot about you, your products, processes, services or company. They only give a fig about themselves. In other words, they want to know what your call can possibly do for them. Amazingly, many reps skip this part.
What this really means is that you must incorporate a benefit statement into your opener that gets the prospect to listen and engage. Start by thinking long and hard about your product or service, and then clearly determine the problem it solves or the opportunity it provides for the prospect. This is precisely what your prospect wants (and needs) to hear if you have any hope of continuing further. Incorporate this benefit into your opener.
Also, you should never open your telemarketing call with “How are you today?”
Secret tip 1 ½ : Use their name – twice.
Here’s a small tip that pays big dividends. Use the prospects name twice in your opener. Using their name not only personalizes the call but it also gets them to listen more closely. And of course, it makes the call about them! For the most part, use their first name. It makes reduces the sense of formality about your call.
| Want to generate more leads, reduce the length of your selling cycle and close more sales? Then check out our “How to Sell Virtually” Video-on-Demand Training Series for Sales and Sales Management! |
Secret #2: Be more humble in your approach.
In B2B prospecting no one wants to listen to benefits delivered in a bombastic manner. Coming on too strong and being overly confident in your claims can create a sense of immediate distrust. Prospects are skeptical to begin with. Don’t augment the situation by going overboard.
The secret to tempering your approach is to be more humble. You do this by employing a simple trigger phrase that acknowledges that the prospect ‘might not’ benefit from the product or service. For instance,
“Jan, at this stage I am not certain if _____ might be of benefit to you…”
“Kerri, I don’t really know if this would apply to your situation…”
“Pat, depending on your circumstances, there is a chance that we might be able to…”
By acknowledging that you may not have a solution or that the benefits might not apply creates instant credibility. In a flash you become more believable if only because you sound honest, reasonable and sincere. And by acknowledging your uncertainty you open the door to questioning and close the door to pitching. (See Secret #3)
Secret #3: Don’t pitch
Successful telephone prospectors know that pitching an offer simply doesn’t cut it. Prospects don’t have the time or the inclination to listen to a droning sales rep. Do you? Explain to the prospect that you’d like to ask questions to determine if there is an opportunity. This creates a dialogue, gets them engaged and helps open them up.
Avoid asking, “is this a good time?” Doing so provides the prospect with a ready-made excuse to get you off the line. Instead, use this phrase, “if I’ve caught you at a good time I’d like to ask you a few questions…” Prospects feel like they’ve been asked if it is a good time and are more apt to let you proceed. Of course, you are not really asking about time. You are inquiring if you can ask questions but the prospect perceives that you are being polite and tend to let you continue.
Secret #4: Script your telemarketing opening lines
If you’re planning to make a number of prospecting calls to the same target market, it makes sense to script the opener, word-for-word. Not the entire call, just the opener. Why would you change it up every time? Scripting allows you to master the content of your opener. It also controls a variable. You can test a specific opener on twenty or thirty prospects and gauge the results. Then try another opener, word-for-word with twenty or thirty prospects and compare differences. You might discover one works better than another. Et voila!
Also, you should be prepared to handle the “I am happy with my current supplier” objection when prospecting, as it is one of the most common you will hear.
Secret #5: Drill, practice and rehearse your telemarketing opening lines
Sales reps worry that they will sound ‘scripted’ if they have a word-for-word opener. Indeed, they might if they don’t drill, practice and rehearse. Successful telephone prospectors practice the delivery and flow of their opener. They work on where to pause, what words to emphasize, when to speed up and when to slow down etc. This is the type of thing a Hollywood actor would do.
Prospects evaluate what you say and how you say it. Studies reveal that over 85% of your message is communicated by the tone of your voice. This means you need to get the delivery of these words down pat! This is the most important part of your entire call. If don’t nail the opener, you don’t have to worry about the rest of the call, do you? Master your opener.
| FREE DOWNLOAD! Email Template to Start Stalled Prospects |
The goal of an opening statement is not to sell or qualify the prospect. The primary objective of an opening statement is to get the prospect to listen a little be longer; to hook them, so to speak. Apply these five and half secrets and your listen rate WILL improve. And when listen rates increase, so do opportunities to sell.
Telemarketing Opening Lines are Just the First Step to Gettting in the Door
Creating great telemarketing opening lines is just the first step in a successful tele-prospecting campaign. So, if you are looking for more great telephone selling tips, here are 25 of some of the best sales tips to improve your telephone prospecting and lead generation so that you close more sales faster.
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach and Author
Schedule a free sales coaching strategy session with Susan here.
“… what I can tell anyone, is simply this – If you want to learn and understand sales, talk to Susan.”
Download our free White Paper 'How To Create Your Unique Value Proposition' from the B2B Sales Connections Download Centre.
