What is telesales?
The difference between telemarketing and telesales
While telesales involves conducting direct telephone sales to customers, telemarketing has a wider range of applications.
Telemarketers call consumers to pique interest, provide information, solicit feedback from them, and generate leads. Telemarketing’s purpose is to generate sales leads, whereas telesales’ job is to turn those leads into sales and loyal customers of a company’s goods or services.
Consider their roles to gain a better understanding of telemarketing and telesales:
Telemarketing
Goals of telemarketers include:
Telesales
Goals of a telesales representative include:
What is telesales?
The sale of goods or services over the phone is known as telesales. As a telesales representative, you call current and potential customers directly to persuade them to purchase your company’s products.
There are two types of telesales: inbound and outbound. While outbound representatives call leads to generate sales, inbound agents take calls from both prospective and current customers.
Telesales requires you to be patient, persuasive and persistent. Additionally, you need to have excellent phone and communication skills, typing experience, and the capacity to thrive in an office setting.
Building repeat business through excellent customer relations is the goal of telesales. To assist field sales representatives, telesales representatives call customers to promote offers or schedule appointments.
Duties of a telesales representative
Lead generation, direct sales, and customer service are just a few of the responsibilities of a telesales representative. Leads will be closed and customers will be satisfied enough to continue doing business with the company thanks to an effective telesales agent. The duties of a telesales representative are:
Lead generation
The generation of leads for the sales team is crucially dependent on telesales representatives. They use telephone contact to speak with prospective and current clients about the goods, services, and promotions offered by their business. Additionally, people who are responding to direct marketing and advertising campaigns call telesales agents. They adhere to a script to identify customers who are prepared to make a purchase and those who might do so given enough convincing. Prequalification speeds up work for the field sales team and boosts conversion rates.
Direct sales
Telesales representatives not only promote goods or services but also carry out direct sales duties. They can target customers for repeat business by utilizing the information from prior sales in collaboration with telemarketers and the sales team. Telesales representatives can also ask qualified leads questions that can reveal their purchasing intent.
Take and process orders
Telesales agents take and process orders to meet sales quotas. They handle repeat business, which offers chances to upsell to current clients. Agents use scripts to suggest extra goods or services based on past purchasing patterns when customers place new orders. This increases sales and profits and frees the sales team to focus on making sales in the field.
Customer service
Customers are also informed of new offers by telesales representatives based on their preferences and needs. Providing accurate information about the business, its products or services, promotions, and other details is one of their customer service responsibilities. This necessitates that telesales representatives have a thorough understanding of their company and its offerings.
Conflict resolution
Telesales agents must have excellent dispute resolution skills. Since they frequently interact with customers, they assist in resolving their complaints before they escalate into larger problems. This ensures that customers are fully satisfied with their purchases and upholds the company’s reputation.
Activity reports
A proficient telesales representative will also produce and maintain activity reports. The reports include information on the quantity of calls, leads, customers, sales, and other crucial figures that can boost earnings.
Meet sales goals
According to the company’s revenue targets, telesales representatives need to meet monthly and quarterly sales goals. In order to get closer to their quotas, they must make a certain number of calls and close a certain number of sales.
Telesales representative skills
Telesales representatives must possess all the same abilities as sales representatives, plus more. This is because they conduct all of their sales and persuasion over the phone, never in person. To succeed in a telesales position, you should possess the following crucial abilities:
Communication
Telesales agents are able to adjust their voice to build rapport with the person they are speaking with by quickly reading their tone and pitch. They must be able to communicate with customers in their language and explain complex ideas in simple terms. Along with speaking clearly, they must pay attention and have patience to hear the concerns of the audience. As a result, they can offer tailored services that will increase client satisfaction.
Interpersonal skills
Experience in sales
Knowledge of telephone and computer systems
A competent telesales representative will be familiar with telephone systems. Additionally, they must be familiar with the computer programs and customer relations management software that are necessary for their jobs.
Fast learning
To explain the advantages to customers and persuade them to purchase the company’s goods or services, telesales representatives must possess in-depth product knowledge and understanding. Because they rely on scripts to close leads, this calls for agents to be quick learners.
Cool disposition
You must be calm under pressure if you want to work in telesales. Tension can arise when the person on the other end of the phone is not interested in speaking. You must be able to accept rejection without letting it interfere with your ability to do your job.
Common interview questions for telesales agents
Your sales experience and telephone selling skills are tested during telesales interviews. Employers use these inquiries to gauge your technological knowledge, persuasiveness, and perseverance. Here are common questions to expect at a telesales interview:
FAQ
What are the duties of telesales?
A sales technique known as “cold calling” involves getting in touch with people who haven’t previously expressed interest in a good or service. Cold calling is frequently used in telemarketing, but even the most skilled professionals only have a 2% success rate with it.
What skills do you need for telesales?
- provide a more interactive and personal sale service.
- create an immediate rapport with your customers.
- explain technical issues more clearly.
- generate leads and appointments.
- sell from a distance to increase your sales territory.
- reach more customers than with in-person sales calls.
What should I say in a telesales interview?
Generally speaking, telemarketers operate in teams, typically in a dedicated phone room. They can work days or nights, and if all they do is make phone calls, their work may be sedentary. Telemarketers are under pressure to meet sales quotas, and the potential customers they call frequently and rudely reject them.
