13/05/2010 by Stephen Law.

If someone tells you, that they know “everyone”, does that make them the best telemarketing person?  Are skills and experience a waste of time in telemarketing – and does it all boil down to what you know or who you know?

The key here - is that these are two opposite mindsets – one mindset which is easy to understand whilst the other mindset is clouded in mystery.  Let’s face it, if someone has years of experience and the skills to succeed at telemarketing, it’s easy to identify this when they talk to you on the telephone.  However, if someone tells you that “they know everyone that you need to be doing business with” – then are you simply taking a leap of faith in believing what they tell you?  If someone promises to you, that by knowing all the right people, they could win you £millions in business – is this the best telemarketing available or are you simply swallowing a tale so incredible that it must be true?

The only way to fathom this out is to look at this logically and objectively.  Firstly, all the best telemarketing people have access to the best data.  So whichever top telemarketing person or agency you pick – one could say that they know everyone because they have access to that data.  But having someone’s name on a database is not the same as knowing someone.  After years of telemarketing, someone with experience may well have spoken to or sold to a lot of people – but again it’s difficult to argue that you “know them”. 

The real answer to the question boils down to mathematics – which I will explain.  In life every individual knows a lot of people but one only knows a few people very well.  Generally speaking, the people we know best are our partner and our children.  Then we know our parents and siblings.  After that, things start to become less clear.  How well do we know our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins? 

Many people have one or two very good friends that they know very well.  Then there are friends that we occasionally chat to, people we say hello to at the office, and so on.  We may say hello to the postman every day, but do we really know him?  If you attend a club of any kind, there are people you may know, but how well do you know them?  The same is true in business – you may have worked with hundreds of people, but which ones can you really remember and how many could you say that you really knew properly?

So applying the logic to business relationships – there are literally hundreds of sectors and sub-sectors that millions of people work within.  Most sales people have worked in many sectors, some have worked in very niche markets.  Yet during a person’s sales career they will only have known a small number of clients very well.  Any good Sales Director will tell you that one person can only handle so many accounts at a given time, ranging from 1 to 10 accounts.  The greater the worth of a business account to a company – the more time one person spends with one customer.  If you accept the facts here, then let’s look further at the mathematics.

Let’s take some averages.  On average, a sales person has known 5 key account people – each for a period of 3 years.  Over the sales person’s career of 30 years the sales person could have got to know very well 3 x 5 x 30 people = 450 people.  However, the first accounts that they handled might have been 30 years ago!  So even if we accept that the sales person was so remarkable that they’re still remembered 30 years later, then a good sales person knows about 450 people in the UK - which leaves about 60 million people in the UK who they don’t know at all. 

In truth, is it possible that of all these 450 people, some of them didn’t like the sales person – as they only handled the account for 3 years?  Is it possible that some of these 450 people have emigrated, retired, or completely changed their role in life?  Even if we accept that a good sales person knew 450 people very well at some stage in their career – is it possible that this has any relevance to them picking up the telephone and immediately doing a deal for you?  Let’s look at the mathematics.

Industry sector numbers are huge - from Accountancy Practices to Waste Management Corporations.  With 100s of industry sectors and 100s of sub-sectors, it is not possible that any human could possibly know someone very well in each sector.  Think about the numbers of people in any organisation, whether it is public or private sector.  At the top we have the Chief Executives, then a Board of Directors, followed by a myriad of operational directors and so on.  An SME might be run by one person, but there are thousands of organisations in the UK alone that employ 1000+ people.  It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that no human being could possibly know everyone very well.

In truth, we all know a small number of people very well – and if we’re honest here, we could count that number of people on 2 hands at most.  So now we’ve looked at the mathematics of “who you know”, let’s look at the mathematics of “what you know”.

Like any profession, there are many people who have undertaken outbound cold sales calls, but there are few people who successfully continue this career.  As an analogy, there are millions of people who love to play football, but how many people ever played for their national squad?  BT, Thomson, Yell and United Artists have churned out some of the most highly qualified and successful sales people through their training programmes (I’m one of them).  Yet for every successful sales person that succeeded at these companies, there are at least 10 who failed to cut the mustard.

A high level of skill is required to contact the right person and convince them that they should consider buying a product or service.  This skill cannot be learned instantly and it takes years of practice and learning to achieve true success.  At a guesstimate, there are probably about 1000 people in the UK at any given time that could do this very well.  Yet of those 1000 people, the number who knows how to find/build a database of potential buyers is much smaller.  At a call centre or larger telemarketing agency, the jobs of database building and calling are often split between data buyers and callers.  So at any given time – we’re probably talking about only 100 people in the UK who have the skills, experience and successful track record to successfully build data and cold call.

Of the 100 top people you could turn to for telemarketing based on “what they know”, not “who they know”, how can these people succeed for you?  Well firstly, these top telemarketing people do “know” where to find the data.  They “know” how to identify the right buyers from years of experience.  Moreover, they “know” how to communicate with these people.  You’ll generally find that the cream of the top 100 telemarketing people have been a Director before and run a company themselves.  The key here is - if you’ve sat in the driving seat yourself, then you understand the pressures that a senior level executive has to face.  You know what drives your prospective customers and what they’re looking for.

I’ve sold contracts to buyers at Waitrose, the MoD, Land Securities and the list goes on and on.  Prior to the sale I had never met these people before in my life; I didn’t know their friends or families or work colleagues.  Top class selling is about identifying who you should be doing business with, making contact and building relationships.  It is not mathematically possible for anyone to know all the right people before picking up the telephone.

Of course we all know a small number of people that we could do business with – but only a small number.  Any good business person will tell you to talk to friends and family first– but at some point, you will reach the limit of trust.    The postman may trust you enough to talk to you, but would he buy from you?  If your circle of contacts is CEO’s, then they may enjoy sharing a good whisky with you, but would they really buy from you any more than from a stranger?

Every day, millions of people across the UK buy products and services from people that they don’t know.  Marketing experts spend £millions on promoting brands and building relationships with their customers.  The key point here is that you don’t have to “know” your customer personally to make the sale.  The real art in telemarketing boils down to the pitch at the end of the day.  You could call someone that you’ve known for many years and who trusts you; but if you pitch it badly - they will walk away and you might not even be friends anymore.  Pitch something well to a complete stranger and you start the relationship building process.

The key truth in “It’s who you know not what you know” - is in getting to know new people.  Yesterday’s stranger can become tomorrow’s close friend.  I don’t claim to know everyone, but I do claim that I could find the right people for you to do business with – and if you play your cards right – they may become your highest paying customer, and your new best friend.

Stephen Law, 0870 042 1263 www.sl-freelance.co.uk

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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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