My goal in writing these blog posts is to provide you with food-for-thought, and maybe even help you in your busy workday. So, naturally, the posts are outward looking, focusing on broader training and organisational development topics.

Just this once I’d like to tell you about some of the exciting changes we are celebrating at academy. Hopefully some, or all, of these will achieve the same thing… helping you do a great job.

New brand, new expertise

First, we have a new brand – academy green – offering training in waste management, transport and logistics. Not only does this grow our stable of expertise, it also adds full-time staff and an office in Melbourne.

But the thing that excites us most about it…? We seek to engage in sustainable business.  The added bonus of our ‘academy green’ brand is that, in our own way, academy can make a difference as we educate people about sustainability and managing waste.

Do have a look at the academy green section of our website for more information – or, please, get in touch with any questions.

There’s no place like a home page

As we grow, it becomes even more important that there are a number of ways we can stay in touch with you. If it’s easy for you, we want to be there. If we can provide you with content that helps you with new ideas or ways of achieving your training and learning and development goals, we will. That’s why we are spending time and energy opening up as many lines of communication as possible:

• You can find our new home page at www.academyol.com.au – it features links to many of our services, enables you to find basic information with just one click and you can also sign up to stay in touch with us via whichever form of social media suits you best.
• We have started this blog for people who love learning. If you would like to contribute a post, please do let us know. It’s a great way to get your thoughts out there and we are all for guest bloggers!
• Similarly, we manage a LinkedIn group for anyone who wants to access articles on organisational development, training, education and so on – all in one easy place. If you haven’t already joined, please consider it. It’s here.
• You can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/academyaus or join our Facebook page here.

We’d love to hear from you about content you’d like to see featured, any ways we can make these services more valuable and which type of communication best fits into your busy work day!

And the winner is…

We do a lot of work in the contact centre field and we were delighted to sponsor (what else?) the academy Awards on 6 August 2010 at Star City. The NSW ATA Contact Centre Awards of Excellence showcases individuals and teams who excel and we were proud to be part of the celebration of those achievements. You can see the winners on the ATA’s website here, plus we blogged here and here.

Well that’s it for our news and our changes at the moment. Please do get in touch to share any news or ideas of your own.

In other words, telemarketing is a marketing concept that encompasses customer service and customer relationships in order to build a market responsive company. Telemarketing concepts applied properly can lead to increased sales, increased customer retention, a steady influx of new customers, and more profits.

Companies that approach telemarketing as strictly cold calling sales are missing an opportunity to use the contacts as a foundation for building a strong marketing program.

Yes, it’s true that anyone can get on a phone and read a sales script. But if the employee has no commitment to the company vision, the call will be simply a telephone call and not a marketing call. This is an important distinction and it takes call centre training and sales coaching that begin with a foundation composed of the mission of the company.

Marketing Working Harder

A marketing program has many components and telemarketing can be one of the most important because it is an opportunity for direct and personalised contact with an existing or potential customer. It’s an opportunity the company needs to take full advantage of so that the most marketing force is exerted.

It’s easy to see that simply having someone reading from a script and not prepared to really promote the company can be counterproductive. In fact a poorly handled telemarketing call can result in lost business far beyond the potential customer on the other end of the line. People network with friends and families and can just as easily badmouth a business as they can promote it.

Telemarketing should be viewed as a chance to make the company marketing program work harder and longer but also in a more personal manner. So it’s critical that telemarketing skills be developed and honed so that the most benefit is achieved by the personal contact made with consumers or other businesses.

For example, a telemarketing call can try to promote a single product or service. But what if the contact indicates they are interested in a different type of product? Does the salesperson just say, “Sorry, we don’t sell that particular item.” or does he or she say, “It just so happens our company can offer you a different product that meets your needs.”? After the first response the call ends. After the alternative response the call may continue and lead to the sale of a company product even if not the one originally promoted.

In other words, a “no, thanks” can possibly be turned into a “let’s talk more about your company”. This is power marketing.

Skills That Work

Developing effective telemarketing skills takes training in order to get maximum results. A qualified trainer can provide valuable resources for developing selling skills using the company vision as the starting point.

• Develop effective sales approaches using the telephone
• Learn how to handle conflict
• Master turning a rejection into a sale
• Learn how to manage calls in a way that creates a sense of outstanding service quality
• Motivate salespeople within the organisation
• Learn how to develop rapport with potential customer
• Develop cultural sensitivities
• Develop sales closing skills

These are just a few of the telemarketing skills which can build a solid and successful sales program that supports a comprehensive marketing program. The skills learned for application in a call centre are the same skills which should be used whenever a customer contact is made on the telephone.

The call does not have to originate in a telemarketing department to be a marketing tool. Throughout the company there are managers and staff on the phone with potential and existing customers all day long. They just need to recognize the amazing opportunities.