The team at Dunlap Marketing has an average of 12 years of experience working in business-to-business prospecting. Working with customers to help grow their sales through appointment setting and lead generation is something that not only drives our team, but also keeps us dialing!

It’s common for us to hear “does your team have any tips?”. As a matter of fact, we do! If you’re on a cold calling journey, check out our four-part series outlining various tips from the Dunlap Marketing gurus.

Call Preparation

To kick off our series, we’re starting at the beginning. Before a call campaign goes live, you need to prepare for it. Here are some tips from the Dunlap team specific to call preparation:

• Trim the fat and avoid using fluff words when preparing your message – stick to the details that are relevant during an early stage call. Remember that you’re not trying to close a deal on an appointment setting call.
• Be prepared to answer questions the prospect might have before agreeing to an appointment. This might mean doing additional research on your product/service or preliminary research on the company you’re calling into.
• Before you launch a call, know who you need to speak with. This could be knowing which department, a specific title, or even the decision maker’s name.
• It’s common for a prospect to tell you “no” before they understand the purpose of your call. To be prepared for this, practice using rebuttals that will help get your call back on track.
• Re-read your message each time you start a calling session. This will help get your brain “in the zone” and remind yourself of key details.

Stay tuned for part two of our “Telemarketing Tips, From the Pros” series, where we’ll discuss tips you can use during your cold calls.

Update: Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

With robocalls being in the news so much lately, we want to share these tips to protect you from illegal calls and scams. The tips below come from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) website, and they serve as very good advice to follow.  Robocalling is far more reaching than unreputable companies in the United States, as this type of unethical calling often originates in other countries around the world.  In general, the American population seems to be a prime target internationally. 

Consumer Tips to Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Avoid Phone Scams:

• Don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. If you answer such a call, hang up immediately.
• You may not be able to tell right away if an incoming call is spoofed. Be aware: Caller ID showing a “local” number does not necessarily mean it is a local caller.
• If you answer the phone and the caller – or a recording – asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
• Do not respond to any questions, especially those that can be answered with “Yes.”
• Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.
• If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company’s or government agency’s website to verify the authenticity of the request. You will usually get a written statement in the mail before you get a phone call from a legitimate source, particularly if the caller is asking for a payment.
• Use caution if you are being pressured for information immediately.
• If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it. Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number. A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password.
• Talk to your phone company about call blocking tools they may have and check into apps that you can download to your mobile device to block unwanted calls.
• If you use robocall-blocking technology already, it often helps to let that company know which numbers are producing unwanted calls so they can help block those calls for you and others.
• To block telemarketing calls, register your number on the Do Not Call List. Legitimate telemarketers consult the list to avoid calling both landline and wireless phone numbers on the list.