Submitted by: Audrey Bodman

Strategies for better Employer Engagement by phone

Is fear of the phone holding you back and killing opportunities for your staff and their customers? Below are five mistakes and strategies that can help you create better engagement with companies when you are cold calling.

My experience of training advisers within the Welfare to Work and skills sector has lead me to understand that picking up the telephone to enhance and develop relationships with prospective employers is a stumbling block for many. This results in phone fear and lost opportunities.

Every time you fail to pick up the phone, you also fail to help find an opportunity that could be ideal for your customers and their employment prospects.

Securing Employer Engagement is a major part of ensuring customers have access to genuine, real opportunities when seeking to gain employment.

You work with the unemployed who may have a barrier preventing them getting into work, yet in many instances, the phone becomes a barrier to identifying that elusive job for customers.

When we are working especially with customers who are disadvantaged in some way, how we feel about Employer Engagement has a huge impact on our ability to help those customers.

Cold calling: Does it get Results?

The answer bluntly is YES!

When I was a personal adviser getting long term unemployed people into work, my success was down to my ability to connect with both customers and employers and more importantly, embracing cold calling.

Cold calling doesn’t have to be as we fear it. Picking up the phone might be to find out more about a specific industry that your customer wants to work in, or checking what training opportunities there are for your customers. Any cold call should simply be seen as the first step in ‘warming up’ a contact you don’t yet know well.

Avoiding these five mistakes can improve your results.

Any of these tips when put into action will improve your success rate.

1. Stop giving too much away to the receptionist. He/she is not the decision maker so don t reel off your full presentation to them. Get straight to the point and speak with confidence. Avoid phrases like Is it possible to speak to…. and instead say Good Morning Sarah Wilson please. Sound as if you know the person!

2. Don t ignore objections when you hear them. Focus on building your company s credibility by overcoming them.

3. Don t be put off with some vague promise. If you have to ring back, get some commitment from the employer by asking, When might be a good time to call you back for some feedback

4. Make sure you have your contact s name before you speak to them.

Get the name first and continue to build rapport by using it.

5. Don t ask for decisions before you re clear about the employer s needs. Ask open ended questions to enable you uncover what s important to the employer.

Try these strategies out for size and see how your employment engagement benefits from them.

About the Author: Audrey Bodman is a passionate Telephone Techniques Trainer & Practitioner specialising in telesales, customer service, sales & employer engagement. Her results are second to none. Find her training & coaching programs here.

telephonetraininguk.co.ukuk.linkedin.com/in/audreybodma

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=1830761&ca=Career