Work History & Client Reviews

Pre-Qualifying and Probing Questions for Sales

Ask most telemarketers (and managers) what the true definition of a qualified lead is and they won’t be able to tell you.

Ask the top closers what makes up a qualified lead and they’ll tell you they need to ask pre-qualifying and probing questions before they send out information or go into the close. And they use a qualifying checklist to make sure they get this information.

Information that needs to be on your Qualifying Checklist:

1. Why will they buy?
2. Why they won’t buy?
3. Who makes the decision?
4. What is involved in the decision process?
5. What is your competition?
6. What is the budget?

If you want to know how qualified any of your current leads are or where you need improvement, just ask yourself which of these things is missing from your leads now.

Here’s what each of these qualifiers means, and here are specific questions you can use to find them out:

Buying Motives (Needs and Wants)

What is this client looking for?

What are their buying motivations?

What do you need to say to get them to buy?

What is important to them?

What would they like to change this time?

If they could get what they want, what would that look like?

Sample Questions to Reveal Buying Motives

• "Bob, what are you hoping to accomplish with this?”
• "What is most important to you when choosing a vendor/company for this?”
• "If you could get everything you want from this (service/product/solution), what would that be?”
• “Why did you get the (service/product/solution) you got last time?”
• “What would it take for you to choose our company for this?” 

Why Won’t They Buy? (Potential Objections)

Why are they getting another quote?

What are some of their sore spots?

What are they trying to avoid?

Why didn’t they buy last time?

What would they like to change this time?

Why are they looking at different companies?

What are some of their potential objections?

Why won’t they buy?

Sample Questions to Reveal Potential Objections

• “Who do you usually get this (service/product/solution) from?"
• “Are you going to get a quote from them as well?"
• “Why are you considering using a different (vendor/company/provider) this time?"
• “What other solutions are you looking at?”
• “I see you looked at our company before, what kept you from going with us?”

Who’s The Decision Maker?

Who's the decision maker?

How many of them?

Who do they consult with on this?

How much influence do they have?

Sample Questions to Find the Decision Maker

• "Bob, who will you be making this decision with?”
• “Besides yourself, who else will be weighing in on this decision?”
• “Bob, who has the final say on this?”

What's Involved In The Decision Process?

What the decision process is like?

What’s involved?

Who’s involved?

What happens next?

How long does it take?

How many other steps are involved?

Sample Questions to Uncover the Decision Process

• “Bob, after we submit the (bid/proposal/send the information), what happens next?”
• “How long does this process take?”
• “Who’s involved in that?”
• “When would you like to see a decision made on this?”

What's Your Competition?

How many other companies are they looking at?

Is the company they’re using now still involved?

How many bids are they getting?

Who do they like best so far?

What would they like to improve upon?

Sample Questions to Discover Your Competition

• “Who else are you looking at for this?”
• “What do you think so far?”
• “Might you use the same company (providing the current service) again?”
• “Who are you leaning towards so far?”

What’s The Budget?

It’s always about the money!

What is their budget for this?

What did they spend last time?

What is their limit?

What would they feel comfortable spending?

Is your product or solution within their budget?

Sample Questions to Uncover Budget

• “What is your budget for this?”
• “What did you spend last time on this?”
• “If we could provide a solution you were comfortable on this, could you afford xx amount?”
• “What is a ball park range you’re looking to stay within on this?”

Bottom Line: I think you’d agree that the more of this information you get, the more qualified your leads are going to be. And that the less information you have is directly related to how unqualified your prospect is. Important point: Buyers will give you this information, whereas non-buyers won’t!

Telemarketing Magical Phrases

Prospecting Clients

You must make sure you have your prospect's undivided attention.  So you need permission to speak.  Asking for permission to speak by saying:

- May I ask you a quick question?

- Do you have a moment to talk about this now?

In-A-Hurry Easy Exits

- Thank you very much, I've only got a minute.

- I've only got a minute, I'll be real quick about this then I'll be on my way.

- I can't stay long because I've got another appointment.

- Folks, I don't want to waste your time or mine, so let's get right down to it.

Take Away

As soon as anyone shows even a glimmer of interest, start to reverse the process and take it away from them.  Start to make it a little more difficult for them.   Start a little more skeptical of them; letting them know that:

- Hey, I might not stay here much longer.

- Who do you know that might be interested in this?

- I don't want to waste your time, I don't want you waste my time, so before I go any further I do need to ask you a few questions. May I do so?

Appointment Setting

- If I’m with you more than __ minutes it’s because you have a bunch of questions, fair enough?

Take a look at our program/service, I promise you it will not take more than __ minutes, if I am there any longer at your home/office it’s because you ask me to stay, fair enough?

- You know something, maybe this isn’t for you but let me just ask you one quick question and I’ll get out of your way.  If I can show you how you would benefit from __________, would you give it any consideration?

Great! May I make a suggestion?

Let’s set a time to get together to discuss this further.  You can accept it or reject it, and if I’m in your office/home more than __ minutes it’s because you have a bunch of questions, fair enough?

Leaving Voicemail to Warm Prospects

Below are examples of three messages you can leave on voice mail to a prospect that you have spoken to but they're not ready to set an appointment. They have indicated an interest but you keep getting voicemail messages every time you call and they are not returning your calls.

Call 1

Hello Mr. Jones. This is Andrew with ACB Company. You recently had me explain our (products/services) and you indicated an interest in our program. Would you please give me a call so we can discuss if we should go to the next step or not. My number is, 561 XXX-XXXX. Thanks.

If I don't get a response within 48 hours, I call again and leave the message below.

Call 2

Hello Mr. Jones. This is Andrew with ACB Company; calling for the second time regarding the (products/services) you were interested in. If you are no longer interested in (benefits), that is no problem. I don't want to pester you. Would you please give me a call and let me know if you want to pursue this or not. My number is, 561 XXX-XXXX. Thanks.

If I don't hear from the prospect within 48 hours of the second call, he or she gets the message below.

Call 3

Hello Mr. Jones. This is Andrew with ACB Company. I am in somewhat of a dilemma. You indicated that you had an interest in our (products/services) but yet I don’t receive any emails or a phone call from you. If you have decided that for whatever reason you are no longer interested in (benefits), I have no problem with that whatsoever. But I do need to know one way or another. So if I don't hear from you within 48 hours, I will assume that you are no longer interested and I will close your file.

That usually gets their attention.

How To Get Through The Receptionist

Decision makers are never going to be easy to get hold of 100% of the time. And you have the receptionists/gatekeepers at the other end of the line preventing you from speaking to the decision maker. We can use some incentive approaches to make our odds of getting the message through a little more attractive, but we can never expect the impediment to vanish entirely. They are there, and if we can’t adjust to them, sales may not be the job for us.

Instead you use manipulative tactics to get through them, make your introduction warm and friendly, and realize that they are actually there to help you. Doing so, you will leave the pressure for you to try to get through them, instead simply ask for their help.

Top Three Techniques to Eliminate Screening:

1. Use Please

2. Give your full name and company name

3. Use instructional statements

"Hi! Good morning, could you please connect me with __________ please?”

Remember, it’s a receptionist's job to screen you out. So when they ask “Can I tell him who’s calling?”

You respond with “Please tell him Andrew Borda with the ABC Company is holding please.”

Just giving your name or company name invites further screening.

Receptionist: “Can I tell him what this is about?”

Andrew Borda: “Yes, please tell him it’s about (the problem your prospect is having or your solution). I’ll hold while you put me through.”

Always end with an instructional statement like "I’ll hold while you put me through"

Tax Collector's Office + Lead Generation = Sales

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I helped increase sales of my clients by utilizing the Tax Collector's Office new business filings information. This is one of my sources for lead generation that is proven to turn into a nice profit. Majority of the leads I provide mness.y clients converted into sales because they can reach decision makers while still in the early stages of buying the supplies and services necessary to launch, promote, or run a new busi

The Tax Collector issues local business tax receipts for every business in the US. Public access to information about businesses is required by law. Fees apply to information and subscription requests, but there are also providing it at no cost. You may access information about businesses in a hard copy or online.

I have paid subscriptions for this kind of service and I receive daily reports of file activity. I can provide you with more information and/or samples of new business filings in your target market area. I can also provide you with a targeted list of existing businesses.

Email + Telemarketing to Your Advantage

1. Create a subject line that gets open because majority of the people automatically delete email messages from those they don’t know.

2. Create a custom message by including your prospect's services and/or what business category your prospect is.
3. You can get more yeses to your cold email by making it easy for your prospects to say no to you; asking specific questions that uncover your prospects true motivations and what their needs are.
4. In your industry, someone else getting phone appointments and building relationships while you are waiting for recipients to response to your email campaign - you are putting your business in a significant disadvantage. You need to utilize both email marketing + telemarketing to your advantage.

Subject: Phone appointment for Diana Jones

Diana Jones
XYZ Medical Process Improvements
123 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 14
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.xyz-medical.com

Hi Diana,

My name is Andrew Borda and I am sending this email in hopes to set a phone appointment to know more about your independent advisory company. I am just curious if would you be open to chat about generating the clients you’re looking to accomplish?

ABC Web Marketing in San Francisco provides solutions for generating clients to companies in the Health Care and Social Assistance Industry. Some companies include EFG Memorial Hospital, Mountain View Hospital, and Evo Chiropractic.

Brenda, the solutions we provide may or may not be for you; may I set a phone appointment to discuss this in a little more detail?

Thanks,

Andrew Borda
Account Manager
ABC Web Marketing
814 Shellane Ave., Suite 5
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.abcwebmarketing.com

415-333-8888

Hi Diana,

Thank you for responding to my email.

It would be helpful if beforehand we know what your current situation is or what your concerns are.  So I need to ask the following questions.

1. What motivated you to be more than happy to speak and accept my invitation to phone appointment?
2. If you get everything you want from online marketing, what would that be?
3. What is most important to you when choosing a company for this?

ABC Web Marketing has been in business since 2003 and has over 40 years of combined web development, programming and online marketing experience. What this means to you is - we are here to honor our commitments to you.  You can check our credentials at the California Secretary of State's website through this hyperlink Viewing Business Entity - ABC Web Marketing.

The objective for the phone appointment is to find out if there is a fit between what you're company is looking to accomplish and what our company has to offer.  How about tomorrow at 10am?

Kind regards,

Andrew Borda
Account Manager
ABC Web Marketing
814 Shellane Ave., Suite 5
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.abcwebmarketing.com

415-333-8883

"I was attracted to the language you used in your initial contact with me. My first impression was that you were giving me the option to help make the "fit" decision between my company's mission and the services your company has to offer. It had a collaborative effect. My services include mediation, so I'm always willing to discuss topics and options. Your email was a refreshing approach. I tend to bristle at the "hard sell" approach to human communication. Unfortunately my 3pm slot has been filled tomorrow but my morning is now open. Please let me know if that works"