THE HIDDEN MESSAGES IN TELEMARKETING CALLS

One of the primary secrets to the success of any telemarketing script is BREVITY — say as much as you can in as few words as possible. People place value on their time. And listening to a sales pitch about something they don’t think they need depletes their time value with each word.

An obvious example would be using a phrase like: “…for only $69.99 a year.” We could have said, “The cost for our product is very low. It’s $69.99.” By using the word “only”, we’ve intimated that the cost for the product is very low and the customer is getting a great deal. We’ve provided a subtle message with one word, rather than eight.

A not-so-obvious example, would be: “We’re calling people in [New Orleans] to let them know about…” In this case, we used the CITY in which the person lives to personalize the message, make them feel special, and let them know we’ve spoken to other people in their area. Remember, the person on the other end of the telephone is not hearing every word. They’re hearing the words they want to hear and forming messages based on these words. In this example, the message they hear is: “Something’s going on in my city that I should know about.”

These are only two small examples of the hidden messages in telemarketing calls. There are others, like asking a question that will elicit a “yes” response; verifying a name and address while at the same time getting permission to tape record or request information; even rationalizing a price point right after disclosing it – “That’s only $69.99 a year. You can save that much just using the service once!”

However, remember that every script is different! Depending on what product or service you’re selling, the demographics of your prospect, and the desired end result of the call (i.e. sales, appointments, survey information, etc.) your hidden messages will change. As long as you keep it short and use hidden messages instead of sales talk, you won’t “oversell” and your scripts will be a success.