The summertime often offers a lull in activities in many businesses across the UK. We presume that since people are away taking their holidays, we should perhaps reduce our telemarketing efforts until the early Autumn. Many people complain that their sales figures or sign-ups are slow during the summer, but of course they’re slower if they reduce their telemarketing campaigning!

However, you should not stop your sales campaigns just because traditionally people holidayed during the summer months. Keep the pressure on and keep the money coming in. Who can afford to have a slow summer this year? Here are our 10 reasons why you shouldn’t stop telemarketing this summer.

Don’t Stop 1: While the Gatekeeper Sleeps

At some point in the summer, the regular gatekeeper, the person that guards the important prospect from unnecessary distractions to making their company money, will go on holiday.

At this point, someone less well-trained, less experienced and much easier to sidestep will often be appointed to cover their summer holiday period. It’s at this time, that an experienced and skilled telemarketer can make a break past the inexperienced gatekeeper and get connected to prospects that can take advantage of your summer deals.

Don’t Stop 2: Never Be Forgotten

It’s important to keep in touch with your prospects throughout the year. If you don’t call during the summer, the chances are that some canny telemarketers from another company will slip unnoticed into your place and make the sale whilst you’re away topping up the tan.

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Loading up your predictive dialer, what’s the best data to use?

Telemarketing for the Debt Settlement and Interest Rate Reduction Industry is a crowded space. With more and more people on the DNC list, more companies like yours are fighting to win over the consumer. Increase your odds by calling the right list. Credit Bureau Leads are a Telemarketers secret weapon. With the right Credit Bureau List you can zero in on the exact client that fits your program guidelines. And since these records are typically sold for pennies on the dollar, you can easily load up your dialer and keep your Telemarketing team encouraged calling on prospects that meet your program

What is in a Credit Bureau List?
A credit Bureau List for Telemarketing will have only the selects that you choose. The best way to build your Credit Bureau List for Telemarketing is to consider the characteristics of your typical client. Here’s some questions you should be asking as you build your prospect file:

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The best way to handle any objection is to anticipate it and, if possible, make sure that it never intrudes into the sales discussion. Once a thought has been expressed by a prospect it becomes harder to eradicate. This is because the prospect has placed himself on record and is unlikely to recede easily from his position.

Objections that are raised to price are probably the most frequent of all honest reasons for prospects refusing to buy. It’s important to understand where the price objection is coming from, before you can handle it effectively.

Sometimes a prospect will object to price because it is simply more than he can afford to pay. The products or services are too expensive and the buyer can only afford something of a cheaper grade. As the salesperson, it is your duty to enrich the prospect with the knowledge of how the purchase of a quality item will be more economical in the long-term as opposed to buying the cheaper article of a lesser grade.

Scripts:

* “Compared to what?”
* “You know that our quality is the highest you can find, which means that you pay much less over the life of the product. The higher quality saves you money in the long run. Why not order today?”
* “If our products were cheaper, would you want it? If yes, let’s find the way you can afford it!”

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There are times when it makes sense to spend a lot of money on a direct mail package For example, when you really need to make a giant splash, when your mailing list is small and you can afford a high cost-per-piece or when you’re doing a one-shot drop and you don’t have to worry about saving money for remailings.

However, there are times when going with a humble postcard makes a lot of sense. No one knows this better than retailers. If Nordstroms, for example, wants to announce a shoe sale, they don’t send you a letter in an envelope that you have to tear open. They’ll mail you a postcard that instantly screams “Get 15% off on all women’s shoes! Sale ends March 15!”

Yes, retailers know that postcards get read. But you don’t have to be a retailer to put these easy-to-produce, low cost self-mailers to work. You can use a postcard accomplish the following goals:

- Cost-effectively re-contact non-responders to your previous mailings and urge them to act
- Create an inexpensive monthly marketing campaign
- Drive people to your Web site with a special offer
- Tease prospects — let them know that they should be on the lookout for something valuable coming in the mail
- Announce a private sale for recipients of the postcard only
- Thank customers for their business
- Remind customers to do something: “Get ready for summer,” “Rotate your tires,” you name it

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Do you know what the 30 most important seconds of your direct-mail campaign are when it comes to your postcard text?

That’s right! It’s that crucial period when your reader gets his first look at your message. In those brief 30 seconds (at most) he either decides he’ll read on (still with no guarantee of action, though) or he’ll toss it the card in the trash.

Which is it going to be?

And how can you ensure that he’ll hang on to it?

No one can say with extreme confidence that if you as the mailer do A, B and C that he, as the reader, will keep on reading. But there are several steps you can do to increase the odds that those crucial 30 seconds move in your favor.

1) Make it memorable.

Do what it takes to make your copy and your postcard stand out. One writer has called this the purple cow effect. When you drive in the country you’ll pass cow after cow. And every single one of them is black and white, brown or some variation of that. But when you pass a purple cow, you’ll stop your car and say “Wow!”

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I feel this is a question that many average performing sales people neglect to ask themselves on a continuing basis. It amazes me how many salespeople believe they know what their prospect is thinking without any real attempt at fact finding or for that matter, any basic questioning!

So with this in mind, let’s start with your purpose as a salesperson – to assist your customers in solving a problem they have. Contrary to what you feel about this statement, there is enough evidence and research now available that suggests customers want to buy products and services, not be sold to. So initially, your prospect will want to know your answers to the following questions -

1. Do you fully understand the problem/s I have?
2. Do you have a solution to these problem/s?

You may laugh at how basic these questions are; however, so many salespeople get this so wrong and make very broad assumptions about prospects. Remember, every prospect will have a different set of needs and requirements. Another bugbear of customers is the complete lack of detailed questioning with a prospect. I recently saw this first hand at a car dealership I visited. It was a Saturday morning and next to me was a family of around 5 in total. The salesperson went up to the prospect and asked what sort of car the family were looking at. The father then proudly announced he was looking at the new estate (Station wagon for those of us in Australia and New Zealand). Then the salesperson went off on a complete tangent about a range of features without asking any questions. (more…)

Do you want your offline or online business to go to the next level? Many small businesses fail to succeed because of neglecting the important of having a sound marketing plan. Business promotion is an intricate issue that calls for well laid tactics in order to draw customers.

Crafting a simple advert notice may save you on advertising cost, but the question that you should be asking yourself is whether you are attracting the right customers. To simply say that “I am offering a business opportunity” may not yield the best responses to your advert.

A good advert should attract the right customers; on the internet they are called targeted audience. For example, if you are selling e-books, it is advisable to find ways of attracting the attention of customers who are willing to spend their money online. (more…)

The proper use of testimonial letters can add credibility for your company and profitability to your bottom line. Many sales organizations fail to use this simple yet cost effective method to reach new markets and clients. The formula to obtain testimonial letters is quite simple. The best time to ask for a testimonial letter is right after the sale has been made. This prevents the dreaded “Buyers Remorse” and reinforces the decision the client has just made to do business with your company.

One way to do this is to ask the client to write you a testimonial letter to include their candid comments about their experience with your product or service and even about their experiences with your sales and customer service representatives. Regardless of how you do it, the letters’ content can act as a powerful motivator and training tool for your employees. If a letter is returned with positive comments, http://www.dougdvorak.com it can be displayed at the office to highlight the exemplary behavior of that specific employee which should help to drive other employees to model these types of experiences to current and future customers. If the behavior is inappropriate or inconsistent with the image you are looking to portray, this will be an excellent time to address the behavior with the employee and provide corrective behavior coaching. In many cases, without the benefit of this type of feedback, you might not have been aware of this behavioral issue.

Use Your Company Database to Mine for Prospects

For a Personal Testimonial Letter

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Introduction

If you need a promotional item for your marketing campaign, you can never go wrong with promotional mugs. They are very affordable, useful, have a large imprint area, and provide continuous brand exposure.

Huge Imprint Area and Visible

You get more advertising mileage on larger promotional products with have huge imprint areas. Such is the case with the personalized mug wherein a logo or message imprinted on it can be seen even from afar. As for the smaller promotional products like key chains and pens, logos printed on them are only effective when they are in use. They become ineffective when kept in a drawer or in a box.

Useful For Everyone

Mugs can be used by every consumer. No matter what age group or demographic one belongs to, everyone sips something warm to start the day and uses one of these. Aside from that, everybody drinks. As humans, our bodies need to be hydrated every now and then. Whether they are used for drinking coffee, hot chocolate, tea, or even water, your logo on mugs offer unparalleled advertising exposure because they get used so often.

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