His mother and father worked seven days a week in very working class environments and my goodness did this tell.

Mr A would make five calls speak to five decision makers, get three of four bits of business from this within weeks but then go AWOL.

He would suddenly re-appear a week or so later when his bonus had run out or the latest women had left him. He was simply brilliant but lazy and unreliable – he was also a major office distraction as working near him meant constant periods of laughter with his non stop impressions.

So I would always argue that work rate is as important as aptitude or application for a successful telesales person.

Fourth on my list for a telesales person is excellent rapport building and empathy skills, allowing an individual to very quickly put themselves in someone else’s shoes.

Last but not least intelligence and speed of thought. You do need to sound relatively clever to be able to quickly move from one subject to another and sound both interesting and plausible.

What makes a good telesales firm?

In my opinion this is very simple – the telesales people it employs.

The better calibre of telesales person - the better the results.

How do you recruit the best telesales people?

I believe you need to offer a unique employment package of career progression, financial incentive and job satisfaction.

From extensive research I conducted during my early telesales career I soon discovered that financial reward came last on most people’s wanted list in terms of their employment – even telesales people! Job satisfaction and career progression featured much higher up the list.

The management and motivation or telesales people is also vital. Keep it simple, honest and humourous!

What constitutes a good telesales call?

Focus on objective first. What are we trying to achieve by making the call?

A good and well thought out opening to the call. Relatively short and concise, with both open and closed question/s.

Listen and evaluate response.