Ask darom03 about being a sucessful telemarketer

[darom03]

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Did you use a script?

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Yes. Even after years of practice, I still used a script. But more for guidelines. I had written the script myself, so that it suited my approach.

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How many calls a day did you average?

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Dunno. Depended on my mood.

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Average closing %?

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Cold canvas. Close to ten percent, which is rather damn high IMHO.

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Length of call?

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I was a smooth talker. And smooth talking takes time. I often used upwards to half an hour per "customer". But I had the highest avg. $ per customer in the firm.

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Motivating factors: self/employees?

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My basic motivation was pride. Mind you, telemarketing was my first serious job experience. I just got out of the army, and I was looking for something to fill the gap until my studies started. I responded to and ad for telemarketers.

Imagine my surprise when I found out I was really good. The money were pouring in. I made more money than anyone I knew. At the age of only 19 mind you. The feeling was intoxicating.

So much in fact that me and a pal decided to start our own telemarketing company, doing exactly the same as my previous employment as chief of sales.



[/ QUOTE ]Why'd you finally leave it?

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I grew up. Or I remember one time I was selling to this really dumb truck driver. He was his own boss and made a living out of transporting live stock. I convinced him he would be ideal for transporting horses for riding schools (I sold adds for a cd-rom targeting the head masters at various schools, including riding schools) and he had to promise me not to say no when the school headmasters called.

A couple of weeks later, I got a notice from our incasso bureau that he had yet to pay the bill of nearly 1000$. I did my own incasso as I was better at it than the bureau, so they told me before they acted on it. It was his wife who answered the phone and I immediately explained how poor a payer her husband is. She broke into tears and told me her husband died a weak ago. I left my apology and quit my job the week after. I did, however, get employment at another telemarketing company some weeks later. But it was never the same and I only lasted a couple of month grossing below average. That spelled the end of a career spanning nearly eight years. Eight years of deceits, lies and a feeling of inexplainable pride...