15 Voicemail tips to get you past the gatekeeper

1. If your goal is to get the phone call returned, don’t leave information that would allow the person to make up their mind. Add a call-to-action to your message by providing a key date or something of interest that will encourage the person to return the call. You have to create a reason for them to call you back.

2. Repeat your phone number twice. If the person can’t quickly write your number down, you’ve given them a perfect reason to not call back.

3. Avoid asking the person to call you back at a certain time. This provides them with an excuse not to call you.

4. Never state in the message that you plan to call them back. Again, this only gives the person an excuse to ignore your message.

5. Messages left on a Friday afternoon are the least likely to be returned. For most people, Monday mornings are very busy and, as a result, only high–priority activities will get their immediate attention.

6. Do not leave voicemail messages at odd hours of the night. Most voicemail systems offer a time stamp and the person hearing the message will immediately suspect you really did not want to talk to them.

7. The best hours to leave voicemail messages are from 6:45 AM to 8:00 AM and from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Aggressive people are usually working during these time periods, and the person receiving your message could potentially view you as one.

8. Wisely use time zone changes to make as many calls as possible during the optimal voicemail periods listed in the previous tip.

9. Voicemail messages are an excellent way to introduce yourself to a person. Be personable, yet professional, and link your message to something of interest to the person you are calling (such as another person or event). The recipient may view your message as a waste of time if you have no purpose other than getting your name in front of them.

10. When leaving a message with multiple points, be sure to immediately disclose how many you will be making. This will prevent the recipient from accidentally fast-forwarding or deleting it before it is completely heard.

11. If you can’t say it briefly, don’t say it at all. Voicemail is not “story time”. Leaving a long message is an invitation to have the entire message skipped. The optimal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds.

12. When leaving your phone number, do not leave your website address as well. This will give the person an opportunity to make a decision about you without calling you back.

13. Leave a “PS” at the end of your message. A “PS” is a very quick, additional piece of information that will connect with the person.

14. Mention the person’s first name at least twice in the message, but don’t use their last name. Doing so comes across as very impersonal.

15. Refer to a mutual acquaintance in your message as a way of connecting with the recipient. (Caution: Make sure they think positively of that person!).

The First Question I ask My Salespeople!

The first question I always ask my salespeople is "What are you selling? 

The answer I'm looking for is yourself. The client won't buy anything if they don't like you. 

Learning about the different personalities, how to sell them and make them comfortable with you is the key to selling. 

The second question I ask is "How do you treat others"? 

I don't want to hear "As I would like to be treated" because then you will alienate 75% of the people you deal with. You are a just one of the 4 different personalities and the other 3 don't wish to be treated the same way. Of course there are some standard things like honesty, kindness, and sincerity but different personalities have different needs in order to feel good about themselves and you and if you don't know what these needs are then you lost the game. 

Within 2 - 3 sentences I can tell which personality you are, the best way to sell you and make you feel comfortable with me. After that I need to know my product and how that product/service will help YOU. 

I think any good sales trainer will know the above and teach it if they really want the salespeople to close more often but I suspect it is the one thing never covered.


By Charlie Rudd Corporate Developments.

A New Angle On Sales Generation.

Finding good B2B leads has been and always will be difficult. With all the competition constantly popping up like mushrooms, it’s not a wonder as to why you’ll have a hard time with making your brand known within your target market. But with social media, you can still do that. Rather than sticking to just direct marketing approaches like B2B telemarketing and email/direct mail marketing, businesses have taken to the Internet and have begun to promote their brand on social networks. Because of the fact that millions of users are online everyday, it makes being seen by your target market and prospects all the more easier. If you are selling a product that the public is looking for, then they will certainly find you. If you are offering a service that many are in need of, the same goes for you. Nowadays, people spend most of their time online in order to research about products and services they may be in need of. That being said, your company may just pop up in the search results when they open up Google. Establishing your presence online and using social media marketing is now part of the key to your success, as well as a new avenue you can learn to use for lead generation.


Online presence – As per what has been said, establishing an online presence is part of how a company can and will succeed in today’s B2B world. Without a strong online presence, or at least the capability to be found online, then a company will be stuck in a rut where they don’t generate leads and not even make sales. People nowadays just adore search engines. If they are looking for something, then off they go to Google, Yahoo!, or to Bing. A few keystrokes after they hit the search engines and next thing you know, they’re looking at an entire list of results. However, they usually only ever stay and rely on the results on the first page. So if you don’t have a strong online presence, your position in search engine results will, of course, be relative to your ranking. If you want your B2B leads to find your company, then establishing your presence online will definitely aid you in lead generation as well as to draw in more business opportunities.
These are just of a few reasons why social media is becoming one of the biggest things in both B2C, and B2B marketing in the present time. What’s your take on why social media marketing is a hit?
By Charlie Rudd, Corporate Developments.

"A universal Fee for the Appropriate Appointment."

 Corporate Developments have skills when it comes to appointment setting and we now maintain an enviable record, over 96% of all meetings we book on behalf of our clients are attended without being rescheduled.

We are able to do this for a number of reasons:

1) We utilize multiple communication channels to warm the prospects up as forerunner to telemarketing,   this builds rapport and credibility

2) We send info about your company prior to confirming a meeting

3) We set the right expectations with the prospect so they fully understand what the agenda of the meeting will be

4) We target the right decision makers and influencer's on your behalf

5) We never book a meeting on the first call

We also understand that outsourcing a telemarketing function is a big decision and for that reason we offer complete flexibility in our commercial models so you can choose what works best for you:

Day Rates – Perfect if you are looking to trial a campaign or need ad-hoc support

Monthly Retainers – If telemarketing has worked for you in the past or you are looking for a new long term partner, we can dedicate resource to your account to build short, medium and long term results.

Shared Risk – Similar to the monthly retainer model, the only difference being we share the risk with you. This means you pay a reduced monthly fee plus a per lead or appointment fee.

Pay on Results – A premium rate service whereby the risk lies solely at our door. You only pay for the leads or meetings we generate for you.

The average age of our team is 31; we have built our business around people who have dedicated their careers to sales and telemarketing. This means you can be rest assured your campaign callers will be both experienced in communicating with senior decision makers and business savvy to market trends and hot topics.

Cold Calling

Cold Calling

I have heard over and over again that cold-calling is dead.  I do not believe it.  Cold-calling is alive and well and will last until the final sales representative makes the final sales call just before judgment.   So why do so many people want to get rid of cold-calling.  It is not an easy task.

When you cold-call, you are trying to communicate with someone who you do not know and who does not know you or your company.  If this is a business-to-business call, your prospect has their job to do and gets enough distractions and communications without having to deal with you.  If you are calling consumers, well, they have their lives to lead, and in many cases have been mislead by some sales person who called out-of-the-blue.  I know in my case, sales representatives usually call when I am trying to either feed or put my children to bed.  This is not a good time to sell me gutters.

This means you will receive a large dose of rejection.  No one likes rejection.  Thank about that time you wanted to ask that pretty girl out.  Did you have a lump in your throat?  Had you already heard her laugh at you over the phone in your head?  Rejection is not pretty.  We all want to be liked.
It is this fear of rejection that turns the phone into your enemy.  Yes, that phone that is sitting there laughing at you.  It just looks at you and shouts, “Why would anyone want to talk to you, and why would they want your service?”

So, how do you win at cold-calling?  First, you have to come to grips with this fear of rejection.  In my case, I do not take anything anyone says personally.  I am doing a job, and in my mind, the service I represent brings value to my prospect.  They need my product or service.  It is my responsibility to tell them about this value.

Think about someone being in harm’s way.  Wouldn’t you want to help them avoid the danger?  Or think about how it feels to help someone.  A friend of mine just finished a great job interview because I sent her a job posting.  It made my day to hear her happiness come over the phone.
You have to have the same mindset when you start cold-calling.  These guys need my service or product.  I’m trying to help them.

It also helps to have a system in place.  I either use a customer relationship manager software or an Excel spreadsheet to help me know who to call and when.  I try to be careful in building this list only including companies or individuals who I believe could use my product or service.  If you are calling consumers, make sure you use a service that tells you if they are on a “Do not call list.”
Then, each day, my tool tells me who I need to call.  It also gives me a history of past call dates and times.  I keep a record of conversations, so when I get someone on the phone, I can remember what was said and other personal or company information.  This helps establish a relationship and turns a cold-call into a sales call.

You also need a headphone connected to your phone.  Something happens when you hang a phone up.  You get the feeling you need to have a conversation with a co-worker, or buy a drink or get coffee or a snack.  In other words, you want to waste time and get away from that evil telephone.  Don’t do it.  Instead, have the headphone so all you do is enter the phone number and push some buttons to call and hang up.  You want to be a phone calling machine, one call after another.
You also need to have a script of what will be said if you contact someone, and what message to leave if you get voice mail.
Now that voice mail thing.  Many believe leaving a voice mail is a waste of time and serves no purpose.  In my mind, a brief message left on voice mail is like free advertising.  Also, once you do get that person on the phone, you are no longer a stranger.  You are the guy that left the message.  Your voice mail should be brief.  You should have some hook, like,” We are giving away free puppies….”  Not really, but you get my drift.  You mention your name, the company name, and then slow down.  Give your phone number slowly once, then again.  Finally repeat yours and the company’s name.

If you are lucky enough to get someone on the phone, you have 15 seconds or less to get their attention.  Make sure you say something like, “Would you like to increase your sales by 25%?”  “Do you want your execution in the store to reach 95%?”  Listen to their answer, and then have some prepared responses.  Have a goal in mind that you want the call to achieve.  Do you want to schedule a phone or face-to-face meeting for yourself or a sales person?  Do you want them to check out your web site?

If they are not interested now, get them to commit to a time when you can contact them again.  Get their e-mail address so you can send information, reminders, and news.  Send a thank you note after the call.  If they are not the right contact, find out who you do need to call.  Get a phone number and e-mail address.
As a business development director, I have used these techniques to penetrate companies like TomTom@work, Mercedes Benz,  and others.  The system works to get meetings and to find information, like who is the decision maker.

Cold-calling is not dead.  It should be one of your methods of finding new business.  It is hard and it takes a tough skin, but the reward is worth the effort.

Charlie Rudd Corporate Developments.

Hows Your Sales Culture?

Hows Your Sales Culture?

In these tough economic times winning new customers is tougher than ever -every aspect of your proposition will be scrutinised but as importantly your sales culture will be truly tested. I am currently working with a number of clients keen to develop a high performance sales culture across their organisation. Any missing links in this particular chain can be the difference between winning and losing new business opportunities.

Telemarketing

How Can Telemarketing Help My Business?

You want your company to make money. Money is made through producing a high number of sales. Sales are generated from maintaining present clients and accruing new prospects. Maintenance and acquisition takes time away from other areas of your business causing growth to slow down.
Outsourcing your telemarketing needs will provide you with the freedom to focus on other factors of your business while trained professionals engage in your telemarketing campaign.

Outsourcing your telemarketing efforts will free you of money invested in the training and continuation of educating in-house employees. Time will be saved in relation to hiring and training.Hire trained telemarketing professionals with the knowledge and experience to attract more sales for your business. Telemarketing firms can do a great deal of the footwork for your business, so your own employees can closely focus on closing deals and contributing to other important areas of your business.

The cost of hiring a telemarketing firm is substantially less in comparison with adopting the endeavor yourself. Telemarketing firms vary their prices depending on the length of the contract, how many people needed for your campaign, etc. The best approach is to receive multiple quotes in order to assess what service is the best match for your company.