Basic Telesales Representatives(TSR) Interview Preparation Guide

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B2G stands for business to government and is a derivative of B2B and is described as transaction between business and government in which a business entity supplies services or goods to a government sector or firm and can be stated as public sector marketing.

Not everyone can handle sales. You need to have the right attitude and abilities. At your job interview, the interviewer will be looking for your sales skills, and the aspects of the process that help close deals. An example of a good answer includes "The ability to recognize both verbal and non-verbal cues to adapt the sales strategies you implement to impress the prospective buyer."

To answer this question you must have researched the company. Reply with the company's attributes as you see them and how your qualities match them.

Following tips can help in make a call successful :

☛ Make sure the first impression of the call is good as it is very important for the rest of the call.
☛ Be professional yet courteous.
☛ It is very important to be a dedicated to a call, the opposite can be sensed very easily on a call.
☛ Clear the objective of the call before you make one.
☛ At times it is important not to sell over the phone instead connect with the customer and make the deal in the business place.

This can be a very difficult question to answer. It is designed to trip people up who are not too keen on sales specifically. In sales, a good answer would be that you sometimes dislike having to abandon a lead even when it starts to become clear that they will not commit. This answer should indicate that you are eager to close deals and pursue harder markets.

This very ambitious question is designed to test the candidate. If you have a history in sales you may well have some good ideas, so share these and say that you will be able to see how your experience and knowledge can be used to enhance processes when you start in the role. If you have no experience, say that your enthusiasm and desire to learn from a great team will help the team to become more effective.

Unwanted marketing is a crime by the law but one can opt out of it by filing a petition or a request in court. Only some firms are exempted from this law. To avoid unwanted marketing one can file a request in the court to be in the list of numbers which are not to be called by telemarketing firms. I personally think that one should not barge into somebody's private space causing any form of inconvenience to the end user. Telemarketing should be handled more responsibly to avoid such situations and maintain standards of marketing and not degrade them.

Telemarketing industries generally use an electronic device or a software to automatically dial phone numbers. These devices and softwares are called autodialers.

Any time you are asked to provide a negative trait about the position you are applying for, you should tread carefully. An example of an answer that effectively resolves the question is, "Walking away from a sale when I know the prospect could benefit from our solution." This answer shows you know that there are times where you need to walk away and show that you understand that sales is about solutions.

Say that in telesales, especially with cold calling, you should expect a high percentage of rejection. Explain that you never take it personally and simply move on to the next customer. Say that confidence is a vital asset in sales.

B2C stands for business to consumer and describes transaction between business and consumer. It can be best explained by defining retail in which tangible goods are sold from stores or fixed location directly to the consumer.

If possible, think work related. There will hopefully be a number of things you are most proud of in your career to date. Think about your key achievements; were they commercial, people or process orientated? What was the cause and effect? How were you involved, what was improved, saved or developed?

Following are the common telemarketing fraud :

☛ Charity purpose.
☛ Asking for advance payment or fee.
☛ Fraud by over capturing increased payments.
☛ Bank related frauds.
☛ Lottery
☛ False representation of office supplies.
☛ False verification calls.

Turning a cold call into lead is not easy but it is not impossible either. If handled with the right motivation and skill a cold call can be changed into a lead. It can actually be put down as the way that cold calls are perceived by the person making the call and the fear of failure. The key should be to back track for a moment and then offer what you have when you have completely understood what is the landscape of the situation. Always step in with a positive attitude as for this situation it is very important.

You are not required to be an expert on the organisation or role, but a genuine interest and basic understanding is expected. If you are working with a recruitment consultant then they should be able to provide you with extra details and assist with preparation.

In addition, look for and use press releases, corporate and social websites. Ring the call centre to see how they handle your call: do they offer 'up-sell', 'cross-sell', how was the service? Read the job description to prepare for this question, a few key facts or some knowledge show a genuine interest and commercial awareness.

To make telemarketing more efficient every call should be planned with an objective in mind. The opening statements made by the telecaller should be made interesting to grab interest. It is the contribution of each tele-caller that makes telemarketing successful and thus each tele-caller should be motivated enough to make a deal and be clear with his objective. The objection for tele callers in the sector are easy to crack and thus a response to each should be prepared in advance to cross the hurdle and make sale.

Whilst more money, shorter hours or less of a commute are all potential factors for your next role, they are unlikely to make you the 'stand out' candidate of the day.

Know what the company are looking for and the potential job available, and align this with your career to date. Highlight your relevant experience, goals and aspirations in line with the role, to showcase why you are the best person for the job.

When attending a client or customer on phone some basic telephone etiquettes should be followed. Following are telephone etiquettes that should be followed by a tele caller :

☛ Be quick in answering the phone.
☛ Always make sure that the customer is greeted well.
☛ When putting a line on hold take permission prior to it from the customer on the other end.
☛ When transferring a call make sure you do it the right way and make it polite.
☛ At the end of a call make sure that the customer is satisfied and does not have any query or doubt in mind.

My goal is to have a very short learning curve on this particular product portfolio. By doing this, I can aim to be among the top performers in the next 3-6 months. After showing consistent results for another 6 to 12 months, I will aim to become a team leader in the same company because I believe that growing with the same company will give me a strong foundation for my career growth.

Try to think about how you would describe yourself if someone asked you for your strengths, then relate these to what people say about you; peers, agents, managers and stakeholders. Have three or four at the ready, ideally in line with the role you are being interviewed for. Have examples or situations ready, in case your interviewer wants to drill down as to why you think or believe these are your key strengths.

If you are currently working, let the interviewer know and inform him that you will be resigning from there which may need you to serve the notice period.

If you promise to inform them the next day, do so. Do not delay.

Do not commit to join the next working day just to leave an impression when you have some chores left to be attended which will delay the process.

Be honest and straight as most of the firms are familiar with the procedure of resignation and will grant the time to join them when you have been relieved from your duty from your last working place.

Your answer should be relevant to telemarketing, so you could say: I have the ability to talk effectively and persuade people. I am a good listener, and that helps me identify customer needs so I can sell more effectively. My one weakness is that I sometimes get too involved with customers, but I have counseled with my previous manager on this and I believe I no longer have that problem.

Fundamentally, if you look under the skin of the best teams and call centres, they do have certain things in common: clear communication, consistency, fun, performance management, leadership, engagement, incentives, etc.

Think what made up the best team or company you have been a part of or have seen. Have examples to back up any statements for how you would play a part in, or create, this team or environment yourself.

Following are the characteristics that distinguish direct marketing :

☛ The customers are pre targeted.
☛ Customers are addressed directly.
☛ The response of direct marketing is scalable.
☛ The whole process is action driven.
☛ Independent of business size.

Not every customer is in the right mood for a sales call, and I understand that. Irate customers are part of the game, and I can easily calm them down with an apology; however, I will usually attempt to get a callback time so a valuable potential customer doesn't lose out on the great benefits your products can give them.