Best Telemarketing September 2010 –Why Timing might be crucial for the Complex Sale

Will the best telemarketing in September 2010 have a crucial impact on your sales cycle? Let’s take a brief look at the factors here.

Timing – the Sales Cycle
For some products and services, starting your lead generation process in September could be crucial.  If your sales offering is complex, then it may require a ‘demo’, a ‘free trial’ or perhaps a ‘proof of concept’ approach.  If you examine the time-line from lead generation to closing business – how long will it take from start to finish?  One point that is often overlooked when launching a new product or service is Timing.  If buying decisions are to be made between November and January then it is imperative that your lead generation begins as soon as possible.  If Telemarketing is your favoured lead generation tool, then finding the best telemarketing people right now will make a key difference in hitting your sales targets.

Timing – Relationship Building
Selling a complex offering is very different from selling widgets by the bucket load.  Widget-selling often boils down to price, so you’re offering has been ‘commoditized’.  To prevent a buyer from commoditizing your offering, you need to differentiate the offering by demonstrating ‘Value’ not ‘Price’.  In nine times out of ten, selling on value requires a more personal interaction with a buyer – hence the need for ‘Relationship Building’.  The best telemarketing approach for relationship building is consultative telemarketing, but don’t forget that this takes time.  Remember to allow enough time in the sales cycle for the best telemarketing to gain traction.  Choose a highly skilled person on the telephone to help you from day1 and the process should work; but choose poor telemarketing people and you may miss the boat.

Timing – the Feedback Loop
The best telemarketing people will provide you with a constant feedback loop; moreover, they will be able to react and change to circumstances – improving the sales time-line.  Of course you cannot expect this from a call centre, but if you choose the best telemarketing people, the time saved here could prove to be the difference between success and failure. 

Conclusions on the best telemarketing for the complex sale
There’s an old saying – “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and you can’t teach a dumb dog anything”.  Timing is critical in your sales process, so be wary of commoditizing your telemarketing – think ‘Value’ not ‘Price’.  Of course the price is important, but the value is always paramount.  When choosing the best telemarketing people for a complex sale – go for quality over quantity.  There’s little point buying a a car for a sales-person if the car doesn’t start or won’t make it to the sales meeting.  Likewise, you won’t be sending anyone to a sales meeting if you don’t choose the best telemarketing.   If you want the best telemarketing at the right price – call me – Stephen Law, Consultative Telemarketing Expert – 0870 042 1263 stephen@sl-freelance.co.uk

About Stephen Law

Stephen Law is a Business Development expert. Over a 25 year period, Stephen worked has worked from a Foot Canvasser and Telemarketing Junior in the 1980s to an Executive Director and Company Secretary in the 1990s. Stephen's sales and marketing career spanned the IT, Communications and Technology sectors, where he was always top in his field. Stephen has also been head of Manufacturing, HR, and R&D for a number of organisations. In 2005, Stephen decided to form his own company offering Business Development via Consultative Telemarketing. Few people enjoy telemarketing as much as Stephen and fewer still understand how to communicate effectively with senior decision makers. Stephen is an Associate Partner of the No1 UK Business Development Agency and an Honorary Director at the LCDA for Business Development, where he has taught the Art of Selling at London South Bank University.