The New Telemarketing Part Iv Establishing Interest With Credibility Statements

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

Fourth in a series of articles, we'll various issues and practices associated with modern ways of selling over the phone.

***************************************************************** The New Telemarketing™ is a set of selling practices designed to accomplish several things:

(1) To sell more goods and services than its predecessor, the "traditional" style;

(2) To be less offensive than its predecessor to buyers;

(3) To be consistent with a customer service style of communicating;

(4) To help in recruiting and retaining qualified phone representatives and managers; and

(5) To repair and reform the image of telemarketers in business and consumer communities. ****************************************************************

One of the challenges we face in selling anything is being perceived as being credible from the beginning of our conversations. This requires us to use a credibility statement.

Think of a credibility statement as akin to what is called an "elevator speech" in business networking circles. It is a very quick recitation that tells the prospect who you are and why you have earned the right to talk with them.

Without one, you're running hard and fast to say something that will sound valuable to the listener. But if you have a good overture, they'll relax, enabling you to take more time to develop your relationship, and to customize your message.

For instance, I crafted the following credibility statement for a client, recently:

"Hello, Mr./Ms.__? I'm ___ ___ with ___ here is Los Angeles. How are you this ___? That's good. We're coming up on our 30th year in business and you probably know us from our big booth at Las Vegas trade show and have seen our designer line of ___ that's featured nationally in consumer magazines, and I'm on the phone to get better acquainted and tell you about a special _____program that we've put together for you."

From this point, some probing is done to establish needs and to customize the offer.

Traditional telemarketing tends to leave out this very important credibility step, operating on the assumption that the features and benefits of the offer are the most significant things that listeners respond to.

But by trying to cut to the chase, sellers don't assuage essential concerns everyone has: "Why should I listen to you?" and "Why should I believe you?"

This is just one way that The New Telemarketing™ distinguishes itself, making calls progress in a smoother and more professional manner, while reducing objections and rejections.

In future articles, we'll point out some other valuable features of this style.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone®, You Can Sell Anything By Telephone! and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.