A great way to structure your telemarketing calls to get the results you want is to use the “Rule of 3” as a guideline. It’s a simple yet effective method to structure your script or presentation to fit peoples questioning and buying processes, giving you an organised way you can deliver calls and achieve consistently better results.
The Rule of 3
I have found in my years of telemarketing that a general principle applies to any cold or warm calling campaigns and that is the Rule of 3. Put simply, on a call where you are speaking to your prospect, you have 30 seconds to then get permission for the next 3 minutes to then get permission for the next 30 minutes, (not strictly a rule of 3, however, 3 being the common theme and easier to remember than 30, 3, 30!)
How this works.
You need a bold, confident introduction that introduces who you are, where you are calling from and that you are going to outline why you have called them. This will take around 30 seconds and the prospect will be listening as much to the tone of your voice and evaluating if you sound “like you are selling (a questioning, pleading or worse – groveling tone!)” as to the actual words you are using.
A confident introduction where you assume there will be interest will usually get you permission from the prospect to move to the next step in the rule of 3 – the 3 minute presentation.
Your 3 minute presentation should deliver a clear and not overly detailed description of the services or products you offer, some of the benefits they bring to people or businesses like them and should finish with asking permission to ask some questions, assuming they have some interest in why you have called, you will usually get permission for the next step.
For best results, you need to ask a number of logical questions that will help expose the need or benefit to the prospect of using your services, allowing them to ask the questions they will have and once you have confirmed and identified the need and interest, close the call by confirming any relevant points.
In this step you can have up to 30 minutes to engage with your prospect and make your sale (or book an appointment etc). In most cases, 30 minutes will not be needed for this but having addressed the prospect using the first to steps removes the time pressure because a level of interest has been agreed with the prospect.
This method uses social conditioning where most people find it reasonable to expect a short (30 second) introduction in a phone call then a longer outline (3 minutes) of why you have called to outline “What’s in it for them” before getting into the questioning process (30 minutes) that confirms interest or otherwise.
If you are calling to book an appointment or visit where a face to face engagement is needed, then this method also works very well, giving up to 3 hours for your meeting if positioned correctly.
The rule of 3 is a simple method that will help you to structure your calls and focus your results and keep you confident that you are engaging with your prospects in a professional manner.
To your success!
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