Telemarketing is one of the most effective methods of push marketing. It's an positive way of selling which gets high response rates. However, to make the campaign successful you need to gain the interest of your caller within the first 8 seconds. It's only when they're interested that they'll actually listen to what you have to offer them.

So you need to have a well rehearsed and strong elevator pitch. This pitch needs to capture the recipient's imagination within 8 seconds, otherwise the phone will simply be put down and you've missed out on a sale. If you go on for more than 8 seconds the recipient will get bored and possibly stop listening.

It's a good idea to practice your elevator pitch on friends, family, work associates and anyone that is willing to listen and test it. Ultimately, it won't be until you use it on your target market that you'll know how effective it is. Try using different variations and see which one gets the best response.

People don't have time

When calling your prospects you're probably aware that they're busy people. Most of them will be very wary of sales calls and will want to hurry up the phone call so they can get back to work. Telemarketing to consumers can be even more difficult because you're calling them at home. 

If you're interrupting someone's meal time, social time or even TV time, you need to be quick. Try to understand your recipient. You might be offering them a perfect solution to their biggest problem. But, you've just called during a cliff-hanger in their favourite soap opera! How can you bring their imagination away from TV and instead towards your conversation?

What makes an effective elevator pitch?

Most elevator pitches tend to be under 30 seconds. Imagine; you've just got into an elevator and in walks Sir Richard Branson. You've got a business plan that you think he might invest in. But the elevator doors have just closed and it takes less than 30 seconds to reach the ground floor. How are you going to sell your business to him?

You must be concise. Don't waffle or drift off subject. What exactly does your business do? What are the main benefits of your business? Sometimes you might need to think on your feet and alter the benefits to reflect whom you're talking to. For example; Sir Richard Branson might see different benefits than a tennis coach would.

Putting it into action

So now you've got that perfect elevator pitch all lined up, shorten it to just 8 seconds. 8 seconds is a fairly long time. You should be able to introduce yourself, introduce the business and explain what the business does and at least one to three benefits.

If everything comes across naturally, you're friendly and polite, the elevator pitch is clear and concise; all that's left is to see if the prospect is interested. If they are, they'll ask for more information. If they're not, they'll let you know.

Why not let us know your elevator pitch in the comments below?

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photo credit: DieselDemon