The Winning Sales Pitch: 5 Pillars of Telemarketing Calls

They say that the best sales people are born, not made.

That may be true, but that doesn’t mean telemarketers cannot go from regular conversationalists to expert merchants. With the right knowledge and tools, there’s always room for skill improvement and growth.

All the content preparations, lead generation activities and hopeful interactions boil down to the sales pitch. It’s the climax of the film; the finale of the concert. It’s when the fat lady sings.

In short, it’s the make-or-break moment for telemarketers.

Ray Carroll, Director of Sales at Marketo, shares his 5 pillars of a successful sales pitch and how telemarketers can better themselves in terms of closing in on a sale.

From Marketo.com:

1) Win Your Deal on the Discovery Call

Ask questions that put your company ahead of your competition. Take at least 15 minutes before each discovery call to map out the questions you want to ask, and the questions you anticipate.

On the flip side, listen to your prospects. Top performers create an environment that feels like a tennis match – they allow for an equal exchange between the buyer and seller.

2) Research

Thanks to what we call “information abundance”, today’s sales teams face new challenges in selling products. Our prospects can now do an incredible amount of research on our products before they buy (of course, that’s where lead nurturing comes in). But the abundance of information goes both ways.

Level the playing field by doing your own research. Scour their corporate website, look them up on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter, and check them out on third-party review sites.

3) The Presentation is the Performance

Your agents should customize every sales presentation, and each one should be truly memorable. No matter what you’re selling, the presentation is the performance, and most people can’t stand canned presentations. Prove that your presentation has been personalized in the first 60 seconds. Don’t start with why your company is great; start with how you can help the prospect’s company.

4) Ask For (and Earn) the Next Step

Don’t just ask for the next step, earn for that next step – every single time. This is Sales 101: secure a next step every time you interact with a prospect. But junior reps often forget that next steps need to be earned, not just requested.

If you ask for a next step, and you get rejected (for example, if the prospect says “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”), it’s time to do some soul searching. What you could have done differently?

5) Be like-able

People do business with people they like. It’s a brutal truth of selling. If you’re cold or grumpy, or if you’re whining about the weather all of the time, your prospect will decide to spent their time elsewhere. If you’re pushy or insincere on a personal level, you’ll lose their business.