<p>Telesales is unlike conventional sales. Where salespeople have the benefit of body language and face-to-face contact in the physical world, making sales over the phone takes on a whole new dimension because of these absences. Rest assured that this is a skill that can be mastered, but will require diligent practice. We will take a look at some of the ways salespeople can perfect their craft and hone in on a higher number of closes.</p>
<h2>How to do better in telesales jobs?</h2>
<p>Speed<br>
One of the most important aspects of telephone selling is the conversion speed. Telesales operatives should aim to spend no more than seven minutes per contact, as this is the industry norm and has been shown to offer decreasing windows of opportunity when it comes to closing the deal. Of course, this number is subject to change and will largely depend on what salespeople are attempting to pitch, but the general feeling is that salespeople should aim to get off the phone as quickly as possible. When salespeople stay on the phone chatting, they are then making the process much harder on themselves. It is all about making the sale as quickly as possible!</p>
<p>Smile<br>
It is often recommended that salespeople smile in the physical world in order to communicate a sense of confidence and authority when it comes to their product or service. This is even truer on the telephone. When we smile, we naturally relax our vocal chords into a position where a more pleasant tone is easier to emit. This projects a stronger sense of friendliness and conversational ability and is especially important on the telephone where prospects cannot accurately gauge a salesperson's body language. It is therefore important for salespeople to be smiling as regularly as possible throughout calls.</p>
<p>Timing<br>
Choosing the right time to call can make or break many telephone sales, so it is crucial that telesales operatives call during ‘peak hours’. However, this is not during the normal dinnertime that many telesales professionals have been led to believe. Studies conducted by the Kellogg School of Business have shown that the most profitable time to call prospects is between 4 and 5 am. Following this, between 8 to 10 am, which would of course depend on the target market of the product or service.</p>
<p>Choosing the right day can make all of the difference too. Thursdays have been shown to be best day for making sales, whereas Tuesdays tend to be the least profitable day for conversions.</p>
<p>Keep them talking<br>
People in <a href="https://www.randstad.co.uk/jobs/s-sales/r-telesales-executive/"; target="_blank">telesales jobs</a> often face the dreaded hang up because they are too focused on making their own pitch. It should actually be the opposite when it comes to telesales. Salespeople should take a more customer-oriented approach by allowing prospects to do the talking: ask questions regarding the product, discuss the benefits of the product, and allowing them to provide their opinion of the sales experience can all be great techniques to keep leads on the phone. Too many salespeople get sucked into the idea of needing to be the ones talking at all times. Customers are not hanging up if they are the ones talking!</p>
<p>Preparations<br>
Preparations are also a key in making successful sales over the telephone. Nowadays, it is recommended that salespeople ditch conventional cold calling measures and to only follow warm leads. This is because the Internet has made it possible to find out about prospects before the call is even made. Social media, blogs, and other personal information is widely available online and can sometimes reveal considerable amounts of insight into a lead when it has been made publicly available, which is often the case. Salespeople should also consider investing in up to date call lists. Lists of inactive numbers will not provide any sort of return, so having recent numbers could make all the difference in the number of conversions.</p>
<p>There is also no universal agreement when it comes to the use of a script. This means salespeople who are comfortable handling a script are likely to close as much as those who perform a more “natural” sale. However, the latter point is the key: a sales call needs to sound as natural as possible. It is therefore recommended that salespeople follow a list of keywords and have the basics of their product or service on hand rather than a completely written script. With that being said, however, salespeople who are comfortable handling a complete script should be allowed to do so.</p>