Fourth in a series of articles, well various issues and practices associated with modern ways of selling over the phone.

***************************************************************** The New Telemarketing is a set of selling practices designed to accomplish several things:

(1) To sell more goods and services than its predecessor, the traditional style;

(2) To be less offensive than its predecessor to buyers;

(3) To be consistent with a customer service style of communicating;

(4) To help in recruiting and retaining qualified phone representatives and managers; and

(5) To repair and reform the image of telemarketers in business and consumer communities. ****************************************************************

One of the challenges we face in selling anything is being perceived as being credible from the beginning of our conversations. This requires us to use a credibility statement.

Think of a credibility statement as akin to what is called an elevator speech in business networking circles. It is a very quick recitation that tells the prospect who you are and why you have earned the right to talk with them.

Without one, youre running hard and fast to say something that will sound valuable to the listener. But if you have a good overture, theyll relax, enabling you to take more time to develop your relationship, and to customize your message.

For instance, I crafted the following credibility statement for a client, recently:

Hello, Mr./Ms.__? Im ___ ___ with ___ here is Los Angeles. How are you this ___? Thats good. Were coming up on our 30th year in business and you probably know us from our big booth at Las Vegas trade show and have seen our designer line of ___ thats featured nationally in consumer magazines, and Im on the phone to get better acquainted and tell you about a special _____program that weve put together for you.

From this point, some probing is done to establish needs and to customize the offer.

Traditional telemarketing tends to leave out this very important credibility step, operating on the assumption that the features and benefits of the offer are the most significant things that listeners respond to.

But by trying to cut to the chase, sellers dont assuage essential concerns everyone has: Why should I listen to you? and Why should I believe you?

This is just one way that The New Telemarketing distinguishes itself, making calls progress in a smoother and more professional manner, while reducing objections and rejections.

In future articles, well point out some other valuable features of this style.