Surprising Thoughts on Telephonophobia (from a Call Center)

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

If you’ve opened up LinkedIn in the past few days, you’ve probably seen posts going around about a recent Wall Street Journal article called “The Workers Who Do Everything on Their Phones—Except Answer Calls”. In a nutshell, this particular piece has thousands of professionals chiming in with their two cents and personal experiences with Telephonophobia, the fear of making or taking phone calls.

As you can guess, Dunlap Marketing has a few thoughts on Telephonophobia. Our perspective is backed with nearly three decades of experience making business-to-business lead generation and appointment setting calls on behalf of clients across the country and world.

With that being said, our ultimate opinion might be one you might not expect to hear from us – but hey, we like to keep you on your toes!

Drum roll, please

At Dunlap Marketing, we believe that phone calls are one of multiple touch points that can and should be used when prospecting, nurturing, and selling. Yep, we don’t believe phone calls are the end all be all, but we do believe they are highly effective (plus cost effective). To quote us in a past article, “The Benefit of Utilizing Multiple Lead Generation Approaches“, from 2018:

“Utilizing multiple resources will help maximize your results. Telemarketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, direct mail, and content marketing are all examples of lead generation techniques. When used together, various modes of lead generation complement each other.”

And there you have it – a surprising take on Telephonophobia.

For more on utilizing telemarketing to complement your marketing and sales strategies, reach out to Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com – or if you dare, pick up the phone and call 281.833.3000 x140.

Three Steps to Launching a Successful Telemarketing Campaign

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Starting a new telemarketing campaign requires careful planning and execution to ensure success. While there are dozens of steps that need to be taken to set your campaign up to be as successful as possible, we have narrowed the list to the three most important. 

  • Define Your Target Audience: Before making any calls, it’s crucial to identify your target market. Who are you going to call? Who do you need to speak with? We suggest getting very specific with your target audience. Some examples of specific criteria to use are geography, size of business, and industry/niche. 
  • Develop a Script: Craft a well-thought-out script that outlines the key messages you want to convey during your calls. Your script should be clear and concise. It’s important to capture attention from the start, as you’ll only have a few seconds to deliver your message.

    Note: while having a script is important, at Dunlap Marketing we like to call it a “road map” – this approach allows for natural, human-to-human conversation and engagement.
  • Train Your Team: Properly train your team to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and resources to make successful calls.

    While providing thorough training on the product or service being offered is important, don’t get bogged down in the nitty gritty details. A general overview is sufficient.

    Finally, practice, practice, practice before launching the first live call.

By following these tips, you can lay a solid foundation for your telemarketing campaign and increase the likelihood of achieving successful outcomes. To learn even more about starting a new telemarketing campaign, download our free “6 Steps to Implementing a Successful Telemarketing Campaign” ebook.

For more information on launching telemarketing campaigns, contact Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com or 281.833.3000 #14.

Should You Always Talk to the Decision Maker When Cold Calling?

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

In most sales cycles, speaking with the decision maker becomes crucial, typically in later stages.

However, at the beginning of the sales cycle, it’s often unnecessary to speak directly with them to be effective. In fact, it’s my belief that in most situations it is not critical to speak with the decision maker to be productive with your work.

Here’s why:

  • 1st – The sales cycle may never start for a particular prospect if it is dependent upon speaking with the key decision maker. In looking at the hierarchy of people involved in the evaluation of a purchase decision, there is no secret that the decision maker will probably be the most challenging to get on a phone call.
  • 2nd – The decision maker might be removed enough from day-to-day activities that they might not be aware of issues or concerns with the current product or service that you are selling. If they are aware, it might not yet be high enough of a priority as it is to the decision influencers. If you get the interest started with the influencers, they can indirectly help you advance through the sales cycle.

If you have setup your teleprospecting game plan correctly, there is a good chance that you are both targeting a very specific business segment and this is the first time you are cold calling into this segment.

In typical selling scenarios, securing a deal with a single call is uncommon. Based on this fact, accept that there is a process that you will take that leads you to earning business. In the initial stages, take the opportunity to learn about the company, learn what current system they have in place, learn satisfaction levels, learn future timing for change and importantly, learn about the person(s) you speak with throughout this journey.

If you stay in touch, and cultivate the opportunity, at some point in the future you should have earned your way to speak with the decision maker. However, to get to this point you do not necessarily need to speak to a decision maker – decision influencers can be your best friend.

In summary, take what you can get while making your prospecting cold calls, capture this information and build upon it. Remain committed and consistent with making your cold calls. Never forget that selling is a game of numbers. The more work, the more you are persistent, the more you will earn the right to speak with decision makers, and when this happens, you will be properly prepared to earn their business.

Does telephone-call-based appointment setting still work?

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

This is a question I hear more and more frequently. 

The quick answer? Yes. 

The long answer? Yes, but let’s talk about it. 

First, if you agree that not every business person responds to only one prospecting method, then I suggest effective B2B prospecting includes the use of multiple prospecting methods, such as:

  • Social media (Linked In, Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
  • Traditional advertising (print, radio, TV, etc.)
  • Website – website optimization
  • Paid placement ads
  • Telephone calls
  • Emails

If your style is to focus only on select methods, there is a chance you are missing out on reaching decision makers that do not utilize the methods you choose to use. For example, if your primary approach is to sell business through social media tools, it’s likely that your message will not connect with a decision maker who does not use social media platforms.  

What should be expected is if you use social media, your message will be delivered to people who also use that platform.  On the flip side, it is not reasonable to expect your message to jump across different marketing methods to reach a broader range of decision maker who might not be connected to various marketing methods.

A second point –  I commonly speak with companies who are interested in hiring Dunlap Marketing. It’s also common for our first conversation to start with the representative sharing their opinion that they don’t think telephone based cold calling does not work.  I always find this interesting as they initiated the call to me.

I have learned over the last 28 years of running my company that what they are actually trying to share with me is the fact that they DO NOT LIKE making prospecting phone calls themselves, or they DO NOT TAKE these types of calls when they come to them.  I then respond by asking, “in your opinion, does cold calling not work simply because you do not like making or taking phone calls?”

Telephone call prospecting (telemarketing) works and it is very effective at reaching and talking with prospects, but it does not reach every prospect.  It is a great way, and a unique way to have a two-way conversation with a prospect.  

Ask yourself, how many outbound prospecting methods allow a human-to-human two-way conversation? It is a great way to maximize your investment or efforts when using other marketing methods.  Phone calls allow you to advance your sales process even when you are unable to speak with the right person.  Examples:

  • 1st – you can gather intelligence from influencers or others who are informed of current status
  • 2nd – you can leave a voicemail message which allows you to keep your name front of mind with the right person

Both are positive outcomes.

Keep in mind, phone calls require a degree of tactful persistence and patience.  You have to stay with it if you want results.  In this high-tech world that we live in, evidence shows that targeted teleprospecting generates successful new business transactions.  

For more information, contact Mike Dunlap:

Email: miked@dunlapmarketing.com

Phone: (281) 496-9870 x140