Smile When Telemarketing!
When you make a sales call always remember to smile. Sounds crazy but your prospect can hear it in your voice and we do all prefer a smiley person.
Scientists at the University of Portsmouth did studies whereby they asked a series of questions to individuals. They asked them to answer each question with the same answer. The subjects were videotaped and recorded and the questions they were asked got progressively more and more funny. By studying the voice patterns and intonations they discovered that there were some 50 types of smile. They could then listen to voices and recognise, not just whether someone was smiling but, what type of smile it was. They could in fact hear them smile.
Image Source – ♫ joyousjoym~ Blessings♥ (CC License)
You can share a smile, (a little like a yawn). Go on try it, on the bus or train, in the paper shop or just in the street. Smile at a stranger and even say “good morning” and you can bet they will smile back.
So this leads me to quote Stanley Gordon West – ‘smile, and the world smiles with you. Cry and you cry alone’
It’s worth thinking about the occasion when a friend calls and, after a few moments, you get a feeling something isn’t quite right so you ask, “Are you OK? You know this will be followed by a not so merry conversation. Alternatively, when a friend calls and you hear the excitement and chirpiness in their voice, laughing, you ask “what’s got you in such a good mood? You know they will tell you something upbeat or funny.
I have had calls when I have caught a receptionist in a fit of giggles about something and unable to control themselves when they answer the call so, I have actually joined in and have had a good chuckle with them. Amazing how they are suddenly so much more open to helping you and might even remember you if you have to call back. Now, I am not suggesting that you laugh uncontrollably when you dial a number or start cracking jokes but, simply to remember the difference in the way a happy person makes you feel against a sad one.
So remember to smile, lift your voice and feel that spring in your step. The person on the other end of the phone will be so much more receptive to a happy caller than a glum one.
Ok, so some times you don’t feel like smiling. A sale falls through. You get some bad news about something. Then stop calling for 10 minutes. Go for a brisk walk up the road and back, make a cup of tea and go and share something positive with a team member. Tell a colleague you need to hear something funny. Just don’t take the glum voice into a phone call.
Happy calling.
Looking for a happy caller – why not give us a call…
Looking for more telemarketing related tips?
- Top Ten Tips for Getting Past the Gatekeeper
- Top 10 Killer Tips for Telesales Success
- Top 5 Cold Calling Tips!
- Top 6 Tips for Appointment Setting
- Top 10 Appointment Setting Tips for Small Businesses
Tags: Telemarketing
Andy Dickens
Andy Dickens is a veteran of IT Sales, used to leading by example. He is the CEO of Virtual Sales Limited (VSL) who offer telesales, telemarketing, lead generation and appointment setting services to B2b businesses. He previously was Sales Director EMEA for Red Hat and before that ran sales at Visio before it was acquired by Microsoft.