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Telesales Magic 101: How to Quality Red Flags in Your Telesales and Telemarketing Calls by Heinrich Churchill
Telesales professionals have to look out for ‘red flags’ early in their prospecting calls. Failing to do so will be a very big mistake in telemarketing and cold calling. Majority of telesales professionals deliberately ignore ‘red flags’, thinking that any initial objection they hear will be replaced with something positive as the lead progresses down the pipeline.
But the results turn out to be a dead end, just as they are meant to be. The telesales professionals who are guilty of committing this mistake are either in such a hurry or too desperate to make as many leads to fill their sales pipeline. They hope against hope though experience tells them that ‘red flags’ in the beginning do turn out to be exactly what they are.
Top sellers avoid making this mistake by qualifying their prospect. So do what the top sellers do – once you hear ‘red flags’, stop and ask qualifying questions. The following are examples that you can use.
If the prospect says that they are glad to look over the information you’ll be sending, you can ask a question that will determine if they do really have a hand in the decision making process. That is, if they can make any commitment. For example: “After going over the information and you see something promising, would you go ahead with it?”
In case they will say that they need to pass your information to somebody else in their organization, tell them that you wish to speak to that other person. If they tell you that that person is not available, chances are, you will never get to speak to that other person. You better move on to the next prospect.
If they tell you that they buy from some other vendor, but they would still request for your information, ask them how many vendors or companies they have looked at previously. If they were really involved in the decision making process for the same or similar product, they should be able to provide you with a definite answer.
There are a lot qualifying questions that you could use to determine if the ‘red flags’ are mines that should be avoided. After disqualifying the suspects early, you can focus your resources on real buyers.
If you are successful in this part of your cold calling, expect the number of deals you can close dramatically and be counted among the top sellers.
About the Author
Heinrich Churchill is a freelance writer and avid fan of everything telesales related. Visit Telesales Magic for more information on the inside sales world, and for a multitude of telesales tips from Heinrich Churchill and other highly accomplished telesales professionals!
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