Even we get cold calls and here are our top 5 bug bears

Even telemarketing agencies receive cold calls, which being in the business we are very happy to receive. However, there are specific points which really bug the team so I’ve asked them to relay the top 5 and their tips to steer clear of making these errors!

1) Relevance

“I recently received a call from a company regarding my road traffic accident. Unfortunately for them, they had chosen to call a company phone and also, I have not had any road traffic accidents.” – Beth, Market Research Director.

One of the most important things to check is that your call will be relevant. For instance, if you are calling a company about their corporate car insurance you can buy data for companies with corporate fleets, to ensure they have corporate cars before picking up the phone. What’s the point in wasting your time and their time when you could be calling more suitable prospects?

2) Attitude

“I received a call last month where the person would not take no for an answer – they kept trying to give me examples of client work, reasons I should attend an event etc. However, we were not focusing our Marketing towards that method at the time and the event cost more than our entire marketing budget! After explaining these reasons more than once he got very snappy and rude with me” – Natalie, Marketing Executive.

There’s no need to get an attitude with the person you are calling when they simply aren’t considering buying your product or service. I have had many a phone call where someone simply won’t take no for an answer and their attitude reflects this. If you approach in a friendly manner you will have a better day and so will everyone around you.

3) Negativity

“I had a company contact me regarding a service which I knew one of our clients was looking into reviewing. However, the lady on the end of the phone cut me off before I could even relay this information.” – Kathryn, Account Manager.

Always approach the call with a positive manner; you never know the contacts that the person on the end of the phone may have, even if they don’t require your services.

4) Cutting straight to the chase

“I have received calls where people have cut straight to the chase. There has been no ‘Good Morning’ just the point of the conversation. It’s highly unlikely that I am going to buy something from someone who is firstly, unwilling to introduce themselves and also does not want to develop a relationship with me” – Martin, Account Director

Try and be as engaging as possible by understanding the user. Begin the discussion by simple greetings. It definitely helps with the passage into conversation and ensures that you get a reasonable response from the person you are calling.

5) Wrong Contact

“I recently answered a call where the person on the end of the phone asked for ‘Mr ConstructionIT’. Unfortunately, and rather surprisingly, we don’t have anyone who works here with that name. It doesn’t take two minutes to read the contact name to ensure it is viable” – Sally

Although this is an example of a completely wrong name, the concept is still applicable. To ensure you have the correct contact, you can schedule preliminary calls whereby you clean your data before the official sales call. This will save you calling old data and stop you disrupting those people who may have retired or moved on!

Natalie Coe

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