The telecommunications industry is the place to be for businesses wanting to grow. By the end of this year, telecom is expected to grow to $1.46 trillion. Just the VoIP segment alone anticipates 204.8 billion corporate customers this year.

These statistics are encouraging for telecom businesses, but they also mean intense competition. What can you do to gain the competitive advantage? How can you grow your telecom business smarter?

Your best bet is to focus on your sales team.

Prepare Your Sales Team for Success

It takes the average salesperson 6.25 hours and about 50 calls to set up a single appointment. [Source: Ovation Sales Group]  And less than 2% of cold calls result in a meeting. Notice that’s one meeting – it’s not even a guaranteed sale!

That’s a lot of time and effort for a comparatively small result. 

What can you do to prepare your telecom sales team for success? Here are a few ideas.

Provide exceptional training

Position your sales team above the rest by equipping them with the best possible training. Your sales reps need to know their stuff. 

Prospects ask a lot of questions. Choosing a telecom provider is a big decision, so they want to feel confident they’re choosing wisely. How your sales reps answer those questions can make or break a deal. 

Teach your sales team about more than just the product they’re selling. Make them experts. Educate them on your company, other employees, your partners, and the industry in general. The degree of knowledge and information your sales reps possess will directly impact the level of trust a prospect will have in your business. 

Encourage continual learning

The telecom industry is growing so rapidly. New technology and innovations emerge regularly. If you’re going to stay ahead of the game, your sales team needs to be informed in real-time. 

We know that most consumers today spend a significant amount of time researching before they buy. There’s a good chance they’re aware of what your competitors are offering or what’s new in the industry even before they talk to your sales team. Your sales team should already be aware of anything your prospect might learn in their own research.

Develop a system

Develop a solid system for organizing leads and tracking sales. Use a good CRM to monitor performance and help you pinpoint areas in the sales funnel that can be improved. 

A standardized sales system ensures consistency in the customer experience. When your entire sales team is using the same resources and giving the same information, nurturing leads is more efficient. You might call this “automated personalization” – a standard process that each sales rep can personalize for each prospect. 

Create attractive content

Few things are more discouraging for a salesperson than having a great product to sell but having no marketing resources to be proud of. 

Knowing that your prospects are researching before buying should cause you to prioritize content creation. Attractive, interesting content will benefit both your prospects and your sales team. 

Connect your sales and marketing teams to collaborate on the kind of content prospects are looking for and that sales reps would find most helpful throughout the sales cycle.

10 Sales Strategies to Grow Your Telecom Business

Now that your telecom sales team is prepared for success, it’s time to equip them with some specific strategies to help them close more deals. 

1. Ask prospects what their goals are or what pain points they want to resolve?

Every prospect uses telecommunications in some form. A compelling sales conversation will address their pain points and demonstrate a keen understanding of their needs and goals. For example:

• Where do they want their business to be in 3 years?
• Are they frustrated by the service their current telecom provider offers?
• Is it an international company requiring a better network or more affordable scalability?

2. Listen actively.

Asking is one thing, but if it’s going to have any value you must actively listen to the answers. Before jumping into your sales pitch, demonstrate that you value the customer by hearing them out. In the process, you’ll gain insight into their problems and how they think. 

To listen actively, pay attention, paraphrase what the customer is saying, and clarify their needs and wants.

3. Anticipate objections and prepare to explain how they can be overcome.

Stay a step ahead of your prospects by anticipating common objections to your telecommunications solution and addressing them during your sales pitch. Common objection to telecom solutions include:

• Limited budget
• Fear of change
• Concern about training a whole company on a new system

Can you explain how your telecom solution can overcome each of these objections?. 

4. Outline the startup process.

Prospects are sometimes reluctant even if they’re convinced your solution is a good one simply because they’re intimidated by the potential disruption of the startup process. Describe what setup and installation looks like and schedule a product demo. 

5. Highlight the long-term benefits.

Long-term profitability must be emphasized. Other long-term benefits to highlight include compatibility with new applications, decreased maintenance costs, and easy scalability.

6. Reference your prospect’s competitors who benefit from your solutions.

Your prospect doesn’t want to be beat by a competitor any more than you do! If a competitor is thriving and benefiting from your telecom solution, your prospect might be more interested in what you have to offer.

7. Offer an estimated ROI.

A company’s decision-makers are primarily focused on ROI when it comes to exploring new solutions. As a sales rep, it’s essential to provide an estimated ROI for customers who might invest in your products or services.

8. Time your sales pitch strategically.

Be mindful of the timing for your sales pitch. For example, year-end or the end of a quarter can be a challenging time for businesses struggling to stick to budgets and maximize profits. Some businesses have a seasonal sales pattern and may be more likely to switch telecom providers during a slower time. 

9. Appeal to the decision-makers.

Most businesses will require approval from company executives and stakeholders before selecting a new telecom solution. Appeal to the desires of those decision-makers when making your sales pitch and interacting with your prospects.

10. Emphasize your post-sale support.

Especially when it comes to technology, prospects are concerned about what happens after the sale. What if they encounter technical difficulties? What if there’s a problem with their phones? How many minutes and automated messages will they have to endure before being connected with a support person who can actually help them?

Emphasize your customer support or service platform and offer to provide customer references. 

Customer Retention is Key to Smart Business Growth

Your job is not done when you get the initial sale. Smart telecom business growth involves intentional focus on customer retention. You don’t just want to get new customers; you want to keep each customer. And in today’s competitive telecommunications marketplace, that doesn’t happen automatically.

There will always be competitors with more options or incentives than you. In the telecom industry today, common approaches to enticing new customers include:

• Giveaways
• Free merchandise
• Discounted trial periods
• A guaranteed lower price when prospects send in their current telecom bill

Investing in strong customer relationships will ensure customer loyalty and maximize profitability. This starts at the lead stage with your sales team. 

Smarter Growth for Your Telecom Business

It can be hard to manage a thriving sales team and an exceptional customer support team at the same time. With all the time, energy, and resources required to maintain a flourishing telecom sales team, you might feel you’re spread a little thin. 

That’s why SelectCom offers our partners a first-rate back office support (BOS) system. We provide:

• 24/7 bilingual customer support
• Customer service
• Billing, and 
• Setup.

And it’s all white-labeled. 

Grow your telecom business smarter by focusing on selling and leave the rest to us. Contact SelectCom today for more about the benefits of our partnership program.