HOW TO DECIDE WHICH TELEMARKETING COMPANY SUITS MY BUSINESS BEST?
Is Telemarketing for you?
Telephone marketing can help you to promote your products or services, build your customer database, generate leads and appointments, stay in touch with existing customers or generate new ones. It can fulfill a vital role in the marketing of your business.
As a business you can manage your outbound calls and telemarketing activities in-house. However, this is a time-consuming task for your sales staff or your sales team may be overqualified to do the leg work. For this reason, you may want to consider to outsource your telemarketing activities.
The top benefits of Telemarketing for any business:
– Telemarketing enables a business to talk to real people which means direct contact with (prospective) clients.
– A great way to follow up on your email marketing campaign and target in particular those who have opened your emails.
– A cost-efficient way to book telephone and face-to-face business appointments.
– The only advertising tool which provides immediate results.
– Helps to expand a business through higher sales.
What are you looking to achieve?
It’s is important to set out from the onset what you are trying to achieve in terms of quality and quantity of a telemarketing campaign. You may want to achieve a set number of telephone appointments or face-to-face appointments per week. And you may know in advance that you only want to target businesses with more than 20 employees in a certain industry. When you meet up with a telemarketing company to discuss you requirements, they will usually ask these questions in order to prepare a detailed instruction. This will not only help you get the most from your outsourced telemarketing campaign, but it will also help the telemarketing company to get the relevant information that are specific to your requirements.
Choosing the right telephone marketing company
A great telemarketing company is hard to find, but the right one can positively impact your sales revenue and lead generation efforts. Look out for companies who match the requirements you have set out for your campaign, who have experience in telemarketing in general, but who are also familiar with the industry what your business is in. You’re choosing people who will represent your company to the outside world and who will be the first point of contact with potential customers. It’s therefore vital that the service you choose is not only cost effective but lives up to the standards your company sets and fits in with your work ethic.
Make sure you call more than one and take this opportunity to listen to their expertise and services. Take note of their approach to you and their interest to your campaign. A professional telemarketing agency can help you bring new business in the door while protecting your brand image and reputation.
What to consider to help you to identify the right telemarketing company for your business:
- Expertise:
It is essential to the success of a targeted telephone marketing campaign and can provide reassurance if you know that they have dealt with other clients within your industry.
- Quote & Fees:
Are you paying a fixed amount per campaign, an hourly rate or for a set number of calls? Some telemarketing companies also charge a setup fee to cover administration and training costs.
- Work ethic:
The general work ethic of the firm will directly affect your campaign. Make sure that the company follows legal and ethical telemarketing practice (this should be stated in the contract) including confidentiality around your campaign strategy and information obtained through your campaign.
- Data:
There are usually three options:
aThe telemarketing company purchases a database on your behalf – ensure that it’s written in the contract that the database and all subsequent information gathered belongs to you.
bThe telemarketing company offers you their own database – It depends if you are paying by results only or by the hour. Paying by results only entitles you to the information relating to any appointments created and paid by you. If paying by the hour you may be sharing the results with the telemarketing company.
cThe telephone marketing company uses your database – If you already have a good and up-to-date database it may be worth to work from this data. Especially if you have contacted the data already in the past, by email or post.
- Reporting
Will the telemarketing company provide in-depth reports on what they’ve been doing and what results they’ve obtained? This is crucial for planning future campaigns and working out return on investment.
- Meet and greet.
We always think it is a good idea to meet face to face, if you can, to make a further assessment. Arrange to meet them at your premises to help them get a good understanding of the culture of your organization. If you invite their representative over to meet you, at least they can take a little look inside your business and act more like they work for you. It can be equally beneficial to check out their environment from which they will be working from.
Assessing the above criteria for any given telemarketing company does require effort. Take on the advice above and you’ll soon be enjoying the satisfaction of an expanding customer base, greater client retention and a growing revenue. Choosing the right company can mean the difference between success and failure of your marketing and lead generation efforts. Meet with several companies before choosing which one suits the personality of your business and the goals of your campaign.
What to look out for and questions to ask when you enquire:
– Does the company have a good reputation in the industry?
– How many clients do they have?
– Do you charge an hourly rate or is your pricing based on performance?
– Do they offer guarantees?
– Does the telemarketing company have superior phone staff with good communication and sales skills?
– Does the telemarketing company offer free script development?
– Could the telemarketing company give an indication of the sorts of results you should expect following the campaign?
– Does the telemarketing company have any previous relevant experience or case studies?
– Can the telemarketing company handle any size (big or small) inbound or outbound telemarketing program?
– Do they have the appropriate technology in place to handle my campaign?
– How regularly will I get an update?
– Does the telemarketing company guarantee confidentiality when it comes to your customer lists, marketing strategies, and leads?
Summary
To sum up before engaging any Telemarketing company, it is important to know what you want; it is a good idea to prepare a short brief. People buy from people, so assess how your enquiry is dealt with when you approach the supplier. Have a look at their track record and ask for client testimonials. Assess their core values to see if they match those of your company. Ensure that they have systems in place that will enable timely communication with your company.
A good telemarketing company should demonstrate professionalism, enthusiasm, honesty and integrity. We hope this article has helped you to decide if telemarketing is something that could help you grow your business. At eDivert, we specialize in B2B Telemarketing. Please click here to find out more. Our team of talented telemarketers are fully trained to make the best out of every call. Need to boost your sales? Contact us today for further details on: 01628 637 900 or e-mail us on info@edivert.co.uk .
