Originally posted on https://askaaronlee.com/does-phone-marketing-still-work-in-the-modern-business-world/

Everybody hates getting cold calls from companies and most people will hang up almost immediately. So, surely, you should just give up on phone marketing in your business because you’re not going to see any returns on it? You can just rely on social media and content marketing and find your customers that way instead. While it’s true that digital marketing methods are a very important tool, that doesn’t mean you should write off phone marketing altogether. There are still some great ways that you can use phone marketing to find new leads and boost sales, here’s how you can make it work.

Generate Leads First

It’s important to generate leads first because if you just start calling up random people, most of them aren’t going to have any interest in your product. You’re putting a lot of resources into a marketing strategy that isn’t targeted at all so you won’t see any returns on it. However, if you’re calling people that are in the right demographic or have already shown some interest in your products, you’re far more likely to see positive returns on your investments. Try to do some good market research and identify the different demographics that respond well to your products, then focus on those groups. You can also target customers that have bought from you in the past because they’re more likely to listen to your pitch over the phone as there is already some trust there.

Plan Call Schedules

People are more likely to respond to calls at certain times. If you’re calling people up while they’re at work or late at night, you’re not going to get much response. As a general rule, the mornings are better than afternoons and people don’t tend to like getting calls after they finish work. However, it all depends on your target demographic. For example, if you’re marketing to retirees that are likely to be at home during the day, you can be a bit more flexible. Try to think about who you’re calling and what their schedules are likely to be, then build your schedules around that.

Plan Each Call

People don’t want to be on the phone for a long time, you need to get straight to the point, hit all of the key aspects of your pitch, and let them decide whether they’re interested or not. You’re not going to get a good response from people if you’re keeping them on the line for too long. That’s why it’s important that you plan your calls properly before you make them. Think about what you want to get out of the call, exactly what you’re going to say to the customer, and what tone you should approach them with. Proper planning will help you to get better responses from your calls.

Direct Voicemails

One of the major downsides of phone marketing is the amount of manpower that it requires. You need staff members to be calling up those people all day long. That costs a lot of money and if you’re not seeing many returns on those calls, that might not be a good use of your resources. However, you can use a ringless voicemail service to maximize your phone marketing efforts without having to pay the salaries of lots of different staff members. It works by sending recorded messages direct to the voicemails of your customers. That means you can spend a few hours crafting a message and then it will reach a lot of potential customers without the continued investment. This is the ideal solution for smaller businesses that can’t afford to run a large call centre with lots of employees.

End The Call At The Right Time

It’s easy to get carried away when you catch the interest of a customer and try to sell them more products. The thinking is that, once you’ve got them on the hook, they’ll be more receptive to any other products that you’ve got on offer so you should take advantage of that while you can. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way and it will have the opposite effect. Customers will think that you’re being pushy and they might even decide against the initial sale as well. If you’ve got the interest of a customer, your priority should be to close that sale as soon as possible and end the call on good terms, rather than pushing it too far and losing the customer entirely.

Phone marketing is a difficult strategy to get right and it can be a poor use of resources if you aren’t seeing any returns. However, if you follow these tips, it’s a legitimate marketing strategy for your business.