We've all had calls where the caller is obviously reading a script. Why treat customers so poorly? Those who excel at telesales treat calls as they would a face-to-face visit. And they don't have that "on to the next one" mindset. Too many businesses focus on the number of calls, rather than the quality of outcome.

In most cases you will be aiming to sell a sales appointment, especially with a new customer. But to sell the appointment, you have to answer that unspoken question. You want four cast-iron benefits to spell out in less than a minute. It's low-cost, it's proven to work in your business, we're local experts and it's easy for you to do. That's a pretty sound combination as long as you can back it up with evidence when you're face to face.

A lot of telesales activity is wasted because of poor record keeping. So keep notes and ensure that your software gives you re-contact details listed daily. Make it a rigid discipline to call them.

New products and different ideas can prompt sales. But it's also worth checking exhibitions, store openings and new products stocked. Note examples of clever or different uses of printwear to suggest to clients.

Let me quote an example. The manager of my local Wetherspoon says they never sold a Woo Woo (it's a cocktail) until staff wore shirts saying "It's the weekend ask me for a Woo Woo".

The first few seconds of a sales call are crucial. If you haven't established a foothold in that time, you're toast. But in practise the caller flags to everyone that he's making a sales call: in a cheesy, smiley voice he says: "Hello Mr Smith my name's John Jones from ATB. How are you today?" which immediately puts your back up and you respond: "Bloody busy, sod off." What's worse, they all sound like that and half the reason is that they're using 20-year-old sales techniques. Aim to sound different.

Here are some examples: "Hello John my name's Bill Smith from Business clothing this is a sales call to introduce what we do with the aim of fixing a half hour meeting." That works because it's honest, which people respond to well.

I know of a double glazing firm who start with "Hello Mr Smith I expect you're sick of calls from double glazing companies. To demonstrate that we're different and to apologise for the rest of the industry I'd like to bring you a cheque for £50 that you can use on our products." It works, apparently. Testimonials are also helpful.

 A basic error is failure to focus on what's in it for the prospective customer. At the very least the pitch should talk about how your product has benefited other businesses in the same sector. That justifies the call. It also helps to close because nobody likes to think that they are behind their competitors.

Don't give everything away in the phone call - it takes away the need to meet. This is typically a function of sales people being too talkative. They successfully get through to the person they're targeting and proceed to sell the product not the appointment. Moreover, because the product doesn't lend itself to selling by phone, they fail twice. Also, because they're talking not listening, that's a third failure.

The gatekeeper is your friend. Establish rapport with this individual and you have an ally, because he/she will keep all your competitors away from that client. A good start is not to think of them as gatekeepers, rather as concierges.

Pure cold calling is inefficient. Some initial contact will make your telephone sales more effective. I have written here before about the benefits of a memorable mailer. I repeat the recommendation, because it makes the telesales follow-up so much easier and more effective.

My personal bugbear is the cold-callers who, through no fault of their own, have to start their call with "Can I speak to the business owner?" My invariable response is "If you know his name, you can, otherwise no." Similarly, cold callers who have no idea how big my business is or what I do for a living get short shrift. This approach is hugely wasteful of both time and money but I experience it virtually every day.

Training staff to be more effective at telesales has clear potential but there is much to consider: opening the call, questioning and listening skills, analysing need, selling benefits and structuring dialogue are just a few that may demand attention.

A key factor in getting this right is to decide what you define as a successful outcome. You need to put numbers on this, otherwise neither trainer nor trainee knows what their aims are. Sales volume or value are sure to play a part in this but so too could improved customer satisfaction leading to better retention and more repeat purchase.

You can also improve profitability by making fewer face-to-face sales calls and managing smaller value accounts exclusively with telesales. Some customers prefer this approach - it's less time-consuming and service is often improved.

Telesales training should be considered but the costs can vary. Two days on an open course would typically be £750. A bespoke in-house programme could cost £1,500 to £2,000 for a maximum of 12 trainees. There will be additional costs such as creating course materials. Trainers cost the exercise differently so confirm what is and is not included in a headline price. 

Paul Clapham is a marketing consultant with more than 25 years' experience covering a broad range of business sectors and a full spread of marketing disciplines. He works with small, medium and large companies alike to increase their profitability through marketing. Tel: 01453 765432.

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