How to Create a "Hela’uva" Subject Line (and Get Your E-Mails Opened)

Posted on by

The better you are at composing intriguing e-mails the better your tele-sales results.

E-mail and voice follow up (either live or voice mail) go to together in today’s marketplace like peas and carrots. However, this supposes that your e-mail is intriguing enough to get noticed and opened.

Therein lies the challenge. The majority of your clients and prospects are swamped with e-mail messages. To cope, they tend to devote no more that 2-4 seconds scanning your subject line. If that line does not grab them by the collar and tug their interest, the e-mail gets put aside and ignored, or gets deleted and forgotten.

So, in a nutshell, what you want is a ‘hele’uva subject line that screams to the recipient “Look at me! Open me! Now.”

Here’s how you do it.

Step #1: Use their First Name

When you insert the client’s first name in the subject line, they see it and pause. Your written name is not unlike your spoken name: it gets attention. When you use a person’s name in the conversation, they tend to listen very carefully to the next 12-15 words. No surprises here. People have been conditioned to respond to the internal radar of their name.

The same applies to a written name (especially the first name). It draws the eye like a powerful magnet to the remaining words in the sentence or phrase. This too is human nature. The name creates an itch that needs to be scratched.

Step #2: Use a Number in the Subject Line

The second step to creating a hela’uva subject line is to insert a numeric value.

There is nothing particularly mysterious about this approach except that it cleverly plays on human nature; on the average person’s sense of curiosity and wonder. By using a numeric within the subject line you get your clients intrigued. They wonder what the “10 ways” are or what are the “7 possible courses” or what are the “3 things” they must consider. Most recipients like to take a quick peek and et voila, the message is opened.

Subject Line Examples

The challenge for you is to create something that you can itemize. Here are some examples.

Subject: Sarah, Special Report: 10 Ways to Get Your Calls Returned

Subject: Eric, 5 Possible Course Selections for Accreditation

Subject: Dr. Anselmo, The 7 Ways to Increase Patient Traffic

Subject: Kirsten, 2 Quick Items

Subject: Steve, 3 Things to Consider

Subject: JP: 7 Elements that Impact Your Employees Effectiveness

Subject: Gina, Important – 1 Quick Question

Subject: Rachel, The Top 10 Things Every Single Mom Should Know About Investing

Subject: Mark, The 5 Reasons Why You Don’t Sell as Much as You Could (or Should)

Tip: Odd numbers seem to work better at arousing curiosity compared to even numbers. That doesn’t mean you can’t use an even number but where possible look for that edge. Incidentally, “Top 10s” (an even number) are always great attention grabbers.

Summary

These tips are not huge, earth shattering epiphanies that will sky rocket your sales results but they will help! They are small things but in sales, small things can give you an edge. These subject line examples are a bit unusual from most; they’re distinctive. And because they are you improve your chances of the client opening them and taking positive action. Make your next subject line a hela ‘uva subject line.

9 Secret Telemarketing Tips On How To Be Successful At Telemarketing

Posted on by

My name is Kevin Timothy, and I have over ten years of telemarketing experience. I have had my ups, and I have had my downs in the industry. With these rides, I have decided to share with you my list of telemarketing tips so that you can become a successful telemarketer.

What is telemarketing? Understanding the concept

Before you just throw yourself into a telemarketing position make sure that you understand its place in the business world. As I have stated earlier, sales is a must for any business to survive. Marketing can best be described as the procedures a business must take to make these sales happen. Telemarketing is just implementing the age-old telephone technology. Imagine being in a time when commerce lacked this convenience. Chances are you’d probably only be canvassing doors just to get some marketing done; and the sales wouldn’t even be guaranteed. Take a pause right now to give thanks for having Mr. Alexander Graham Bell.

Know exactly what it is you are selling

If you want to know how to be successful at telemarketing, product knowledge is key. I can tell you that nothing’s worse than attempting to sell something that you don’t know anything about. Even if you’re a genius at your product, its more helpful if you believe in it, too. I mean from the heart! In other words, don’t despise coffee then turn around and try to market a coffee bean campaign.

Get your confidence in total check

Telemarketing tip number three ties into the previous two. Make sure that you have complete confidence in what you have to offer. I’m sure you’ve gotten a cold call from a stranger before that did nothing but stumble all over him, or herself. It’s not a good look at all. No confidence; no credibility.

Master the objections

One thing I have noticed among the best in telemarketing, is their ability to overcome objections. If you want to be successful at your craft the first thing you ought to do is memorize your rebuttals. These are scripted responses your telemarketing company will have to overcome objections. These are essentially gold. And believe me, you will get lots of objections. One cardinal rule to remember is this; buyers are liars.

Your voice means everything to your paycheck

Perfect your voice inflection if you want the deals. Want to know how to be successful at telemarketing? Present yourself in the mirror every chance you get. This helps your public speaking a lot. And even though you’ll be hiding behind a phone at work, you will be able to see your facial expression. If you’re not smiling; do it! Prospects can tell when you’re not, even if you are hundreds of miles away.

Humility and patience is your friend

Successful telemarketers know; you have to be patient in this numbers game. Always remember that you are marketing, and waiting is the nature of the beast. It took me a good two years into my career to finally understand this. If you’re just getting into the industry the sooner you grasp this the better off you will be. If you don’t take any of these telemarketing tips to heart, be sure to take this one. The owner of that company has leads for your to weed through. And there is money in them; you just have to take the time on each call to find it. Be consistent!

Visualize yourself, and place yourself in the picture

In the beginning, when I wanted to know how to be successful at telemarketing, a wise man told me to use visions. Truth be told, there is plenty of money to be made in the business. A great aid for you will be to keep pictures of the things that mean much to you close by. This could be a child, a convertible Audi, or even a picture of a serene environment. Think coastal Portugal, perhaps. There will be rough days, or even weeks, so you have to stay motivated.

Predict the close, but lose the arrogance

Success in telemarketing will not come if you do not assume the sale. Make a great impression within the first 20 seconds of the call, but act like the prospect is going to buy at the end of the call. Mentally place yourself there, if you will. It really helps big time! Doubt yourself for one second and you will routinely bring home anemic paychecks. And be careful of the condescending caller. I can’t tell you how many times I have turned people who acted like they were not interested into a sale. Of all the telemarketing tips you hear, this one’s a mainstay.

Don’t be crazy; talk to yourself!

We all want to know how to be successful at some thing or another. Before you see results, however, it’s going to start with your affirmations. So what you just got called everything but your birth name. The last call is just that; the last call! Move on, take a break, and repeat positive statements to yourself. Make declarations, too. For example; tell yourself that you will close out the day with two sales. There is extreme power in your words, so pay attention to them.

You have now been equipped with advice on how to be successful at telemarketing. You just have to apply and execute. Just a recap:

1. Understand

2. Product Knowledge

3. Confidence

4. Memorize Rebuttals

5. Voice Inflection

6. Patience

7. Visualization

8. Assume the Sale

9. Affirmations

While others may want to add to these tips, they have been part of my survival guide for over ten years. It’s a war out there, and not much has changed since. Good luck, my friend.

Dress Code in the Telesales and Telemarketing Business

Posted on by

The issue about dress code policy in call centers always comes up. Some call centers impose a strict corporate to business casual to casual to “anything goes”. Management almost always encounters resistance from employees on the dress code they want to implement. This friction has led some call centers to loosen up a little bit by giving up corporate in favor of casual dressing, giving employees some leeway on how they want to dress. And the result? There was a significant decline in the employees’ quality of work.

On the other side of the extremes are call centers that do not have any dress code at all. The result? They get nothing but headaches. Their employees would show up wearing clothes that are generally considered inappropriate to the point of being indecent by showing too much skin. This goes to show that centers need to have a dressing policy put in place because it has an impact on how you do business.

So the question now becomes: “What is the right dress code?” The answer to this depends on the nature of the business. An ideal dressing policy that would be acceptable in most call centers is business casual. Some people may argue that dressing up is not really necessary because the customers they interact with over the phone do not see them at all. But what call center employees do not see is that dressing up in business casual gives them a professional image and this professionalism is reflected in the way they conduct themselves over the phone. Also, if clients visit your call center quite often, wearing business casual attire certainly helps give a positive impression. Call center employees have a diverse cultural background, and when it comes to dress code policy making it is better to get the employees themselves involved. This will not only make things easier for the management. It also ensures that the code that will be established is acceptable to all and will be observed by all faithfully. Fines or penalties should be imposed on those who don’t observe the proper way to dress.

Let employees have a breather once a week with a “wash day”. You can put a twist to the business casual policy by giving employees the option at certain times to pay little amount of money in exchange for the freedom to wear what they like (but still conforming to the “code” of dressing appropriately) and donate the proceeds to charity. The fact that that there are some who don’t take the opportunity to dress down does not mean that they don’t to want to support a good cause. It means they are just comfortable with what they wear.