This checklist is designed to enable you and your interview team to determine whether your Telesales candidates have experience that matches the requirements of your position.
Before you begin the candidate interviews, list your position details. Assign the questions to the interview team members. As a candidate advances through the interview process, check to be sure the questions have been asked. Any missing questions can be addressed in a follow-up call to the candidate.
Telesales Position Checklist
1. Product(s) and/or Services Sale?
2. # of Products and/or Services to sell?
3. Length of Sales Cycle
4. Type of Selling (Consultative, etc)?
5. Title(s) of Key Decision Maker(s)?
6. # of Decision Makers?
7. Regions/Geography?
8. Industry?
9. Target Accounts?
10. Annual Quota?
11. Monthly Quota?
12. Average Sale?
13. Minimum Sale?
14. Maximum Sale?
15. Salary Base?
16. Bonus/Commission?
17. Earnings at OTE?
18. Sales & Marketing resources used?
19. Sales Support required to close the sale?
20. Other?
Telesales Position Checklist ©Teledirect Partners 2007 All Rights Reserved
PDF Version of This Article
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Compensation is great but a well thought-out incentive plan can add $$ to your results and longevity to your team.By Denise Clancey
Excerpted from the guide of the same name first published on http://www.work.com July 2007
In the fast-paced and intense world of Teleselling and Teleservicing, motivating your team ranks at the top of the list of things managers need to do often and do well. Many surveys have identified that, similar to other Sales and Service people, Telesales and Teleservice representatives are motivated by incentives in addition to commission.
It is important to develop an incentive plan that matches your department’s goals, is consistent with the jobs your representatives perform, and motivates the individuals and the team to do their best work.
Motivating your Telesales and Teleservice teams requires Planning, Matching, and Thanking.
Action Steps:
1) Create a plan with specific goals and objectives A specific plan has a greater chance of being implemented and has a greater chance of being effective. Budget for incentives, develop a plan, and work the plan. And, if you have the opportunity, you should consider introducing new components occasionally to see if you can get better results with different or new offerings. ‘Managing for Dummies’, Second Edition, by Bob Nelson, Peter Economy, and Ken Blanchard, offers practical advice and information. It also spells out the SMART definitions for goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound.
2) Match the motivation and incentives to the requirements of the job What motivates a Telesales ‘hunter’ is very different from what motivates a Telesales Account Manager, the person assigned to maintain accounts. In his whitepaper ‘Principles of Sales Compensation’ (http://www.chally.com/research/publications.html, section 1:7, page 9), Howard P. Stevens identifies the vast differences. A ‘Closer’ (‘Hunter’), is motivated by highly visible, ‘big hits’. A ‘Relationship’ (Account Manager) sales rep is concerned with compensation stability and perks. The expectations of the job drove the style of Telesales representative that you hired. It is equally important to match the incentives to the expectations of the job.
3) Use personal ‘thank yous’ to motivate One of the simplest ways to motive Telesales and Teleservice representatives is also the least expensive. Look for ways to show that you value the contributions of the individuals and the team. Say ‘thank you’, show appreciation. In her article ‘How to Motivate a Staff’, author and business relationship expert Andrea Nierenberg (http://www.selfmarketing.com/article7.html) identifies a variety of gestures of thanks and appreciation that require management effort but do not require a huge budget.
Tips and Tactics:
- Keep simple thank you gifts readily available so that you can recognize contributions in the moment. Examples: small denomination gift certificates, movie passes, $$ off coupons for the local coffee shop.
- Arrange for your boss to send personal thank you notes recognizing the performance of the individuals on your Telesales and Teleservice teams.
- Use payday as an opportunity to thank your Tele representatives. Ignore the fact that many use direct deposit. Mark your calendar for every payday and make the rounds thanking representatives personally.
- Once you have a motivation plan in place, be sure to survey your Teleteam to determine the impact of each component.
- Include members of the Teleteam when you develop new components or overhaul your current plan.
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Techniques for a successful telesales training outcome
By Denise Clancey
Excerpted from the guide of the same name first published on www.work.com July 2007
Effective training is a key component to successfully selling via telephone. The telephone sales representative has to combine telephone techniques, rapport skills, and sales skills in order to be successful selling to prospects and servicing customers.
There are many companies and consultants who specialize in sales training, not all have expertise in telesales training. Be sure to select a provider who combines sales training expertise with a proven telesales training program and a successful track record training telesales representatives.
Action Steps
1) Look for the right training match for your business
Before engaging a trainer, be sure the training company’s customers match your company. Has the trainer trained companies that (1) target the same markets and industries? (2) sell to the same sized customers? (3) target the same decision makers?
2) Make it repeatable
The best telesales training programs are those that offer training in modules, allowing you to deliver the training and then follow up with training in key focus areas. Be sure to select a program that is easy to deliver frequently, either by engaging an outside trainer or by purchasing access to modules that you can use as needed.
3) Prepare in advance to reinforce the skills and techniques
Before the training starts, commit to reinforcing the telesales skills and techniques. Review this requirement with the trainer you select and establish a reinforcement and retraining plan before the training starts. The best way to do this is to establish a consistent schedule and make it fun.
Tips & Tactics:
- Engage your managers and supervisors. A management team that actively participates in the training is one that is better able to reinforce the techniques.
- Consider investing in ‘Train the Trainer’. Often this investment allows you to save money over the long run.
- Set aside time each month to reinforce one skill. If your team is new, you may want to schedule one skill per week.
- Engage your best telesales reps in the training. Provide an opportunity at staff meetings for your star performers to share their best tips and techniques.
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“Fix the people and everything will be fine.” My prospective client, the president of a mid-sized services firm, was convinced he had identified the source of his call center problem and it was the people.
His opening line led to a discussion of whether he had hired correctly and his opinion that he was overpaying for the contribution the team was making to the business. On the second point, his opinion about compensation, he was correct. He was overpaying for the contribution the team was making, a marginal contribution at best. The answer to the first point, whether he had hired correctly, was not as obvious.
An audit revealed that 5 out of 7 members of the Telesales team were doing the best they could. They were not effective because they were working without the benefit of common process and practices for managing the customer calls and handling objections and requests. Eventually, the lack of processes and common practices had led to a chaotic, every-person-for-himself, environment which had a negative impact on results.
Where do you start when you are trying to determine whether your Telesales or Customer Service people are doing all they can to deliver great customer experiences and revenue to the bottom line?
When developing your assessment, it is important to examine three components: People, Process, and Infrastructure.
1) People: The team of people you have on the phones and the individuals that manage them represent a significant investment and are the cornerstone to achieving your objectives. Be sure to hire wisely and ensure they are well trained, well managed, and fairly compensated.
2) Process: Have you defined the sales/service process? Are the steps outlined clearly? Are the solutions and answers documented and readily available? Do you have a process for updating the team on a timely basis? These are but a few of the questions that need answers in order to guarantee that processes are in place to support teleselling and teleservicing.
3) Infrastructure: What tools are the representatives using? Is the team integrated into the knowledge base of your company? Are they able to manage the phone calls efficiently, using tools that are designed to support telephone conversations? Select the right tools for the job and be sure to avoid over-engineering.
Conclusion: With the detailed results of an assessment that targets these three components, the areas for improvement will surface. A targeted plan with corrective action will be easier to develop and implement.
People-Process-Infrastructure: Be sure to audit these 3 components in order to ensure effectiveness and improve results.
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Call on the Right Initiatives for Telesales
More than ever before, telephone sales are an important strategy in your overall sales plan. Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity to incorporate telephone selling in your portfolio of sales and marketing initiatives or, if you are already deep into telesales, to increase the contribution of the team that you have in place.
Here are 10 ways to ensure your company’s success when executing a telesales plan.
1. Develop a specific Telesales Plan. Telephone selling can play a part, large or small, in every sale. This can range from data base cleaning & lead generation to direct selling and account management. Begin by developing a plan that specifically identifies how your company will leverage teleselling.
Teletip: What new markets is your company opening? What new products are you selling? Do you have add on products or warranties to sell? Are there Field Accounts that are better managed by phone? Be sure to answer these questions as you are developing your Telesales plan.
2. Test Before You Invest. Will Teleselling work for your company? Can I expand the revenue impact of the team that I have in place? A well executed test campaign will provide the answer.
Teletip: You can conduct this test in-house by allocating current resources or engage the services of an outsourcer. Managed well, either choice will provide you with insights and information that will allow you to determine whether your company should focus its Telesales resources.
3. Compensate Contributions. Telesales positions are similar to other sales positions in that a telesales representative expects to be rewarded based on level of risk. Telesales representatives who are responsible for direct revenue and territory management are accustomed to being paid on a leveraged plan which rewards them for exceeding their plan. Those who share their accounts or their territory with other sales people are accustomed to a compensation plan with less risk, less reward.
Teletip: Compensation packages for Telesales representatives are becoming more competitive. Be sure to evaluate what your competitors are paying their Telesales representatives to ensure that you are able to attract the best talent.
4. Recruit and Hire the Right People. Teleselling requires a unique set of skills, both business and personal. Start by clearly identifying these skills. Be sure to review your recruiting process and tools to ensure that they support your ability to source and hire the right talent.
Teletip: Conduct a telephone interview with each candidate. This is a great way to determine the person’s telephone competence and style.
5. Provide the Right Training. Telesales people require Telesales specific training. This includes a focus on rapport building, telephone skills & presence, and a telephone based process for providing the sales people with feedback during the training session.
Teletip: If your company subscribes to a recognized selling method, training the Telesales representatives on this methodology will work as long as you supplement it with Telesales specific skills training.
6. Provide the Tools to Get the Job Done. Telesales representatives require sales and marketing tools, some common to all sales people and some specific to teleselling. Because the Telesales representative does not have the advantage of face-to-face interactions, the representative relies on marketing tools to enhance and continue the sales conversation. Be sure to equip the Telesales representatives with the right tools for the job, among them: sales scripts or guides, sales tracking/CRM software (or call sheets), webinars, ebrochures.
Teletip: Spend some time sitting side-by-side with your Telesales people. Observe them conducting their business. What additional marketing tools could they use to be more effective?
7. Set the Right Measurement Standards. There are two parts to sales performance: effort and results. In this regard, teleselling is no different than Field Sales. If your team or representative is new, focus first on measuring effort: number of calls, number of contacts, number of presentations, etc. Once in place, turn your attention to sales results and orders booked.
Teletip: In an established teleselling environment or with seasoned Telesales representatives, focus on measuring results. If revenue has slipped or a representative is not making his/her number, reinstate the measurement of effort to determine what needs attention.
8. Go on Sales Calls, Frequently. As with any other sales position, accompanying a Telesales person on sales calls provides valuable insights into the representative’s performance as well as information about your prospects and customers. In Telesales, this is done by teleconferencing. Institute a practice of teleconferencing each Telesales representative for a minimum of one hour per week.
Teletip: If you cannot accompany the Telesales representative on live calls, have the sales people tape their calls and review the calls together.
9. Motivate and Recognize Performance. Teleselling is a fast-paced environment and your recognition and reward programs should reflect and support this. Take a Telesales view of your offerings and make the changes necessary to ensure they are motivating Telesales performance.
Teletip: You may be able to use many of the same contests and recognition programs that you use to motivate your Field Sales force. Be sure to modify the components to accommodate teleselling’s pace and volume.
10. Track and Analyze Results, Tweak or Adjust as Needed. One of the features of Teleselling is that you can capture and analyze a lot of information. It also provides an environment where you can test your sales message, target accounts, develop geographies, etc. This allows you to identify opportunities and pitfalls and adjust quickly.
Teletip: Always ask the question ‘what more could we be doing by phone?’ Build testing into your Telesales plan every year.
Implement one or all 10 of these Telesales Strategies and you should see improvements in your company’s ability to sell by phone.
This article was originally published in April 2007 print edition of Women’s Business Boston | Copyright © 2007 Teledirect Partners All rights reserved
Call on the Right Initiatives for Telesales
More than ever before, telephone sales are an important strategy in your overall sales plan. Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity to incorporate telephone selling in your portfolio of sales and marketing initiatives or, if you are already deep into telesales, to increase the contribution of the team that you have in place.
Here are 10 ways to ensure your company’s success when executing a telesales plan.
1. Develop a specific Telesales Plan. Telephone selling can play a part, large or small, in every sale. This can range from data base cleaning & lead generation to direct selling and account management. Begin by developing a plan that specifically identifies how your company will leverage teleselling.
Teletip: What new markets is your company opening? What new products are you selling? Do you have add on products or warranties to sell? Are there Field Accounts that are better managed by phone? Be sure to answer these questions as you are developing your Telesales plan.
2. Test Before You Invest. Will Teleselling work for your company? Can I expand the revenue impact of the team that I have in place? A well executed test campaign will provide the answer.
Teletip: You can conduct this test in-house by allocating current resources or engage the services of an outsourcer. Managed well, either choice will provide you with insights and information that will allow you to determine whether your company should focus its Telesales resources.
3. Compensate Contributions. Telesales positions are similar to other sales positions in that a telesales representative expects to be rewarded based on level of risk. Telesales representatives who are responsible for direct revenue and territory management are accustomed to being paid on a leveraged plan which rewards them for exceeding their plan. Those who share their accounts or their territory with other sales people are accustomed to a compensation plan with less risk, less reward.
Teletip: Compensation packages for Telesales representatives are becoming more competitive. Be sure to evaluate what your competitors are paying their Telesales representatives to ensure that you are able to attract the best talent.
4. Recruit and Hire the Right People. Teleselling requires a unique set of skills, both business and personal. Start by clearly identifying these skills. Be sure to review your recruiting process and tools to ensure that they support your ability to source and hire the right talent.
Teletip: Conduct a telephone interview with each candidate. This is a great way to determine the person’s telephone competence and style.
5. Provide the Right Training. Telesales people require Telesales specific training. This includes a focus on rapport building, telephone skills & presence, and a telephone based process for providing the sales people with feedback during the training session.
Teletip: If your company subscribes to a recognized selling method, training the Telesales representatives on this methodology will work as long as you supplement it with Telesales specific skills training.
6. Provide the Tools to Get the Job Done. Telesales representatives require sales and marketing tools, some common to all sales people and some specific to teleselling. Because the Telesales representative does not have the advantage of face-to-face interactions, the representative relies on marketing tools to enhance and continue the sales conversation. Be sure to equip the Telesales representatives with the right tools for the job, among them: sales scripts or guides, sales tracking/CRM software (or call sheets), webinars, ebrochures.
Teletip: Spend some time sitting side-by-side with your Telesales people. Observe them conducting their business. What additional marketing tools could they use to be more effective?
7. Set the Right Measurement Standards. There are two parts to sales performance: effort and results. In this regard, teleselling is no different than Field Sales. If your team or representative is new, focus first on measuring effort: number of calls, number of contacts, number of presentations, etc. Once in place, turn your attention to sales results and orders booked.
Teletip: In an established teleselling environment or with seasoned Telesales representatives, focus on measuring results. If revenue has slipped or a representative is not making his/her number, reinstate the measurement of effort to determine what needs attention.
8. Go on Sales Calls, Frequently. As with any other sales position, accompanying a Telesales person on sales calls provides valuable insights into the representative’s performance as well as information about your prospects and customers. In Telesales, this is done by teleconferencing. Institute a practice of teleconferencing each Telesales representative for a minimum of one hour per week.
Teletip: If you cannot accompany the Telesales representative on live calls, have the sales people tape their calls and review the calls together.
9. Motivate and Recognize Performance. Teleselling is a fast-paced environment and your recognition and reward programs should reflect and support this. Take a Telesales view of your offerings and make the changes necessary to ensure they are motivating Telesales performance.
Teletip: You may be able to use many of the same contests and recognition programs that you use to motivate your Field Sales force. Be sure to modify the components to accommodate teleselling’s pace and volume.
10. Track and Analyze Results, Tweak or Adjust as Needed. One of the features of Teleselling is that you can capture and analyze a lot of information. It also provides an environment where you can test your sales message, target accounts, develop geographies, etc. This allows you to identify opportunities and pitfalls and adjust quickly.
Teletip: Always ask the question ‘what more could we be doing by phone?’ Build testing into your Telesales plan every year.
Implement one or all 10 of these Telesales Strategies and you should see improvements in your company’s ability to sell by phone.
This article was originally published in April 2007 print edition of Women’s Business Boston | Copyright © 2007 Teledirect Partners All rights reserved
PDF Version of This Article
Eight questions to answer before you make your first telemarketing hire
-by Denise Clancey, President, Teledirect Partners
Companies which take a ‘look before you leap’ attitude towards Telesales are more likely to implement a plan which will be successful and will support the company’s sales and marketing strategy. Before your company leaps into the world of Telesales, ask the following questions:
Before you post the first position...
#1 Does Teleselling complement your sales and marketing strategy? Can your business and sales plan accommodate a telephone selling component? What specific market or prospects will Telesales target and manage? Include both Sales and Marketing in this discussion. Agree on the primary objectives and targets.
#2 Will Telesales be responsible for generating revenue or will it be developing & managing leads and opportunities? These are very different and require different approaches and resources.
#3 Will Telesales own its accounts or will it share responsibility for its accounts with your Field Sales organization? These distinctions need to be considered as you develop the sales and compensation plans and when you begin your hiring.
#4 What is your average order size and who is your target contact at customer and prospect accounts? Teleselling works best when the order size and target contact are in sync with the experience and capabilities of the telephone sales team. Larger order size and C-level contacts require a different teleselling strategy and talent than smaller average orders and department-level contact.
#5 What does success look like? Identifying success elements will enable you to determine whether you will be successful staffing a Telesales team and what you should be measuring and rewarding when you do.
Before you make the first hire...
#6 Who will manage the Telesales Representatives? What is this person’s level of Telesales expertise? A critical component of a Telesales team’s success is its direct manager. If the manager is an experienced Telesales manager, you will do well. If, as in many companies, your Telesales team will report to someone without the experience or even the inclination to manage Telesales representatives, you will need to fix this before you make your first phone call.
#7 What marketing and sales tools will the Telesales representatives need in order to be successful from the start? Some of these are the same as those you deliver to your Field Sales representatives and there are a number that are specific to doing business by phone. Are they in place now or do they need to be developed? Create the list, identify the gaps, create and deliver the tools.
#8 Do you have a current pool of potential candidates or will you need to develop one? What distinguishes your Telesales opportunity from others in your hiring market? Hiring Telesales representatives is becoming more and more competitive. Examine the local market carefully. Make sure the talent is available and that you have developed a compensation plan that is within range of others who are competing for the same top talent.
A Telesales team can make a significant contribution to many companies. A thoughtful examination of the value and contribution of Telesales will enable your company to successfully leverage this resource once it is in place.
Good luck and good (tele) selling!
Copyright © 2003 Teledirect Partners All rights reserved.
9/15/2006, Boston, MA — Teledirect Partners announced today the launch of the Telesales Forum, a professional organization that focuses on topics that are of interest to Telesales executives and senior managers responsible for Telesales organizations.
“The Telesales Forum is focused on providing an environment where Telesales executives can come together to examine and discuss topics that are important to their business and that address their unique concerns”, said Denise Clancey, President of Teledirect Partners and Founder of the Telesales Forum. “In conversations with my clients, it became obvious there was a real need for a peer information sharing environment for Telesales executives. They have unique needs that are not completely addressed by traditional professional organizations. A forum did not exist so I decided to create one.”
The first meeting, held today in Waltham, MA, was titled ‘The Telesales Talent Challenge: Finding and attracting Telesales talent is half the battle, getting their hearts and minds is the other half’. Tom Wilson, President, The Wilson Group and Lee Hoffstein, Founding Partner, Woodlyn Partners, Inc. made up the expert panel.
“The Telesales Forum is filling a significant void in my professional world”, said Joanne Wills of JKW Consults. “Telesales is a unique industry. When my schedule allows me to meet with other Telesales executives, I am always focused on sharing ideas and lessons learned. I learned a few new things at today’s meeting and met people I would never have the opportunity to meet otherwise. I appreciate that Teledirect Partners has put this meeting together and I have already put a hold on my calendar for the next meeting.”
About Telesales Forum
The Telesales Forum is an invitation-only gathering of senior Telesales executives. These executives meet to focus on key business issues, to network, and to exchange ideas. Membership is by invitation only and is limited to senior Telesales executives. The Telesales Forum can be found on the web at http://www.telesalesforum.org.
About Teledirect Partners
Teledirect Partners helps companies who are challenged with getting more sales and improving their customer contact. We work with companies to launch, rejuvenate, and reengineer their Telesales, Inside Sales, Lead Generation, and Customer Service functions.