Telemarketing

How to Work Precious Metal Leads

In a booming industry, precious metal leads are a key way to attract investors. Creating an investor profile is an important step in the process. First, consider the type of investor you are trying to target and what you think they may be interested in. For example, many people that invest in hard assets like precious metals do so as a way to protect themselves against inflation or the dollar losing value. By understanding their key motivations, you will be better equipped to close the sale.

Solidify your investment opportunity by writing a memo executive summary and private placement memorandum, if necessary. Creating your investment documents and materials prior to calling will help you to stay organized and on point when speaking with prospective investors. It is also wise to write down some key talking points and statistics prior to calling your precious metal leads. These investors are likely to be already familiar with the industry, so it is important for you to deliver key information that is backed up by data and research. Be prepared to site your sources and explain where your data has come from in case they have read something that contradicts it. Becoming an expert in the industry is important when calling educated investors.

Precious metal leads are typically comprised of investors that have researched the industry enough to know that investing in precious metals and other hard assets can be a way to protect their financial future from market volatility. When speaking with them, you can reference this common understanding and use it as a discussion tool for establishing common ground. Many investors prefer to work with companies and brokers that they can connect with. Creating that personal relationship can help you to establish an opportunity to direct their investments in the long-term.

Plan out the steps you will take to close the sale. This should start with how you will get precious metal leads to what you will do once you contact them and the steps to close. Consider what information you will provide, when and how you will deliver it, and what questions investors may ask. You need to be able to answer them, overcome objections, and create enough interest that an investor wants to move to the next step. Create a combination of marketing and educational material that works for a variety of investors.

Once prepared, you can purchase precious metal leads from SalesLeads.tv. As a leads broker, we are able to secure targeted leads for you to contact. Instead, of calling a wide variety of people that may or may not be interested in the industry, we can provide a list of people that have expressed interested and would be best suited to your opportunity. The ability to narrow down your lead list will save you time and money while increasing your closing ratio. Our team of experts can help to identify exactly what you need, so call 1-800-590-5323 to get started.

Financial Sales Leads to Grow Your Business

If you are in the financial services industry, financial sales leads can help you to close more deals and grow your business.

It is a competitive industry, and in order to stay on top you have to continue reaching more and more prospects then turning them into clients. This can take a lot of time and effort. Many people within the industry focus on networking and building a solid referral group. This has been proven to work, but it takes time, even years to fully develop.

The question is, what do you do in the meantime? You can’t wait for a referral network to flourish when you have bills to pay and goals to meet. Instead of sitting around and hoping that the phone will ring, go after customers and proactively grow your business with financial sales leads.

This type of lead can be designed to check all of the demographic boxes for your ideal customer. Before you can begin, you need to understand what that ideal customer looks like. How old are they? How much money do they make? Are they working or retired? Does gender, zip code, or income level impact their buying decisions? The more you know about your target customer, the better leads you will be able to buy. With a firm customer profile in place, www.salesleads.tv, can help you to locate the financial sales leads you need in order to reach more prospects. A quality lead will save you a lot of time by directing you to the people that are most likely to engage your services.

Start with a Cold Calling Plan

Start by creating a plan on how you want to reach these prospects. Cold calling takes persistence and dedication. You may need to call a single prospect five times before you get an answer. By creating a calling schedule, you can be sure to have time allocated to follow up on leads and to make the initial calls. It is important to know what you are going to say in advance of the call. While you don’t want to come across scripted, you do need to sound convincing, and writing down a few lines, or bullet points will help you to stay on track. Remember to tell people how meeting with you or working with you will improve their lives. These calls are not about you. They are about them and how you can help. Convince them of this, and they will take an appointment.

When creating your strategy, consider how you will track your phone calls and your hot leads. This includes note keeping so that when you follow up with someone you can easily recall where your conversation left off. They will remember and if you don’t, you will come across uncaring and robotic. There are many sales tracking software solutions that can be used without investing a lot of money. If you are unable to purchase one, use an excel spreadsheet. While more rudimentary, it will allow you to create as many fields as you need to identify and remember important information.

To start closing more deals, purchase your financial sales leads from SalesLeads.tv today.

Telemarketing Rules You Should Know About

If you are in sales, it is important to understand the telemarketing rules governing your industry to make sure that you don’t accidentally wind up violating one and slapped with a fine.

There are several laws that govern telemarketing including The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), the Federal Communications Commissions’ (FCC) Do Not Call Registry, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  Many of the guidelines overlap and in the past year some of the rules have tightened, for example, with calls made to cell phones.

Telemarketing Rules for Cell Phones

Previously, if you had an existing relationship with a customer, you could call their cell phone.  This was considered implied consent.  Basically, if they bought something from you they obviously would want to hear from you again, right?  Apparently not.  Enough consumers complained that the legislation was changed to require companies to secure “express written consent” prior calling someone on their cell phone.  The written consent can be in paper or electronic form and can be revoked by the consumer at any time.

Charging a Customer Over the Phone

If you are selling a product over the phone and collecting payment for it, you must receive “express informed consent” from the consumer prior to charging their card. This means that you must disclose the fact that the card is about to be charged and the exact amount of the charge itself. If you have their financial information prior to placing the call, you still must confirm the account they want to use, billing address and the dollar amount that will be charged now or in the future.

Telemarketing Rules for Caller ID

When placing a call, you need to make sure that your phone number, and when possible your name, shows up on the caller ID.  Do a test call to make sure everything shows up correctly and avoid a potential violation.

Live Transfer

In order to reduce abandoned calls, if you are using an auto dialer it must transfer the call to you or another live agent within two seconds of someone answering the phone.  This is to reduce the number of dead air calls and hang-ups.

Robocalls

Before a business can call with a pre-recorded message, it must have consent from the consumer to make that specific type of call.  For example, if you want to reach people with pre-recorded message, they must specifically approve that call.  This is the strictest form of calling regulation apart from making calls to cell phones.  The exception is if you are making an informative call to a customer, for example, an airline calling to say that the flight was delayed.

No list of cold calling rules would be complete without a reminder to scrub your lead list against the Do Not Call Registry.  It is also wise to have a policies and procedures manual, even if you are a solopreneur, that states the steps you are taking to stay in compliance with cold calling regulation.  Make sure that the entire staff reads and signs this document on an annual basis.  If you accidentally call someone on the DNC Registry or make another violation, this will demonstrate that it was accidental, and you have been trying to stay in compliance.

How to Win with Sales Leads

“Always Be Closing” – this famous sales leads quote comes from the movie Glen Gary, Glen Ross.  If you are looking for sales inspiration, this movie is full of classic lines and at least a few laughs. 

While over the top at times, the movie did get a few things right.  If you aren’t closing deals than you are not succeeding and in order to close more sales you need better leads.

Leads Have a Limited Life Cycle. 

Whether you are buying leads or cultivating your own list, the information is only good for so long.  Eventually, people move away, leave to work for another company, or have their needs change.  Having a name with the incorrect phone number or address is a waste of time, money and resources.  Up to date and current information is needed in order to close more sales.

Working from a Quality Sales Leads List is the First Step to Success. 

When you know whom you are calling, have accurate contact information, and know what they may need, you will have a far greater chance of success.  In other words, the more information you have, the better.

When buying sales leads narrow down your focus and try to go after a specific type of customer.  Here are some things to consider when reviewing your average customer profile.

  • Male or Female.  Is there a difference in buying habits between males and females when it comes to your product or service?  For example, if you are selling a membership to a lady’s gym, you very obviously would not want a lead list full of mens names.
  • Average Age.  What age group is your client normally in?  This is extremely important for improving your closing ratio.  People selling funeral services probably don’t want to call on prospects in their twenties.
  • Location.  If you are selling a product or service that people need to be local in order to use, make sure that your lead list is narrowed down by zip code.  Regardless of whether you are promoting a new car dealership, time share, or dental plan, make sure that you are calling people in the area that is close to your service offerings.
  • Income.  When you analyze your target customer, review how much money the average customer makes.  If you are selling a service geared toward high income families, you don’t want to call on people that cannot afford it.  While they may get excited, they won’t be able to purchase which wastes your time.

By understanding who your primary clients are, you can obtain a sales leads list that has those type of prospects on it.  When you make your calls, you will be able to do so knowing that every person you speak with has the potential for becoming a customer.  This will save you time, help you to make more money, and increase your closing ratio.  In the words of Alec Baldwin, “Always Be Closing” and start today by ordering a new leads list.

How to Follow Up and Close Sales Leads

Once you have reached a sales lead it is important to capture their interest and make them excited to learn more.  Some types of sales can be closed on the first try where others require a longer sales cycle and cultivation.  Generally speaking, the more expensive the item, the longer the sales cycle.  Unfortunately, it is easy to lose the sale by not following up in time or not following up at all.

Here are Tips for Closing More Sales Leads by Improving Your Follow Up Skills.

  • Tracking.  You need to have a good call tracking system in place, other than notes on scratch paper.  Your tracking system should be electronic and include a place for notes and when you are supposed to call back next.  Your notes should be as thorough as possible to include personal information that you can use again in conversation.
  • Alerts.  An auto alert system can make sure that you don’t miss any follow up calls. This can be as simple as a calendar alert or tied into a sales tracking software.  If you are on a budget, create a Gmail account and use the calendar feature to set your alerts.  Make sure that you include in the calendar the phone number, person you are calling, and any relevant notes.
  • Have a plan.  It is important to understand what you are trying to sell and the steps of the sales process.  Have a plan for what information you are going to give your sales leads and the order that you want to give it in.  You don’t want to overwhelm someone with too much information at once.  By making a sales flow chart, you can determine where they are within the sales cycle and give information accordingly.
  • Establish trust.  Build a relationship with your sales leads so that they will trust you and the advice you are giving.  Set yourself apart as a knowledge expert in your industry and provide them with useful information.  You should also find common ground so that you can talk about things they can relate to.
  • Create a sense of urgency.  Using a special promotion or a time sensitive offer, create a sense of urgency that makes them want to finalize their purchase quickly.  This is an important tool that will prevent you from spending too much time in the overall sales cycle.  If they are not motivated by the special offer, they are probably not ready to purchase and need to be put on the back burner or second tier of people to follow up with.
  • Keep your promise.  If you say that you will send something or call back at a certain time – do it.  Keeping your promises is important in closing the sale and will give them confidence in your abilities.

If you follow these steps, it will be easier for you to close your sales leads and your overall conversion rate will improve.  It takes time to cultivate relationships but doing so will create long term clients for you and your company.

Cold Calling Tips for Success

Before you pick up the phone to dial, use our cold calling tips to make sure that your calls generate leads and closed sales.  Cold calling isn’t something that most people look forward to doing.  It is, however, an important step for prospecting and keeping your pipeline full.  Make sure that each call is as effective as possible so that you can make more money and spend less time on the phone.

Cold Calling Tips Before You Call

  • Get Organized.  It is important to have everything you need in place before you start dialing.  Getting into the groove is critical for making the most calls and increasing your close ratio.  This is nearly impossible to do if you have to stop calling every two or three calls to dig for paperwork or information.  Have everything you need, including your tracking tools, at your fingertips before you pick up the phone.
  • Research.  You should know who you are calling ahead of time.  This may be as simple as categorizing your leads so you are calling consumers in similar situations or businesses in a similar industry.  By grouping your leads it will make research and calling easier.
  • Identify Help.  Find out who on your team can help you in a pinch.  For example, if you are excellent at opening the door but find it difficult to close, see if a closer is available to help you.  Understanding your strengths, and leveraging the rest of your team, will help you to close more sales.

Cold Calling Tips During the Call

  • Have a Purpose.  Identify why you are calling and what the benefit is to the listener.  Be able to clearly articulate that immediately upon making the call.  Listen into other colleagues for ideas if you need to. You have a very short period of time to make an impression so convey the purpose and benefit of your call right away.
  • Make a Connection.  Find common ground with your prospects and make a personal connection.  This can be as simple as being from the same area, watching the game later that day, or talking about family.  Even brief discussions on commonalities will make a prospect feel more at ease.
  • Ask Questions.  Don’t make the mistake of giving too much information before asking your prospect questions.  The more you learn about them, the easier it will be to close the sale because you will understand their needs and motivations.  By talking too much you may completely miss the mark.
  • Smile.  While prospects may not be able to see you over the phone.  They can sense when you are smiling and happy based on your tone and inflection.  The more you smile, the more confident you will appear which will create a sense of trust and confidence in you and what you are selling.
  • Referrals.  You should use and ask for referrals.  When calling a prospect you are more likely to get a warm reception, or a call back, when you can reference a person or a company that they are familiar with.  Referrals are powerful tools for opening doors.  When you are speaking with a prospect that isn’t interested at this time, you can ask them to refer you to someone that may be and use this strategy to grow your database.

You can also increase your chance of success by starting with a high quality lead list.  By narrowing down your prospects, you can focus on those with a higher likelihood of needing your products or services.  Cold calling requires consistency so after you acquire your list complete your research and block of time for calls every day.  The more calls you make the better you will get and the more deals you will close.

State Telemarketing Laws

If you are a telemarketer or making sales calls, it is important to follow both federal and state telemarketing laws.

Many companies make the mistake of assuming that they only need to follow the federal laws and avoid violating the Do Not Call Registry.  The reality is that each state has the ability to make their own laws and to enforce them.  If you are calling in your home state, you can easily place a call to your local Attorney General to identify any specific laws that you need to be following.  If you are calling nationwide it becomes more complicated, and you need to make sure that your policies and procedures are established to avoid any violations.

Here are some state telemarketing laws that you need to know about:

  • Missouri – The state of Missouri has a No Call Law.  This law prohibits telemarketers from contacting any residential numbers that are on the states no call registry.  Even if the individual has not listed their phone number on the federal registry, they could be listed on the statewide one.  Missouri defines a telemarketer as anyone who is connected to a company that does telemarketing through incoming or outgoing phone calls. This includes automatic calls made from a computer, owners, operators, directors, and managers of said companies. In order to get a copy of the registry businesses have to apply for it and pay a $50 fee.  The registry is updated every quarter and both in state and out of state companies must comply with the telemarketing laws.
  • New York – New York has passed several state wide telemarketing laws that make it more difficult for companies making sales calls.  They require that any telemarketing company using pre-recorded messages must have prior written consent before reaching New Yorkers at home.  They also have a law requiring telemarketers raising money for charity to disclose how much of the money goes to the charity itself.  Both in state and out of state companies must comply with their telemarketing laws and keep records of all activities for two years.
  • Arizona – Telemarketing companies making sales calls in Arizona must first register with their Secretary of State.  If any company has a change in their filing, it must be reported within ten days of the change.  This applies to all companies making telemarketing calls in Arizona.  The state does not allow telemarketing companies to block their Caller ID or use prerecorded messages on mobile devices.

These are only some of the states with specific telemarketing laws on the books.  It is important to check the state laws prior to making calls in order to avoid any potential violations.  You should also create a policies and procedures manual that includes how to follow both federal and state laws.  This will be a good reference guide and show authorities that you are trying to comply if a mistake is accidentally made.

You can also purchase a specific call list from www.SalesLeads.tv to ensure that your calling efforts are reaching the right people and as effective as possible.

The NDNCR – What You Should Know

What You Should Know About the Do Not Call Registry as a Telemarketer

If you are making sales calls you are probably familiar with the National Do Not Call Registry.  As a telemarketing company you are required to comply with specific provisions of the TCPA regulation, including scrubbing your lead lists against the DNC registry.

Here is what you need to know about the Do Not Call Registry and staying in compliance.

  • The registry was created in 2003 and is monitored by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
  • People can list their home phones and personal phones on the registry.  Business numbers are typically not listed but it is smart to check in case a small business is using the owners cell phone.
  • Calls covered under the DNC are those with the purpose of selling something.  This includes people selling something directly or arranging a sale for someone else.
  • If you are conducting a survey and trying to sell something on the same call, it is covered under the DNC guidelines. If you want to make survey calls without worrying about the guidelines, gather the data you need and make a separate sales call.
  • In order to have use the established business exemption, a consumer needs to have bought something from you within the past eighteen months.  If they have applied for something from your company, but not purchased, you can call for an additional three months.

Exceptions

Political calls, charities, survey calls, and companies that a consumer has an existing relationship with do not need to abide by these provisions.  If a charity is calling to raise money they are not bound to the DNC rules, however, if a third party is calling on behalf of that charity than they have to abide by the rules and stop calling if the consumer requests it.

If you are a for profit company you can also gain exemption from the rules by doing the following:

  • Providing Information.  If your calls are for informational purposes you do not have to follow the DNC guidelines.  For example, an organization calling to inform people about a community event.
  • Business to Business Calls.  B2B sales calls are exempt from the DNC guidelines, making it easier for telemarketers to contact businesses rather than consumers. Just make sure not to call personal cell phones, as they could be registered.
  • Receive Written Permission.  If you want to call or text consumers that may be on the DNC you need to obtain  prior written permission to do so.  This can be a traditional document or electronically signed.  Prior written consent should be obtained whenever possible as you build your calling data base because it gives you the most calling and texting flexibility.

Remember to follow these guidelines in order to stay in compliance and avoid receiving unnecessary fines.  A recommended best practice is to create a procedural manual that lists out your policies and procedures for how to check numbers against the do not call list, what you do when someone asks to be taken off of your list, and how you train employees on regulation updates.  This binder should include a training log that employees have to sign, certifying they have read and understand the compliance.  Even if you are a small organization, this binder could prevent you from getting a fine if you make an accidental mistake.

Telemarketing Rules for Debt Relief Companies

The Bureau of Consumer Protection Business Center has released a guide on telemarketing rules for debt relief companies.

There are basic provisions about cold calling that apply to all industries  For example, you must scrub your lead list against the Do Not Call Registry and must have a policy in place for how to follow these guidelines.  As of October 2013 companies are also not allowed to send text messages without prior written consent.

While many of these rules are the same across all industries that are specific, additional provisions that apply to debt relief companies.  These regulations have been created to protect consumers against what the government feels are deceptive or misleading practices.

The major difference with these new telemarketing rules is that it ALSO applies to calls you receive – not just outbound calls you place.

Here is what you need to know:

  • You must make specific disclosures before selling people your services. There are specific things that you have to disclose.  This includes how long it will take for the consumer to see results, the basics of what you will be doing for them, what they have to pay, how working with you will negatively impact their credit, and information on dedicated accounts. Basically, the consumer needs to be informed about how your business works, the steps along the way, and the good and bad results that they will experience.
  • You must be truthful about your services. You cannot make false or unsubstantiated claims about your services.  This is common sense but necessary to specifically mention it.
  • You can’t charge or collect upfront fees.  Until you have settled their debts or somehow negotiated a different payment scenario, you cannot collect fees from the customer.  If you negotiate each debt individually, you can collect a fee each time.  The caveat is that you cannot front-load any payments. If you are having customers make a payment of fees and to the creditor that goes into a specified account their are set rules for how that has to be handled.

The best way to protect yourself from violating telemarketing rules is to stay up to date on changes and create an internal policy that is regularly shared with your employees.  Make sure that employees are trained on the fact that telemarketing rules now also apply to in-bound calls they receive.  Keep a log where each employee signs that they were trained, or received a refresher course, on a specific day.  This is a good best practice for any company that is engaged in telemarketing.  The penalties are less severe for companies that can prove they are trying to abide by the regulation but may have had a rogue employee.

If you are providing outsourced telemarketing services make sure that your contract specifies who is liable for any violations, who would pay the fees, and if either party is required to provide legal support in the event that charges are brought.  It is important for each party to abide by the telemarketing rules and specific contracts can protect you in the event of an accidental violation.

Definitions Under the TCPA

Definitions Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

 

If you are in sales, marketing, or a telemarketer by trade it is important to understand the rules found within the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in order to avoid accidentally violating them. TCPA Violations can lead to fines or even losing the ability to telemarket.

Here is what you need to know:

Telemarketing Defined

The regulations consider a telemarketing call to be one made by advertisers to offer or sell products or services.  If you are simply providing information it is not telemarketing.  For example, an airline telling you a flight has been delayed is not considered telemarketing.

An Autodialer is a Machine or Software That Helps You Make Calls

When you have to pick up the phone and personally dial every call, it can take a lot of time and slow you down.  Minutes are wasted dialing, waiting for someone to answer, and getting busy signals.  An autodialer can automatically call people for you and give them a recorded message or connect you once they have answered.  While this is a more efficient calling method it is also more highly regulated.   If your autodialer delivers a pre-recorded message it is considered a robocall, the most highly regulated form of telemarketing.   Previously, if a consumer had an existing business relationship with you a robocall would be acceptable.  Now, there must be prior written consent in order to avoid a violation.

Text Messages Are Regulated by the TCPA

Recent regulation has made it more difficult for telemarketers to contact people on their cell phone.  Now, if you want to send a text message you need to have prior written consent from the consumer to do so.  This cannot be considered implied consent but must be clearly spelled out in writing.  You can have consumers sign their consent on a traditional piece of paper or electronically give their consent.  This is a big change because in the past an existing business relationship fulfilled this requirement. The only exception is text messages for the purpose of informing someone, rather than selling them something.

Do Not Call Registry 

It is important to always scrub your call list against the national Do Not Call Registry.  Remove anyone that is on the registry from your list.  If you contact someone that was not registered, but wants to be removed from your list, you must do so immediately.  It is wise to have a written policy in place for how you remove people once a request has been made.

Violating TCPA Regulations

If you violate the TCPA guidelines you could be fined anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per call, message, or text.  This is not per day but per call.  If you make 100 calls that violate these regulations that could be a $150,000 fine.  Many companies have gone out of business due to these penalties.

Stay up to date on regulation and create policies and procedures to protect yourself and your company.  Taking the time to ensure that you are in compliance could save you money and headaches down the road.