It is quite common for voice broadcasting leads to begin by dialing an entire list, to check that the contact information is correct. This stage can be delegated to, say, homeworkers or students on an a short term contract.

As you can therefore see - the whole thing is a process from research, through acquisition, customer service and business development. And throughout - you should be updating your database with all of this mission critical information.

The offer

Are you making an offer on the phone? For example, to send information; enter a prize draw; make an appointment; see a demonstration; respond early to a promotion and receive a discount; or come to an event?

Your results will be much better if you make a specific offer. Just asking whether they are currently ‘in the market’, or whether they have heard of you, is not nearly so powerful.

Test, Test, Test

Part of the fun of marketing is coming up with lots of ideas. You’ve got to come up with lots of ideas before you hit on one or two great ones. How do you figure out which ones are awesome? Test them out!

So, for example, if you’ve thought of several offers - test several out on different sub-sets of your database. Then ramp up the one which produced the best test result.

Should you write a script?

The simple answer is that, yes, you should. This will be a very useful tool to start the conversation going. In addition - scripts are something that you can test and change. It is staggering how a few minor changes to a script can double or treble response rates. But if you and your colleagues are all saying different things each time you call - how can you measure what is effective and what isn’t?

I am not suggesting that you should read the script every time you make a call. Once you’ve used the script a few times - it will be like the lines that actors learn. You will have memorised it - and you will be able to repeat it without actually reading it.

The critical opening 30 seconds

In voice broadcasting, the research shows that you only have a few fleeting seconds to grab someone’s attention after they press 1, before they ’switch off’. They then immediately kick into defensive mode. Then all they want to do is hang up.

So you have next to no time to say something interesting and attention grabbing. I have seen countless salespeople and so-called voice broadcasters waste this ‘Golden Time’. Here is the key: establish that you have experience of helping other people with their job title, in their industry with a series of issues which they are probably facing right now.

Conclusion

The more calls you make, the more relationships you will strike up. In combination with the rest of the marketing mix - you will soon find that there are plenty of ‘warm transfers’ to make and that the number of people you reach will increase.