19/02/2009 by Stephen Law.

In part 2, I will explain how I helped to achieve sales via telemarketing during the recession of the 1980s.  Alternatively call me on 0870 042 1263 or email me stephen@sl-freelance.co.uk.

Until the summer of 2008 many companies had been continuously expanding.  Continual growth led to a requirement for expanding work in all areas.  Purchasing departments were falling over themselves to buy in the services and products they needed as fast as possible to maintain the momentum.  The situation was pretty darned similar in the early 1980s with the rise of the Yuppy.  Likewise the party abruptly came to an end.  But it would be a mistake to think that every company ceased traing at the end of the 1980s.  So why did some fail and others succeed?  What lessons of telemarketing success can we learn from the companies who succeeded during previous economic downturns?

Everyone whipped themselves up in to a frenzy over the value of their property until 2008.  It was a question of perception taking over from reality.  The bricks and mortar simply didn’t add up to a house being worth so much.  Likewise, when everyone started to lose confidence in the banks, the perception of the market went in the opposite direction.  The key point to bear in mind, is to differentiate between what is real and what is simply rumour.  Whilst knee-jerk reactions are common place in stock trading, the perception of doom and gloom right now in the market does not necessarily reflect the ability to find new business via telemarketing.

Let’s start with some basics.  Mankind’s basic instinct is for a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, drink to quench our thirst and for warmth when its cold.  The stock market has no bearing whatsoever on mankind’s instincts.   So are we all going to stop eating because there is a recession? Of course we won’t stop eating, but we may cut back on some of the non-essentials in life.  That’s the key point - that a lot of marketing people are failing to understand right now.  The buyers have not stopped buying, they are simply being more cautious about what they buy and when they buy it.  So what form of telemarketing approach should be applied to a cautious buyer?

Going back to my time in the 1980’s, the question of cautious buyers was on every salesman’s lips.  So how did I instigate a telemarketing campaign that worked during a recession?  The first point is to completely ignore all those around you who are gripped by panic.  Any NLP practicioner worth their salt will tell you, that you can program your brain for failure or program your brain for success.  Clear your mind of all the nonsense and you will see that buyers are still buying in virtually every market.  Stop knee-jerk reacting and looking for a quick fix, and try to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer.  Telemarketing for success involves finding what your buyers want and meeting that requirement.

So what does a cautious buyer want?  Well firstly, they want someone to buy from  who understands their caution.  Marketing logic tells us that you will never sell to everyone immediately, so you apply the same rules today that you used yesterday.  It’s all about looking for low-hanging fruit (those looking to buy shortly who have a budget) and building a pipeline (a list of those who may buy later).  More than ever, consultative telemarketing will help you to find and win new business.  In this economic climate, a cautious buyer does not want to be pressurised, they want to know that you understand their timetables.  Don’t waste your time trying to push someone too hard if they are very cautious. Gently build that relationship and diarise your callbacks and swiftly move on to the next prospect.

For telemarketing success in a recession you need to tidy up and expand your prospect database.  Don’t thrash the same people over and over again like a Mumbai Call Centre, you will simply alienate your prospects.  Add more prospects to your database and build, build, build your pipeline.  Work hard in telemarketing to find out what people want and when they want it . Be very methodical about tracking progress and follow through at the right times.

More than anything, you should take a Business Development approach to your telemarketing.   Remember to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer.  In a recession, buyers are thinking about saving money rather than spending money.  You need to examine your offering, examine your pitch and see if this needs to change.  Think carefully whether you are giving the right sales message to a cost conscious and cautious buyer?  The right telemarketing pitch will work in a recession.

I’ll go back to the 1980s again and give you an example.  The telecoms company I was working for had been selling their systems on the enhanced features.  Until the recession, buyers wanted more for their money and the additional features were very attractive.  In a recession, the buyers did not want to spend one penny unless they had to.  So I came up with a telemarketing pitch that was aimed at a cautious buyer.  After looking at the market, I noticed that the competitors were also selling on lease or rental.  I did a few sums and realised that it was possible for a prospect to buy our telecom systems in the same way but be spending far less.  The telemarketing pitch changed from selling the features first to talking about the savings first.  Within six months, the company I was working for went from the brink of bankruptcy to a roaring success.  Happy customers were swapping their old telecom systems for new ones and improving their bottom line! Telemarketing was the key to this success during a recession.

To recap, the products didn’t change, it was the mindset and the approach that changed.  Telemarketing sold in to sectors such as Fnance and Legal practices that were supposedly the hardest hit by the recession.  Please don’t think it was easy - it was darned hard work.  I’m not offering any solutions here for lazy people who bumbled through the good times.  Successful telemarketing is not easy, it’s hard work - but positive results can be achieve in good times and bad times. Look at the examples I have given and interpret this to fit your business model.

If you wish to gain more business in the recession, but don’t know where to start, then why not give me a call on 0870 042 1263?

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01/10/2008 by Stephen Law.

So how do businesses continue to be profitable during an economic downturn?  Call it a credit crunch or a credit crisis, it’s about to adversely affect all businesses very shortly.  I’ve been around the block a few times, and I remember well the problems faced by a young salesman (me) back in the late 1980s / early 1990s.  During that time I helped to dramatically improve sales as a Telemarketing Manager and went on to become top field salesman for global communications company.  So when many companies were going to the wall, how did I buck this trend?  Read on and find out.

I don’t suffer fools gladly.  I am a very hard worker and I have little respect for the lazy people in this world who expect something for nothing.  Seeking to break in to Telemarketing, I joined a local telecoms company back in the late 1980s, who were struggling to find new business.  They had recently appointed a new sales director who was probably one of the best salesmen I’ve ever met.  All this chap needed was fully qualified appointments.  He’d taken on a handful of low-paid telemarketing people in a back office to thrash away at telephone directories.  Despite this chap bringing in his own business, he was running out of leads fast.  Then a young chap (me) turned up at his door in response to an advert in the local paper - things were about to change.

I was offered a part-time job a few hours a day to see how I could do.  In the first day, I was making appointments and an immediate sale was made.  Within 48 hours I was out performing the amateurs by almost 10:1 and my appointments were already being converted in to sales.  By the third day, the Sales Director took me in to his office and said “If I made you Telemarketing Manager, what would you want?”  I asked for a free hand to hire and fire my own team and a much bigger pay packet.  This period in my life was to form the future basis for freelance telemarketing

Call me ruthless, but my job is to do the best for whoever I work for.  I fired his entire telemarketing team immediately! It was one month and an endless queue of useless telemarketing people that applied and were rejected.  Finally, one lady walked through the door grinning from ear to ear like a cheshire cat.  With blue chip training from one of the best telemarketing operations in the UK, this lady and I became the telemarketing team.  Whilst the Sales Director sharpened up the 3 sales reps, my mini telemarketing team booked all four reps solid until they were overflowing with quality appointments.  Within 6 months, the company had moved from potential bankruptcy to having one of the most favourable balance sheets in their industry.  Blending my success as a former retail consultant with the knowledge and experience of my sales director - we created a consultative telemarketing approach.

So why were 5 telemarketing people, an advertising campaign and 4 reasonable to excellent sales reps not finding new business?  It’s difficult to blame the salesmen as they were never really trained to be telemarketing experts.  It’s easy to assume that a good field sales person is just as good on the telephone, but this is rarely true.  Although the skills appear to be the same, in practice they are very different.  A field sales person works very much on personal contact including important factors like body language.  A telemarketing expert has to achieve all this from the voice at the other end of a telephone.  A field sales pitch can last anywhere between 5 minutes to several hours before they close.  A telemarketing person generally has anywhere between 1 and 15 minutes to close an appointment.  So if the field sales team were not to blame for a lack of new business, what about the telemarketing people?

If you were in the unfortunate position of having to appear in court, would you choose the least experienced and cheapest solicitor to represent you?  If the matter was insignificant then maybe you would - but what if your livlihood depended upon the outcome?  Without sales, any for-profit organisation will end up bankrupt.  All businesses require a steady stream of potential new business and this must be created somehow.  The fastest method of achieving new business with other businesses is undoubtedly via telemarketing.  Yet too many businesses assume that an inexperienced person on a low wage will provide the results they require.  It is about as likely to expect a cheap junior solicitor to win in court for you, as it is for a low-paid inexperienced telemarketing person to win you new business!

I think you’ve guessed by now that the weakest link in the chain was the poor standard of telemarketing.  Don’t get me wrong, if you’re selling on a ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ scenario to Jo Public, then thrashing the numbers on a telephone is your best bet.  When you’re selling a more complex offering to other businesses it takes a little more savvy to gain the results - it requires consultative telemarketing.  It still boils down to making those calls, but the sales message that you use and how this is presented will undoubtedly make all the difference.

I will shortly be publishing part2 of this story, with a more in-depth look at how freelance telemarketing can beat the credit crisis.  If you can’t wait for the next installment - call me on 0870 042 1263 or email me - stephen@sl-freelance.co.uk

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16/07/2008 by Stephen Law.

Welcome to my blog page for Freelance Telemarketing. My name is Stephen Law, and I am a freelance telemarketing expert. If you are interested in the world of Freelance Telemarketing, perhaps you would like to visit my website at www.sl-freelance.co.uk or call me for a chat on 0870 042 1263.

I’ve been in sales / marketing / business development now for about 25 years. I started out on the telephone making appointments in the 1980s and worked my way up to Executive Director of a number of technology-based SMEs. I was also an Honorary Director of LCDA in London for a number of years - a business training centre, where I advised on general business matters - especially sales. I’ve come full-circle in the last few years - returning to the part of business development I enjoy the most - Telemarketing!

Telemarketing is not everyone’s cup of tea. In fact most people hate having to do it. Hiring an employee to take on this work is very expensive, if you want someone half decent; and often cost-prohibitive if you want to employ a full-time expert.

After many years running sales teams, I realised there was a gap in the market for the Telemarketing Freelance expert. Three years ago when I began, I was fully booked within a matter of weeks - due to my rapid ROI for customers and excellent rates. Over the years, I have built up a network of like-minded people who love telemarketing and work remotely to keep the cost affordable.

There is no doubt that freelance telemarketing is the fastest route to creating sales opportunities - when you use choose the right people for your project. My clients generally find that I bring them more business working one day per week, than a fortnight of work from a junior employee or a call centre. In a nutshell - there’s is nothing like experience - and I can offer you plenty of that.

I look forward to talking to you soon - Stephen Law - 0870 042 1263 - SL-Freelance.

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