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You're about to launch a major telephone campaign to shore up your circulation and compensate for a recent uptick in churn on the back end. Corporate management is counting on you--the campaign is a big investment and you must succeed. You've pulled a list, cleaned it, checked it and have a lot of confidence in it. You've got a script from last year, and it seems okay--but is it? Is it clear, concise, quick, user-friendly to caller and customer alike? Just how important are scripts, anyway?
Simply put: Extremely important. The script is your anchor, the tool that can either make or break a sale. And with new Federal Trade Commission rules in place, your script has become even more critical. According to the FTC's telemarketing sales rules, not only are your phone reps restricted to calling customers within a certain time period, they must clearly identify what publication they're calling from, and, most crucial, they must oblige any customer who asks to have his or her name removed from a telemarketer's list. Whether you're on a consumer title looking for new business or renewals, or a trade magazine trying to requalify target readers, these seven ingredients for developing effective, successful scripts should be an integral part of your approach.
Do some strategic attention-grabbing
"There's an art and science to any script," says Gary Rich, president of Subscription Marketing Services, a telemarketer that is a unit of Chicago-based ICT. "The science part is the introduction and legalese. The art is capturing someone's attention in a short period of time. After all, they weren't waiting for your call, and it's likely you interrupted whatever they were doing. Try to get them to refocus."
To do that, it may help to grease the skids. Try sending potential subscribers a copy of your magazine before the call campaign gets started. This helps ensure that the targets recognize the name of your title. "To bring home the sale, we tell people we're calling from a magazine they've recently become familiar with," says Sylvia Sierra, circulation manager of Potomac, Maryland-based Phillips Business Information, publisher of 11 trade titles. "Then, we tell them that in order to keep getting it for free, they just need to verify whether they want to keep receiving it."
Don't get caught in a script glitch
"Our quality-assurance division tries to anticipate everything, including any possible rebuttal a customer might make," says Rich. "The telephone reps need to be prepared for what they might hear." In addition, each script has to be clear and concise so the customer knows exactly what the magazine offers editorially and at what price. "You don't want your script to confuse someone with any other facts that will cloud the issue," he adds.
To bolster the script itself, Rich suggests sending copies of the magazine, any promotions related to the title and the media kit to telephone reps. These materials will help explain who the target audience is and what the respondents may say to an offer. "Our trainers explain the ins and outs of specific titles," he adds. "We used to do work for Bowling Digest. In the script, we knew that readers wouldn't say they didn't have time to read a bimonthly immediately. But our script emphasized the fact that the techniques to improve your bowling game that are included in the magazine would always be valid and helpful to them."
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