When you use your telephone, your voice is the singular medium to transport your message. Since your respondents can’t hear you they will inevitably concentrate on your voice. It is only human nature that they will concentrate initially more on your voice then on the content of your message.

How you say the things you say will be more important at this early stage then whatyou have to say.

People will pick up quickly any insecurity or even fear that is transmitted and in that case would try to end the conversation as fast as possible. Nobody likes to listen to someone who’s voice is trembling, or who is loosing the thread and in addition to that uses to many “umms” and “ahhs”.

These are all signs of insecurity, all too well amplified by the medium telephone. The underlying message is if we feel insecure about ourselves, we feel insecure about our product too.

How can we expect our prospects to feel good about our product and to buy from us if we can’t do that in the first place?

In order to build a good rapport we have to instill confidence right from the start.

Here are some easy but very effective tips to use your most important tool, your transmitter of your messages, your voice, to the best effect:

Combat fatigue – if you are tired you most likely sound tired. Take care of yourself and try to get enough sleep at all times.
During your working ours try to sit in your chair as straight as you possibly can, stretch your arms over your head at the same time and stay in this position for up to a minute. Repeat this exercise as often as you like. Never slump on your chair whilst on the phone. It suppresses your voice to a degree and makes it sound hollow.

Whilst speaking on the phone always remind yourself of sitting straight, or better still, stand up. I personally like to stand up and even pace up and down the office, because I feel that it gives my voice a certain cutting edge and assertiveness that sometimes is needed to convince.

Speak loud and clear but do not shout.

Intonate your voice, it helps to keep your respondent interested. By “intonating” I mean to higher and lower your voice.
Smile occasionally whilst speaking. Of course nobody will see you smile but there will be a discernible difference in your voice, a bit of merriment and good spirit, and people will pick up on this. You simply sound different over the phone when you do that rather then keeping your mouth half shut whilst speaking.

Control the speech or tempo of your voice. In the early stages of a pitch I always copy my counterpart- if he or she is a slow speaker so am I. And if my prospect is a very quick talker I am going to copy that as well initially. After the first minute or so however, I will adapt to a speed that I feel comfortable with. Interestingly most prospects will adapt to my style. The slow speakers tend to pick up pace and the nervous and quick ones will slow down. Soon they will be in tune with you.
Last but not least: – Use good quality telephone equipment.

I find this tactic very helpful and empowering. Not only does it help you to control the conversation, but also to build better rapport. You will leave a positive impression and people can remember you better.

Many telesales people speak far too quick and tend to rattle on and on. These individuals tend to oversell and don’t take enough time to listen what their customer might have to say – often missing vital clues and information. I am fully aware that this is a mistake too easy to do, borne out of nervousness and sometimes boredom. At the beginning of your career you might feel more nervous during these first few months, but if your pitch is a very rigid one, you soon know every word you are going to say by heart and a natural reaction is to get through it as quickly as possible. Time to go over your pitch and tweak it a bit to give it more punch and to keep you on the toes.

I try to remind myself that my pitch might be second nature to me and I might know it by heart. As for my prospects, for each one of them it is always new and interesting information.

Let’s make it easy for them to relax a little and to enable them to concentrate on what we got to say by being relaxed but professional ourselves.

I hope you are doing well in your sales environment. In case you want to discuss this further,I offer free telesales advice via email and by telephone.

Telemarketing, just the mere word sends shivers of fear through many people. A lot of people consider this to be a pretty thankless job, but it is still one that has to be done. If you have a business, you have customers, as well as potential customers, and you probably have a calling list. It is not going to do you much good if you are not putting it to the best use, and garnering new leads and sales. You just have to get over that initial nervousness and start calling. To help you get over your fears of teleselling, here are five tips you can use for every call you make:

- Don’t just start dialing willy-nilly: You can’t just pick up the phone and start dialing. Sure, you can call all kinds of people, and you may even get a few sales. But, if you have a calling list that is already filled with prospects, you have already fought half the battle. Work on creating a really great calling list filled with interesting prospects. This is going to take some work, and you will actually be picking your prospects one by one. For example, if you are selling cookbooks, you want to make sure that you are contacting cooks and housewives. If you are selling computers, talk to office workers, other business owners, students and others. Make sure that your contacts are going to be ones that will turn into customers.

- Find out what people want: You should ask all kinds of questions of people before you actually launch into your sales pitch. Find out what their needs are, and what they really want. You can learn a lot this way, and it will actually make it easier to make the sale later on. By doing this, you will be developing a rapport with your customers, and it will make it easier to gain their trust, because you are not just coming at them with a sales pitch.

- Get small-talk going: After you have finished asking your questions, try and engage your potential customers in small-talk to get them more involved. This is a wonderful way to really get to know them, and learn what they really need from the products and services they are buying. Small-talk is a building block for your future relationship with your customers, and it goes a long way toward building a solid foundation to work from.

- Be humble, not arrogant: Many business owners love to flash around their titles and business cards, and this is something that can really turn potential customers off. Instead of always trying to show how great you are, be a little bit humble in your daily business dealings. Show empathy and respect to your clients. Be open and friendly, and always available to help them with their problems. If you are not being humble, you are probably not going to get as many sales as you would have hoped.

- Make an appointment, not a sale: When you are cold-calling on the phone, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to try to push a sale right away. It is best to try and get an appointment, and when you meet with the client, then you can start in with your pitch. Introduce yourself and tell them why you are calling, ask some questions and make small talk, then ask for that all-important appointment.

The sales business can be quite challenging for many. There are sales quota to meet, new customers to charm, market position to maintain, and a host of other tasks needed to get the job done. It’s difficult, but not an impossible goal. With the help of professional telemarketers, then there’s no need to worry. There are plenty of opportunities in teleselling, and the rewards are great. One can’t imagine the windfall possible in the teleselling profession. Well, that is, if they are skilled enough to handle sales calls. Otherwise, it’s better if one simply hires cold calling services to get things done. These people are the best in this line of work.

Cold calling can be a very stressful kind of job. It can cause a lot of problems if this is not handled properly. After all, prospecting for receptive buyers can be overwhelming. They may have difficulties in dealing with the various quirks and desires of the prospects. Often, a badly managed call can wreck a promising lead. That would be bad news indeed. That’s why more businesses rely on professional telemarketers for this kind of work. They are the professionals who know what to do, and they are the most experienced in handling difficult calls. They can find the right prospects, introduces their client’s firm properly, and goes forth into convincing the person at the other end that their lives would be much better if they take advantage of the products and services being offered by the telemarketers. Done properly, teleselling in this manner would succeed.

Teleselling has been around for decades. Come to think of it, the primary purpose of telemarketing in history is to sell products and services on the phone. This solved the problems of old when promotions are limited by the distance between buyer and seller, the cost of traditional advertising, and the time it takes to generate interest. The telephone has changed all that. The task of advertising is easier now. It’s also simpler and faster to get in touch with prospects. People living miles away from the seller can even be informed of the latest products and services offered by the firm. That’s probably the reason why teleselling in any industry has prospered.

Really, cold calling still works. Despite the entire hullabaloo about the abuses committed in the name of prospecting, the fact remains that it can still deliver. There are many people who are willing to spend. The only thing that’s holding them back is that they don’t know who to buy from. Now that is an opportunity that a business should grab. A firm can address the needs of these people through teleselling. One can give them a call, interact with them, and who knows, perhaps a profitable sale is in the making. Indeed, teleselling may very well be the solution needed by companies in need of better sales volume. This is a good chance for the firm to improve their business performance through the use of teleselling.

Opportunities abound to those who are willing. Perhaps, through the use of teleselling, a lagging firm can finally have the fighting chance to stay in business and be profitable. Creativity, resourcefulness, and focus are just some of the things needed. And with the help of professional telemarketers, success can be possible. This is good time to make the right decisions, and invest in the right strategy.