A lot of call centre websites and magazines will claim that outbound cold calling and telemarketing is a dying art form. They site the Telephone Preference Service in the UK, and in the USA it is the National Do Not Call Registry, as bringing telemarketing and cold calling to a halt. But is this the case? Is this the end for telemarketing?
Telemarketing Is Still Vital
Ever since the telephone was invented it has been used as a form of generating new business. Whether to set up meetings and appointments or to sell everything from property to computers, it has been a vital tool in generating business.
Telemarketing, though, in recent years has had a bad rep. With conmen using it to empty bank accounts, foreign call centres and unscrupulous salesmen misselling the vulnerable or confused. Some might rightly say under these circumstances that telemarketing should be banned. But these people are only a small percentage of the telemarketing industry.
If you are looking for an inexpensive yet profitable way to gain new business then telemarketing could be your answer. Outbound cold calling is quicker than knocking on doors and you can contact more companies or individuals in a day's calling than you can in advertising or walking the streets.
The Best Form of Marketing
Get it right and telemarketing can be the best form of marketing for your business. You can quickly and easily see the results of your investment by the number of sales or appointments generated. The guess work is taken out and you could increase sales by 100% or more.
Get Telemarketing Right
If you are going to do it, do it right. Get telemarketing wrong and you could be grouped with the scamsters and conmen cited earlier. You could do more damage to your business than good. So obey a few simple rules and get it right.
- Obey the laws of the land and do not missell or trick anyone into anything
- Make sure you are calling numbers that have been checked against the Telephone Preference Service, Do Not Call Registry or similar national body, and if the number is registered do not call
- If someone does not want to talk to you thank them for their time and leave them in a positive frame of mind, be the one telemarketer who respects their wishes that day and keep them positive about your brand
- Don’t try and create the perfect script for your telemarketers, as it does not exist. Just have an outline and allow them to be have free fluent conversations. Nothing turns a customer at the end of the line off quicker than someone who sounds like they are reading from a script and can’t have a conversation
- Where possible, run a data capture campaign where you get warm leads to call; this will reduce the need for cold calling and heighten your chances of success
Fight the Fear of Telemarketing
Cold calling and telemarketing are not for the faint hearted. It sounds simple but hearing no 100 times a day can be soul destroying and soon individuals can develop a fear of the phone.
Be a positive inspiring influence, pay decent commission that keeps them focused on the end goal and remind them of how crucial their role is to the company’s success. No one wants to work in a sweat shop, so make your telesales team a fun place to be.
In short, telemarketing works and you can make it work for you.
Samuel O'Prey - I am the marketing manager with 10 years online design, development and marketing experience and over 8 years telemarketing, direct ...
