1. Being a telemarketer isn’t just calling people at 8 p.m. trying to sell them something. When people think of telemarketing, they don’t typically think of what we do. We do consumer telemarketing as well, but my company’s focus is more geared toward business-to-business telemarketing. We make calls for a company that has a service they want another company to purchase from them. The vast majorities of our clients happen to be in insurance and in payroll, and they have us reach out to prospects that fit their criteria and schedule appointments for them.
2. Some people will assume you work for some shady operation that’s just trying to scam people. When I first got my job, there were a few remarks like, “Don’t call me at home,” or, “Make sure if you call me, you don’t call me at 8 o’clock, I have to feed my kids,” or, “Don’t try to sell me anything.” And when people ask me what I do for a living and I say I work for a telemarketing company, they’re just like, “Oh…” until I explain it to them. A lot of people think telemarketing is like a boiler room operation or that we’re out to scam people over the phone. We’re definitely not scamming anyone, and it’s like any other sales job, only it’s over the phone.
3. Even if you have a sales background, you won’t be completely prepared with how hard it is to sell something over the phone. I had a background in sales and being able to sell something always came really easy to me. I worked for a publishing company selling ad space for phonebooks, so my sales experience had typically been face-to-face. When you’re trying to sell something over the phone, the person on the other end doesn’t know who I am, they don’t know anything about our company, and so it actually was kind of a struggle for me the first couple of months. It took me two months to bring on my first client and it was stressful. But I learned a lot from the other people in my office and my sales manager in the beginning by listening to how they pitched, how they talked, and what worked for them.
As a telemarketing company operating in many industries we notice fluctuations regarding preferential forms of marketing.
In recent months we have had clients, specifically in the private sector who have been using our services alongside their own forms of direct mail. We have noticed that there are some advantages to this kind of campaign which form a perfect recipe.
Method for the perfect recipe
Step One: Add one phone call and ensure you have the correct details for the decision maker. Whilst you are doing this also discover as much information as possible. For instance, is the service/ product going to be relevant? You can then send direct mail out. It is not necessary to speak to a decision maker at this point.
Step Two: After one week contact the decision maker to ensure they have received the direct mail. If they haven’t, re-send it either by post or in a PDF format via an email (verifying the correct email) and follow up a few days later. You are then able to prompt them to take a look at the mail and potentially in more detail.
Step Three: If the decision maker has received the direct mail it is time to introduce your products/services. In our case, we have noticed a quick decision being made. This reduces the time spent on call backs for companies with a cooler prospect. The end result should be an appointment for one of your sales team to meet with the prospect.
For one, among the most effective means to acquire high quality leads and appointments include cold calling prospects who are consistent with a company’s ideal client profile. As a matter of fact, most marketing activities nowadays focus greatly on handling outbound calls since they provide a more direct way of talking to a potential customer, addressing certain needs, and presenting the value of a product in relation to such needs.
However, one drawback of implementing and operating an outbound telemarketing campaign concerns the existence of effective skills and technologies. As customer preferences evolve amid emerging trends and innovations, service providers have to underscore how vital it is to access updated skills and technologies in marketing their offers.
This has led some big and small B2B players to outsource their outbound campaigns to noteworthy contractors. For the past years, we have seen a steady rise in the outsourcing budgets of companies in various industries. And they sure have their own reasons:
Us B2B types can’t deny telemarketing is one of the most successful channels for lead generation– in a recent survey, 31% of marketers even cited it as their most effective channel.
So don’t hang up the phone just yet – telemarketing is definitely here to stay. Follow these 3 tips to supercharge your campaigns and drive those hot leads.
The Federal Trade Commission needs to update and strengthen the Telemarketing Sales Rule, according to a letter from 38 state attorneys general, to reflect the “realities of today’s marketplace.”
Federal Trade Commission urged to update telemarketing sales rule to protect consumers
Pervasiveness of general media solicitations and advertisements that have resulted in the growth of inbound telemarketing.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine called upon the Federal Trade Commission to update the Telemarketing Sales Rule in order to reflect realities of today’s marketplace and better protect consumers from unscrupulous telemarketers.
With over 20 years of business, sales, and consulting experience SMS is capable of serving many market sectors. We provide the field level support needed to generate results and grow your business. Other companies may provide appointment setting services; whereas SMS will partner with you to grow revenue.
