In making outbound calls or sales calls, the primary thing to consider is: are you asking the right questions? People respond differently depending on how you express yourself. There are different ways to approach a question and some work, some do not. The important thing in making outbound calls is to ask a series of “yes questions” building up to the product or service. It has been speculated that the more customers answer yes either orally or in his mind, the chances of him declining the offer gets slimmer.
But of course, before creating the Yes Ladder, you have to make sure that you’re targeting the right people first. An unwise decision is to use a purchased business list. The people in this list are most probably fed up with telemarketers and you’d most likely start with a cold call. The wiser thing to do is to start with your own business list. Outbound call center agents have to be more personal in their approach since the people they are calling actually want to get calls from them. Purchased list have people who are constantly being bombarded by telemarketers (since most starting companies use purchased lists) and they wouldn’t want to hear what you have to say.
Now… you have your list. It’s time to start the calls. How do you build a Yes Ladder?
If you have targeted prospects, the questions would come easily. For example, you’re selling sugar-free sweeteners. First you have to know your unique selling proposition. What do you have to offer that other products don’t have? Once you establish that fact and you know that you’re calling a targeted prospect, ask something that relates to the prospect as a person. Granted that you are calling a mother, ask first if they use sugar in their home as sweeteners. The common answer to that would be a ‘yes’ and then you follow up with a question about whether they are interested in the fact that they can use as much sweetener as they want without health risks. The common answer that would again be a ‘yes’ then you move in to ask if they would be interested in your product that would be able to do just that.
The Yes Ladder is an outbound call center agent’s secret to success. If you have managed to make your prospect say yes to more than two questions already, then it becomes harder to say no. It’s a common marketing strategy though it doesn’t really always deliver. We might be able to meet the interest of the prospect but sometimes it really doesn’t deliver. You have to have a few back-up questions in order to make them not lose them. So what do you do? You ask open-ended questions (this doesn’t work though if you’re already pressed for time to complete the call) This keeps the prospect interested and involved in the conversation.
So aside from the Yes Ladder, outbound call center agents should learn how to keep the targeted prospect interested and involved in the conversation so they could deliver a sale. It can get a little tough turning that cold call to a warm call but with enough practice and a better understanding of your market, things will eventually go naturally when you make outbound calls.
