| For businesses that need the opportunity to | | | | need dozens of staff canvassing a wide range of |
| generate potential leads via the telephone, it's | | | | potential leads. This flexibility is difficult, if not |
| often a massive drain on human, financial and | | | | impossible to manage and achieve with your own |
| physical resources to conduct this work for | | | | in-house staff. |
| themselves. Furthermore, inexperienced | | | | #7: FLEXIBILITY 2: Following on from #6 - you |
| telemarketers could damage your reputation and | | | | need to be able to use your telemarketers at |
| your credibility. By outsourcing your demands to a | | | | hours that might not suit your own staff. Will your |
| specialized telemarketing service, you can benefit | | | | 9-5'ers want to change their hours to those |
| from the best in skilled industry professionals using | | | | needed to gain maximum capacity from a |
| proven techniques derived from results-driven | | | | telemarketing campaign? Would they be happy to |
| environments, with the latest technology, top | | | | come into work on a Saturday afternoon or a |
| quality target data and all at an impressive | | | | Sunday morning to cold call your potential leads? |
| investment to revenue ratio. | | | | Consider the over-time implications of this and |
| #1: INEXPERIENCE SELLS ITSELF: When you use | | | | you'll soon see that the cost outweighs the |
| current staff members to perform your | | | | potential benefit. This dovetails nicely into #8 |
| telemarketing, you are usually placing an | | | | #8: COST: One of the most compelling reasons to |
| inexperienced individual into a stressful and | | | | outsource your telemarketing requirements is the |
| demoralising position. Those emotions of stress | | | | cost associated with setting up your own |
| and dispiritedness soon transfer to the call's | | | | telemarketing. Cost comes in two forms, time |
| recipient who unconsciously sense's their distress | | | | and money. Consider the cost of training your |
| and rather than feeling confident about your | | | | staff in telemarketing techniques, in advertising for |
| product or service, they want to terminate the | | | | new staff, over time costs, the cost of |
| call quickly. Inexperienced staff, often working | | | | equipment, diallers, software, scripts, the morale |
| without a script or well-written guide, quickly | | | | costs on staff working unsociable hours and finally |
| becomes ineffective and even counterproductive. | | | | the cost of the calls. Good telemarketers don't |
| #2: YOUR OFFICE ENVIRONMENT: Leading on | | | | want to be constrained by limited talk time limits. |
| from #1, your office environment is not the most | | | | These costs are all included in the provision |
| conducive to conduct a successful telemarketing | | | | provided by your professional telemarketing |
| campaign. With other staff around, your | | | | service. |
| telemarketer feels self-conscious and censors | | | | #9: EQUIPMENT: Closely related to cost is the |
| themselves. By focusing on limiting social | | | | issue of telemarketing equipment. First off, you |
| embarrassment, your telemarketer stops listening | | | | need a quiet separate room where your |
| to the call recipient and successfully responding to | | | | telemarketers can work. They need separate |
| their signals. Furthermore, the environment is | | | | desks so that your potential clients are listening to |
| often noisy and distracting. | | | | others working at the same time. Furthermore, |
| #3: DATA SUPPLY: Where do you get your | | | | you need computers, software, automated |
| potential leads from? A professional telemarketing | | | | diallers, additional phone lines, call monitoring |
| company provides leads that are based on | | | | equipment, cables, telephones, headsets - these |
| strategically selected data. Developing your own | | | | have the double cost of first purchase and then |
| data supply is costly, both in terms of money and | | | | the constant updating required to keep up with |
| time. Outsourcing this to a telemarketing specialist | | | | the speed of telemarketing technology. Equipment |
| saves you both time and money by having the | | | | also requires maintenance, technical support, care |
| professionals provide the right data to supply the | | | | and hygienic cleaning. Outsourcing your |
| telemarketers making the calls. Weak, cheap data | | | | telemarketing needs removes these costs from |
| provides poor leads, occasional low-level sales, | | | | your project's budget. |
| broken contracts and meager investment to | | | | #10: MAKE THE WORDS WORK FOR YOU: It's |
| revenue ratios. | | | | not just about having a good script or talk guide, |
| #4: DON'T BE TEMPTED BY TEMPS: It's all too | | | | it's about being able to express yourself clearly, |
| easy to pay the price of getting in some | | | | confidently and persuasively under pressure. |
| 'temporary staff' to perform your telemarketing. | | | | Experienced telemarketers improvise based on |
| These are reasonably low paid workers whose | | | | the direction the call recipient takes; do you own |
| agency takes a good cut of their worth and who | | | | staff have this quality in abundance? When a |
| are likely to work well for you but are not really | | | | telemarketer uses certain well-honed phrases |
| going to be fully invested in getting the results | | | | naturally, it captures the recipient's attention, they |
| that your business needs. What and where's their | | | | use the script to draw further interest before |
| incentive? They get paid hourly. Temps don't | | | | skilfully leading them to take action and get the |
| know your company, your products or services | | | | results that you need. The very words that |
| well enough to deliver effective results. By | | | | professional telemarketers use are directly related |
| outsourcing to professionals, you receive the | | | | to the needs of your potential customers. Rather |
| support of dedicated and experienced | | | | than selling a product, they offer the recipient |
| telemarketing staff that effectively integrates | | | | solutions, chances and opportunities that |
| their own skills with your company's message, | | | | encourage the customer to connect without the |
| products and services. | | | | traditional fear of tele-sales/marketing callers. |
| #5: TALK THE TALK: Effective talk guides or | | | | It's obvious to see why some businesses make |
| scripts are essential to strategically turning leads | | | | the mistake of doing their own telemarketing. It's |
| into sales. Telemarketing scripts should be | | | | seems simple enough to set up their own |
| professionally researched and written, weak | | | | telemarketing campaign and get the results that |
| scripts lead to loopholes, silences, and closed | | | | they need to help business improve. Buy a few |
| questioning. If you don't feel confident to write a | | | | good leads, rent a few phones and persuade |
| strong telemarketer's script, you need to | | | | some of your sales team to do a bit of |
| outsource to save wasting valuable time and | | | | over-time. It seems to be little output with |
| money on calls that go nowhere. | | | | maximum gain. However, from the tips outlined |
| #6: FLEXIBILITY 1: Truly effective telemarketing | | | | above, it's clear to see that the value you will get |
| requires the flexibility to change your volume of | | | | from professionally outsourcing your |
| approach from hour to hour, day to day or | | | | telemarketing requirements will massively |
| project to project. One day you need a single | | | | outweigh the potential costs and problems of DIY |
| marketer calling select contacts, the next; you | | | | telemarketing. |