“Suppose all the information stored on computers everywhere were linked. Suppose I could program my computer to create a space in which everything could be linked to everything.”
– Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web has become a huge force in the sales and marketing world. It’s also grown massively over the past decade, with social media and search advertising both becoming powerful ways to attract new business. Even so, there’s still one sales tool that the internet cannot eclipse: the telephone. For the moment in time, the telephone will be the best tool to drive direct leads into your business.
If you don’t believe the hype, here are some reasons why the telephone is the best sales tool we have.
Businesses and the telephone
The telephone as a marketing tool only really started to take shape during the 1970’s. Even then, the sheer cost to run a telesales operation put it out of the hands of most companies. For many smaller firms, telesales meant hitting the phones manually, dialling numbers from a printed sheet.
Since then, the technology has moved on massively. Now, even smaller companies can use a cloud based dialler, uploading their data and dialling it automatically – just like larger companies did decades ago.
Building business relationships
In the world of B2B sales, relationships are everything. This is because, even in the largest companies, it’s often up to individuals to make decisions on purchasing products and services, and individuals are much more likely to buy from people and businesses that they know. In fact, according to Marketing Donut, only 2% of sales are made at initial meetings, with the other 98% made once two companies have built a relationship.
For building a business relationship, the telephone remains king. It’s a lot easier to discern humour, pathos, sincerity and other emotions over the phone than it is by email. What’s more, callers can expand the topic of conversation, allowing them to answer client queries and enabling them to really get to know a customer, their needs and their requirements.
There’s almost nothing like speaking to clients over the phone. The only other method that eclipses it is face to face sales – telemarketing often being a method to achieve those face to face meetings.
Building trust
When we speak to someone over the phone, we automatically analyse everything they say, the subtleties of their tone of voice, as well as the words they actually use, to decide exactly what the person we’re speaking to means and to decide whether or not they’re trustworthy. The more we speak to someone, the more trustworthy we’re likely to believe they are. Companies that trust a supplier are much more likely to do business with them, both initially and in the long term.
Showing commitment
It doesn’t take long to write a generic sales email and fire it off to a number of potential clients. According to Smart Insights, on average only 13%-25% of emails are opened, with an average click through rate of just 1.3%-5.4%.
Making a phone call however takes time. Not only does this show you value a company’s potential business enough to take a few minutes out your day, it also shows a commitment to your on going business relationship and demonstrates your company values the personal touch.
If you’re interested in running your own telemarketing campaign using out cloud hosted dialler, get in touch today.