Make A Lot Of Money From Your
Telephone Answering Machine

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Your telephone answering machine has the potential to
increase your sales, just by sitting there and answering each
call with a hard-hitting sales message. The most ideal type of
machine is one that will give a message to all incoming calls
of up to three minutes. Do take time to write out a script
promoting whatever it is you are selling. You do not
necessarily need to use the hard-sell approach, but you must
persuade the caller that what you are selling is going to be of
advantage to him/her - stress the advantages the caller will
gain from buying your product: make them wealthier, wiser,
save them from suffering a disadvantage etc.

Once you have put togeather a script, see how you could cut
down on what you want to say, so as to make your sales
message more crisp and to the point. Put down your script
and come back to it the next day and reassess and improve
what you have written. Depending on your answering
machine, could the quality of the recording be improved by
using a tape deck and microphone? Using either method of
recording, make as many "takes" as you need until you are
happy with the message; make sure no unwanted background
sounds can be heard like a dog barking or traffic passing by.

Your sales message should grab the attention of the caller,
describing the item that the caller wants and asking him/her to
listern closely to the rest of your message.

Give the caller a reason, an interest as to why they should
want your offer. People are selfish, therefore appeal to the
callers basic desire; this is why a lot of sales are impulsive.

Make your caller curious, list the benifits, create a need in
their mind for your product.

Tell the caller your price, and compare the price to something
they will be familar with - "less than a night out on the town".
Do ask them outright for the order, then tell them exactly how
to order; the easier it is for them the more sales you will
achieve.

Once you have perfected the sales message, your answering
machine is now a new member of your business, ready to put
your sales message across and take details from interested
callers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The advantage of using your answering machine in your sales
stratergy is that you can advertise using small classified
adverts that entice, that "tease" your prospective customer
into calling your telephone number.

This method makes it easy for your customer to respond.
The majority of people advertising ask readers to write for
further details. By just picking up the telephone and dialing
your number, the reader can save the task of writing for
details - the method is easy and quick: writing would take a
few days to return your sales letter, but calling delivers that
same sales message almost instantly.

Telephone calls are not cheap, so only interested people are
going to call you. Having heard your message, some callers
will not then leave their name and address; don't worry, you
have just saved yourself time and money by not having to
service that caller who would prove to be a non-buyer
anyway. On the other hand, if someone has called and left
their details, you have a strong propect for your sale. The
answering machine has done the job for you.

People would rather call a pre-recorded message in this
instance, than face a pushy salesman on the telephone line.
Mention that your message is pre-recorded in your initial
advert.

We suggest four different sales techniques to consider when
using your answering machine to make sales. The C.O.D.
(Cash on Delivery) method is popular because you can
dispatch the goods once the caller has heard your sales
message and by leaving his/her details wishes to receive your
product. It makes ordering easy for your customer and
invites them to order on the spur of the moment whilst you
have their interest and your details are fresh on their mind.

Whilst this C.O.D. method is excellent for achieving a sale on
the spot, remember that you have not yet been paid. The
reality is that 40% plus of orders sent out will be returned
because the customer was not at home or refused to accept
the package. This may sound disappointing; we suggest you
add the current Post Office C.O.D. charge, doubled, to your
product. This doubling will cancel out the lost cost of sending
C.O.D. and having the parcel returned.

The three-step method is where your customer sees your
advert and is attracted; they then call your number and
receive more sales information. If interested they leave their
details for you to send them the third piece of sales
information after which they can order through the post,
enclosing their cheque, etc with order. The advert, message
tape and sales letter are all working to achieve the sale.

The thirty-day trial period system is where you work the
system as in the C.O.D. set-up, but ask the customer to send
you a cheque in the post, which you will hold un-cashed for
30 days . If the customer is not pleased with the product he
can return it and receive his cheque back within the 30 day
period of his post-dated cheque. At the start of the tape, ask
the customer to have a pen and paper ready to take down
your address details at the end of the tape (in which case
they do not need to leave address details on your answering
machine - you could run your machine on "answer only"
mode). You could say to your prospective customers, using
this method "Do not buy it - borrow it for 30 days". This
system encourages trust in you from potential customers.

As ever, there are variations on these methods which you can
pick and choose to suit your own circumstances. With the 30
day method as outlined above, you may wish your customers
not to post-date their cheques. The money will go directly to
you and is cashable right away - ideal if money is tight.

You could give another telephone number for your potential
customers to call after the taped message is finished should
they need to talk with anyone about specialist details, and
assuming you have another telephone line available. Do
remember, too many decisions for the customer to make will
confuse them. Like life, try to keep it as simple as possible.