Are you a businessman or sales representative? If yes, this blog might be very useful for you!
Telemarketing is not about picking up the phone and chatting with customers. Since the ultimate goal of this call is to meet customers and get orders, it is definitely important to use some telemarketing techniques to help you get your customers on-the-go faster. Here are 11 practical phone appointment tips, let’s take a look!
Tip 1: Remember to smile
Speaking with a smile conveys a very pleasant feeling and customers will be in a good mood on the other side of that telephone conversation. Once the customer feel affinity, they tend to listen and believe to you more.
Tip 2: Indicates that this conversation will not take up too much time
“Can I have 2 minutes of your time?”
In order to let the other party be willing to continue the call, the most common method is to ask for a two-minute listening time from your customer. When the person hears two minutes, he/she usually has the idea of ”just two minutes anyway, just listen to it.” In fact, do you really only talk for two minutes?
Tip 3: Tone and voice pitch must be consistent
Generally, people always start their conversation in English. But once you get to know your customer, you’ll figure out what language they prefer. If you’re able to speak their native or preferred language, you’ll create a closer bond with your customers by making the conversation more casual.
Tip 4: Make good use of the opening remarks
A good opening statement encourage your customer to participate in the conversation. Therefore, besides asking your customer to give you 2 minutes of their time, it is very important to know what you want to present next. To understand more about the other party’s thoughts, you may ask them: ” What are your opinions on the recently launched products?”
Tip 5: Use the techniques of pause and retention
When we want to lock down an appointment with our client and we need them to set a time and place, we can use the pause technique. For example, when you ask the other person: “Do you like morning or afternoon?”, give a pause and let the other party answer you. By using the pause technique, you can make the other person feel respected.
On the other hand, retention technique can be used when you encounter questions that are inconvenient to be explained on the phone or a difficult question that you may need time to find out the answer. For example, when the customer inquire about rates over the phone, you can tell them it would be better to set an appointment and discuss face-to-face as calculations will be given to them. Keeping the discussion until the appointment day is also a skill to secure your appointment.
Tip 6: Keep your body straight, talk while you stand or close your eyes
If you call 20 customers a day, you can’t be sitting at your place the whole day! Try to straighten your body or stand when you talk. You can feel that your sound will become more energetic and the effect will be better. Sometimes you can close your eyes when you talk so that you won’t be affected by the external environment.
Tip 7: Use open questions and keep asking questions
Asking customers questions can lengthen the conversation time. Most importantly, this allow you to understand the real thoughts of your customers and help you make judgments.
You may use: “May I ask you a simple question,” “Can you please tell me why did you come up with such an idea?” and other questions to encourage customers to continue the topic.
Tip 8: Re-emphasize that you let your customer make the decision
In order to allow customers to agree to meet with you, the words “at your convenience” and “you may decide” allows customers to feel that you are not too pushy. As a result, the chances of securing an appointment will be higher.
Tip 9: Emphasize the function and uniqueness of the product
“This product is very unique. We can fully explain it to you when we meet up as you would be able to understand better…” In the conversation, emphasis on the uniqueness of the product, tell them you can meet up at their earliest convenience so that customers are willing to give you their precious time. Avoid jargon when explaining to them as it will make your audience lose interest in meeting you.
Tip 10: Ask questions and let your customer choose between two options
This can ease your customer in making choices and can help you in securing appointments. For example, “Do you want me to make a visit in the morning or afternoon” and “Which day do you prefer? Wednesday or Thursday?”
Tip 11: Prepare for the next meeting
When you are about to hang up, you must ask your customer when is the right time for you to follow up. Otherwise, if you call the customer without a prior appointment will make the customer feel that you are rude. If you must call, be prepared and use the right words to divert the attention of the customers.
We hope that these techniques can help you to close sales effectively! Good Luck!
