What do Telemarketing and Writing have in common?
Everywhere You Go, Always Take Your Skill Set With You
I’ve done telemarketing jobs on and off for over a decade and in different countries.
And through the boredom of repeating the same questions day in, day out, closing in on an ever thinner target audience, I’ve made great connections and learnt a lot.
Of course, I’ve connected with fellow headset-wearing souls who, like me, were timed on a visit to the loo, which was capped at 3 minutes of paid time away from our desk.
But I’ve also connected with the most varied kinds of people, on some level.
From:
- the granny telling me the head of the household just passed away (sad! and no time for condolences when you’ve just been hung up on)
to:
- the business owner eager to tell me what ‘crap’ these (name censored) printers are, launching into a detailed description of the problems he encountered after each ‘On-the-scale-of-1-to-10,-how-would-you-rate… ?’ question, as if I was going to troubleshoot the (censored name) brand.
Still, no job will teach you nothing.
Little did I realise how much knowledge I was accumulating and making my own.
This came from the customary briefings before each new study…
… and hundreds of hours spent talking, sometimes in a several-minute, one-sided pitch that would often end up in the receiver being slammed down on the other end.
These would also shape my resilience and sharpen my skills.
Better still, little did I know how useful this resilience and these skills would be in my career, and in particular my writing career. I apply them every day in content writing as well as on this platform. Or at least I try to.
Here are 5 tips for you that have been brewed carefully for years and years. They’re transferrable to the point of boredom. Because in simplicity lies great, articulate content that speaks to people.
1. Avoid negatives
Everyone knows this one, yet who can resist some culturally satisfying negatives (as in, they’re so second-nature that their pervasiveness into everyday language goes unnoticed) such as ‘not bad’ or ‘I didn’t see it coming’?
Despite the attractiveness of ready-made formulas, we should prefer ‘This movie was thought-provoking’, or ‘That deeply shocked me’.
Your point of contact, whether it’s someone sitting on the other end of a phone or readers, respond to positive wording better. It (purely incidentally) sets up your reader for buying what you’re saying, quite literally as well as from a figure of speech perspective.
Along with positive affirmations, using the active voice is also one that readers and Google alike enjoy best.
2. Positive Attitude
Manifesting your goals has a lot to do with attitude. Just as your tone of voice is the gateway to a telesale, your tone of writing is the ticket to repeat readers.
Sum up all the best in yourself before you start flying across the keyboard. Not only is it a great recipe for wrapping your content up nicely, but also an antidote to the dreaded blank page.
3. Know Your Audience
When I used to sit at my booth repeating the same words over and over again, our target was clearly marked at all times. Go for men and women between the ages of 18 to 60. Now down to 8 men between 25 and 40 and 15 women between 18 and 25. Ugh.
As much as the marketing process of knowing exactly who you want to target is cringe-worthy to many a true artist, it’s a force that’s got to be reckoned with.
It’s worth dwelling on who your target reader persona is, what age they are, what sex they are, what they do for a living and the like. Then you can tailor your content to match that all-encompassing person.
You can also change it if you find that your persona doesn’t tick your revenue goals as you go along.
As far as I’m concerned, the concerns behind telemarketing and writing run parallel.
4. Engage And Entertain
In a 15-minute survey, if you don’t change the subject for a split-second or try a joke, you may end up losing your contact altogether. Putting the receiver down is such an easy thing to do.
So is discarding your phone and never going back to finish reading that article.
As a writer, it’s your duty to offer down time. Any topic can get too much too soon if there are no breaks included.
Think of something you’re passionate about. Now imagine you went to a two-hour conference on this topic. I’m thinking chocolate. Why not?
Even this could prove soporific if the lecture didn’t include either a tea break or some well-placed asides.
That’s what we’re all striving for in our writing, right? And when we ourselves are passionate about what we’re writing about, it can be yet so easy to skip that step.
Well, that’s just a reminder.
5. Be Genuine
Authenticity is key, who am I telling news to here?
Still, this is something that, much like the tone of your voice (point 3 above) can have a great impact on the reception of your piece.
Be warm and your audience is more likely to warm to you.
Those are five of my top transferable skills from telemarketing to writing. I’ve got a feeling that many, if all not skills we add to our belts throughout our careers, and indeed life, can be enlisted in our writing.
What is the best use you make of lessons learnt in a previous career?
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