I am sure you are familiar with the maxim, "where one door shuts another opens.” During my time here at TeleNet, I have met many new agents who were worried about the outcome of their first outbound teleprospecting phone call. While each of them had their reasons for why they were hesitant to make their first call, one of the most common has been concern about the reaction of the prospect,what if the prospect is uninterested? Rude? Or even hangs up? Certainly, these things happen to the very best agents. And I must admit, early in their careers, agents are more likely to remember the scars of their earliest calls. What we must remember is that as during our childhood, bumps and falls are an unavoidable part of our early days.
During their initial training, we remind our new agents of the assortment of reactions they will get from the prospects that they contact. Some prospects will be very open to having a discussion, while other prospects may be rushed, reserved, or even impolite. The agent must remember we are dealing with people. Taking a negative reaction in stride and overlooking an occasional bad experience is important. Agents will be successful if they continue to be professional, understanding, positive, and helpful to each person they contact.
I have found that it helpful for new agents to have realistic expectations as they work on an outbound lead generation campaign. While they will make many phone calls each day, only a few prospects will have a real need for our client solutions. The majority will decline the offer. However, it the few great conversations each week that make our teleprospecting campaigns worthwhile, drive ROI and make the job of teleprospecter meaningful.
My suggestion to anyone making teleprospecting calls: Never give up! It really is a numbers game. Master perseverance! Keep at it and do not let the bad experiences get you down. In addition, do not forget: where one door shuts, another will open!