Telemarketing and lead generation are more than just listening, it’s also about hearing and understanding what the other person is saying, regardless if it’s on the phone or in person. B2B lead generation requires you to ask questions in order to learn more about your target prospect. Listening is used to determine for “buying” signals that indicate if prospects are ready to purchase.

Although in telemarketing, you have a script that you can use as your guide and can help you start with a conversation, listening is important to know when to ask the right question at the right time. Here’s what to do when calling a prospect on a bad day.

The most important skill that a professional sales must possess is the ability to listen and understanding what the person on the other line is actually saying. It may sound easy but understanding truly why you need to listen plays an important part to become successful in cold calling.

If you don’t listen, you may sound a bit too pushy driving the prospect away instead of gaining their trust. So when do we really use listening?

Listening is a skill that can be acquired and develop in time. We listen to:

1. Build trust. Trust can make a prospect change his mind and listening is the key.
2. Show RESPECT and EMPATHY for other people.
3. Gather information. Read more about customer profiling in Malaysia..

Here are some tips on how to enhance your listening skills.

Focus on the prospect

Sales reps must learn to give prospects 100% of their attention from the start of the call to the end. They must pay attention not only to what the prospect is saying but to details such as; the tone and volume of the prospect’s voice as well as the words they are using.

Prevent yourself from being distracted by colleagues or other external noises and concentrate on your prospect.

Here’s how to reach more prospects in Malaysia.

Listen to key information

Every sales reps must learn how to read between the lines and understand the thought as to what the prospect is actually saying.

Listen for key feelings

Feel­ings are just as important as facts. When a sales rep noticed the prospects emotion, it gives him clues as to how to han­dle the call. Noticing that a prospect is upset or appears to be short on time will give the sales rep hint on what to do next. Listen to the emotion in your prospect’s voice and ask yourself, “Does it match the words they are using?”

Example:

When faced with a prospect who’s in a hurry, the sales rep must know exactly how much time he needs to ask important questions such as, “When is the best time for me to callback?”

Clarify understanding

Sales reps must do this to make sure the prospect is heard and under­stood. How?

• Ask a con­firm­ing ques­tion (ask them to elaborate, if necessary)
• Ask the question again.
• Ask the prospect to repeat what he just mentioned. (WARNING: be careful not to let the prospect repeat it more than twice)

Related: Building a Solid Understanding of the IT Industry before Generating Leads

Don’t Interrupt

Let the prospect finish what they are saying as interruption is a big turn off. It will make prospects think that you’re objecting from what they are saying. Avoid preventing the prospect from saying something by interrupting them. Chances are, you might miss some of the important details he’ll mention on the conversation.

Make sure to have pen and paper ready

Make it a habit to have a pen and paper handy to take note of all important information provided by the prospect.

Note: If you are thinking of what to say or what will happen next while the prospect is talking, then you are NOT listening. So while the prospect is saying something, focus on listening and taking down notes.

Communication is a two-way process. Telemarketing is less about talking and more about listening. Most of the time, sales reps are too eager to say their sales pitch so they tend to do all the talking instead of listening. In order to convert leads into sales, understand and enhance your listening skills using these tips.

What did you missed: Contradictory to the Hype: IT SMBs Should Invest on Telemarketing

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