How to carry out effective telephone prospecting?

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Often overlooked or feared, prospecting By phone is still a fabulous tool today for approach prospects in a cold way or to communicate with potential customers. It is also the specialty of Akimbo, marketed via our prospecting outsourcing offer. While prospecting is not always an easy task, establish a good strategy of teleprospecting and following an effective and relevant action plan helps guide the customer towards making a purchase decision.

What is telephone prospecting?

Telephone prospecting is a marketing technique which aims to find new customers and to unroll a sales pitch to introduce them to the company and its product. More than just a call, these are real steps to follow, from the preparation of the sales script, to its presentation, through the creation of a client file at the end of the interview.

Teleprospecting - Definition

The objective of telephone prospecting is above all lead generation and customer data collection, but also the possibility of schedule an appointment in person with the prospect, especially in the context of a B2B sale.

A successful call allows capture the attention of prospects to transform them into potential customers, or to be able to keep their information in a customer file to contact them again later if they are not in a position to make a purchase immediately.

Why do phoning?

While prospecting by telephone is sometimes considered to be an outdated commercial technique, telephone prospecting campaign However, it has many advantages. In fact, it allows you to:

- Create an rrelationship of trust with prospects thanks to the more “human” aspect of calling, unlike email

- Obtain customer information and data not found on the internet

- Better identify the reactions of the interlocutor and be able to directly attract their attention and counter their objections by adapting their sales script.

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What are the steps of good telephone prospecting?

Step 1: Prepare the lead file

First of all, you have to Define the target customer and the questions to ask him to collect the information and data necessary for the creating this file.

This allows us to know if the prospects we have on the phone are the ones we are interested in, and helps us to adapt the sales script to better convince them during the presenting a solution to their problems.

Step 2: Establishing initial contact

If you want avoid cold calls, it may be useful to contact prospects in advance to better capture their attention from the first few seconds.

This first contact can be made by email or on LinkedIn for example, the important thing is to show your interlocutor that we are interested in him, and of him talk quickly about the company.

Step 3: Prepare the telephone prospecting pitch

This small communication guide or sales script is an essential tool for a successful sales call. It serves as a road map and allowsguide salespeople in the conversation with prospects, helping them to overcome any objections and to answer questions from potential customers.

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Step 4: The telephone interview

To succeed in your call, the key elements to remember are to gather the right information and to seek to create a good relationship with potential customers. Indeed, it is the image of the brand and the product that are at stake, which is why it is necessary to remain professional, dynamic and caring.

Step 5: Call analysis and commercial follow-up

After prospecting, it is crucial toanalyze the behavior of prospects and their responses tosales pitch to determine if it can be optimized. Use CRM tools also makes it possible to keep an eye on the progress of exchanges with the prospect and to avoid endless sales cycles. It is this performance monitoring which will allow, in the long term, tomeet sales goals that we set ourselves.

How to succeed in a teleprospecting call?

While teleprospecting may seem simple at first glance, Make a successful phone call may actually be more complex than it seems.

So here are some tips to follow to make your calls more effective:

1. Be clear and to the point. The first few seconds are crucial to capture the attention of the interlocutor who must immediately understand what is being said.

2. Smile and be enthusiastic, dynamic. Sympathy is felt in the voice and will prevent your speech from sounding monotonous and boring.

3. Use words with positive connotations and full of meaning: talking about benefits, improvement, growth or development gives a more concrete aspect to the product and the company.

4. Take notes to use it again: this makes it possible to direct the conversation as desired and to show the prospect that they are being listened to.

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How to avoid the obstacles of telephone prospecting?

A commercial prospecting call is not being made never without objections : the prospect can be disinterested, and it is not always easy to get them on the phone. To achieve its goals and ensure the success of your marketing campaign, You have to take the time to develop a unstoppable strategy to avoid the usual obstacles.

How do you get through the secretary's checkpoint?

Even today, many salespeople face the refusal of the secretariat to transmit the call, and therefore cannot discuss with the prospect. To overcome this problem, The objective is to convince the interlocutor that you already know the prospect, using her name and asking directly to speak to her.

Being courteous, friendly, and giving the impression that this call is expected generally helps legitimize. Also, finding out about the opening hours of the secretariat allows you to know when to make calls: in contacting prospects when their secretariat is closed, we are more likely to be able to speak to them in person.

‍How do I get an appointment by phone?

It should be borne in mind that calls are rarely aimed at signing a sale, but that The salesmen should instead use it for approach a prospect and offer him an appointment. It is indeed quite difficult to sell in a phone call, but this first approach will make it possible to better understand the expectations of leads, to respond to their objections. It is then possible to offer them an in-person meeting to discuss further.

To do this, the easiest way is to their Request an appointment directly by offering them two dates. This gives them the illusion of choice and takes them by surprise enough to avoid asking too many questions.

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FAQ - Telephone prospecting

How do I write a good call script?

To maximize the chances of successful telephone prospecting, it is important to write a good sales pitch. First of all, it should start with a brief presentation before quickly moving on to a few Questions about challenges and obstacles that your prospects face on a daily basis.

Depending on the responses of the prospect, it will be easier toadapt the way to introduce the solution that we want to sell to him. Each approach should be Personalized, that's why it will be necessary to do searches Upstream on each prospect you want to call — by limiting the traditional questions about their position and the structure they work for, you avoid boring them and wasting time.

Finally, end the call with a proposal for an appointment allows you to give yourself an opportunity to meet him face to face, and therefore to progress in the sales cycle.

How do I contact a prospect by phone?

Prospecting effectively requiresoptimize its commercial approach, because it is this pitch that will serve as a guide throughout the telephone conversation. However, it will not always be possible to have the prospect directly on the phone, and that is why it is also necessary Work a voice message Who can him Make you want to call back and discuss with the salesperson.

To do this, it is important to be short, dynamic and clear by mentioning a few Key figures and by quickly talking about how we can help prospects to achieve their goals.

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How do I introduce myself to a customer on the phone?

Before calling a cold prospect, it may be interesting to carry out a first contact by email or via social networks (such as LinkedIn): this will allow him to recognize you during the call and will get his attention more easily.‍

On the phone, the moment of presentation should be relatively concise: you can talk about your position, your sector of activity and mention a success as an authoritative argument. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds to do not tire the interlocutor.

What is the law against cold calling?

Since July 24, 2022, a new law prohibits B2C telephone prospecting for certain sectors, in particular those aimed at improving the energy performance of homes. La presentation of the structure and the commercial Making the call is, she, obligatory and it is now necessary to ask for the prospect's agreement in writing and send him all the documents related to the contract directly by email or by post. It should also be noted that the Canvassing by telephone will be prohibited on weekends and holidays From the 1^Er March 2023.

What software can you use when cold calling?

Today there are numerous CRM tools that allow facilitate telephone prospecting. In particular, we find among the most cited Sales Navigator, Waalaxy or Hunter.io who select the most relevant prospects using the LinkedIn algorithm and collect their data and email addresses to facilitate exchanges.

If the It seems difficult to learn how to use these lead generation tools, know that it is possible to follow a training to learn how to get the most out of it and optimize your way of prospecting.

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