Marketing your brand can be a daunting task, and reaching out to your target market can be time-consuming and extremely expensive.
Moreover, answering calls, attending to customers and retrieving data from the business’s computer system can affect the productivity of your employees, especially when they are attending to other issues.
However, if you contract with a telemarketing service company, you will get a faster, better and less-expensive way to communicate with your clients.
A telemarketing service is one of the most effective tools for your company that can promote your product and significantly increase your profits.
Outsourcing Insight will help your business with setting up right telemarketing service team. Our telesales reps are experienced in b2b and b2c sales.
We have been offering services to our clients since last 15 years from different locations like US, India and Philippines.
You can choose the location as per your needs.
Advantages of hiring outsourced telesales company
Cost
Needless to say, hiring a telemarketing company is the best strategy to boost the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially when the cost of hiring a sales team is too high. Unlike salespersons, most of these companies offer a money-back guarantee if the level of target conversions is not reached.
This assures you that you have made a worthwhile investment. Frankly put, a telemarketing service is way cheaper compared to other marketing methods such as journal and website advertising.
Technology
This point is still related to cost. You are spending more because employees who double up as telemarketers need a separate room with separate desks for conducting their duties. You still need to acquire equipment such as automated dialers, computers, software, phone lines, cables, headsets you name it.
In addition to this, you still need support and proper maintenance of these types of call center equipment’s. This is the cost implications of not outsourcing your telemarketing campaign.
Increased Efficiency
With the ability to create almost an immediate rapport with your customer base, a telemarketing service can improve the call rates hugely. As a result, this increases the efficiency of your marketing strategy while boosting sales at the same time.
Telemarketers join hands to effect your campaign. Remember, this is almost impossible to achieve through other methods.
Convenient to customers
Turns out, telemarketing helps to bring your product/service straight to your customers. They will be able to interact with telemarketers directly, ask questions and raise any concern about the product or service instead of waiting for a reply through an email, which is oftentimes unsatisfactory.
Even better, telemarketers can help you gauge the interest that your product or service has. It will also help you gain invaluable feedback from your customer base, which will help you make key business decisions, giving you a superlative advantage over your competitors.
Measurable results
With a telemarketing service, you can be able to analyze and measure the results of the campaign. Also, you can clearly tell which method works best. For example, “does a conversational style or a pre-scripted speech work best with your audience?” Remember, the information you get from the campaign can be used future marketing campaigns.
Sell to both new and existing customers
A persuasive telemarketing campaign can remind your dormant customers about the existence of your product or service.
Telemarketers will engage them to know the possible reasons why they have not used your products in the recent past.
On the other hand, the campaign increases brand awareness, reaching new customers as a result.
Distracting environments is not always the best
Noise and distraction coming from other employees in the office may prevent other employees from carrying out a successful telemarketing campaign.
With everyone around, the telemarketer who also happens to be your employee will feel naturally self-conscious, and will not want to talk as freely to the person on the other end.
This situation makes it difficult for them to respond to any signals that might be relayed from the client on the phone and so you will lose the lead.
Data for telemarketing campaign
You might opt to source for your own data in a bid to cut costs. But it will quickly turn out that this process is costly regarding money and time.
On the other hand, poorly sourced data is often cheap and not effective in converting leads. And you agree that this will affect your ROI.
On the other hand, a telemarketing company only provides leads based on relevant and strategic data. In the end, working with this data leads to a big boost in conversion, which is good for your business.
Temporary telemarketers Don't Work
Temporary telemarketers are paid low wages on an hourly basis. For this reason, the temptation to hire them is often high because they come at a low cost.
However, the problem with these temporary ‘’professionals’’ is that they often don’t have intimate knowledge of your products or services.
After all, they are just temporary, and this means lack of that sort of commitment which you get from full-time professionals who guarantee their support while integrating their skills into your company’s vision, thus promoting sales.
Effective Telemarketing Scripts
Most businesses are never confident when it comes to writing these scripts. This often results in undesired loopholes and closed questions.
It is for this reason that you are encouraged to hire commission based telesales company to spare your money and time on calls that will cost you for no apparent reason.
Flexibility
If you work with your employees to acquire leads through phone calls, you will need to change your approach every time you engage with a lead.
There is calling a selected list of contacts, and there is also dedicating time to sort out these potential leads. Achieving this kind of flexibility is never an easy task. Managing these leads then becomes an impossible task.
Flexibility should also come into play when considering your employees’ time. Can they work on a Sunday afternoon? If yes, will you compensate them for the overtime work?
In short, telemarketing campaigns need flexibility and the ability to handle leads at any time of the day, and not just between 9-5.
Now, consider these cost implications, and you will soon realize that you are in a better position to outsource telemarketers rather than have your employees taking up that extra job.
The skill of making the talk
As with experienced telemarketers, this is not an issue. But with in-house employees who do not have what it takes to handle the client in any direction they will take them, this can be a big challenge.
It takes more than just following the script. Experienced telemarketers express themselves clearly and confidently even when under pressure.
Also, because they are skilled, they know how to capture the attention of the caller with certain phrases. They know how to keep their interest using the script so that they can skillfully prompt them to take action.
In short, a skilled telemarketer addresses the need as opposed to just selling. The choice of words used here encourages the caller to proceed with the conviction that what they are getting is the right thing.
Outsource telemarketing after you do the following five things
Only a specialist company has what it takes to effectively generate leads for you. And because this is a costly undertaking, there are certain things which should be done before you can consider hiring a third-party. They are as follows:
Clarity Of The Strategy You Are Using For Your Sales And Marketing
A sales and marketing strategy is something that most small businesses will ignore. But the truth is that you should know your target audience and why they would be interested in engaging with you concerning what you are selling.
In that context, a telemarketing company will either choose to offer it as a separate service or wove it into your campaign. If they offer it as a separate service, it will cost you more. If they integrate it into your campaign, they will essentially be doing trial and error work.
In fact, to be sure of whether or not you need a telemarketing specialist, you should consider who your audiences are. If you don’t have a clear picture, hire this service separately.
Budget Allocation
Telemarketing is a slow process that yields result consistently in the long run. This happens because clients soon grow familiar with your business name as they trust you more. For this reason, your leads may respond to one campaign but not to the other which is completely fine since you are likely to experience the same thing if you chose to do the job on your own.
Most telemarketing specialist will suggest a 2 week trial period. But the right way to go about it is to find an ideal specialist whom you will assign a 3 week trial period instead.
After all, telemarketing should make you more money than you currently spend. 2 weeks is a very short time to affirm this. So adjust your budget allocation accordingly.
The Process Of Interviewing A Telemarketing Provider
People masquerade as telemarketers when the truth is that all they have is a desk, a computer, and a phone. Do they have what it takes to build rapport and consequently an effective communication with the lead? You find out.
By hiring a telemarketing specialist, you are not buying sales leads. Instead, you are buying time and skill much the same way you do when outsourcing IT-related tasks.
There are costs involved in employing and managing specialists. These logistics are important to consider in the hiring stage. You essentially need to know the person who will be speaking to your clients on your behalf. You also need to work with someone who is specifically assigned instead of people working in a pool.
Expectations Need To Be Realistic
Sales leads that are generated from networking referrals tend to convert immediately because they have been pre-sold to already. Apparently, many business owners who seek the services of a telemarketing specialist will assume that getting them in front of the right person will always mean closing the deal. Unfortunately, that’s the wrong approach.
Getting leads through telemarketing is a process that takes time because leads have to be nurtured. This is quite different from what happens in networking where closure rate percentage can reach 90% while that of telemarketing only playing between 20-30% for the skilled professional.
Also, the relationship between the telemarketer and their list builds over time. Following a script and implementing other techniques of selling will definitely yield results, but not right then.
Get The Right Quality Of Salesmanship
For telemarketing to work at its best, you need to keep quality salesmanship in mind. Sales teams who do well tend to get regular training which often involves coaching from managers. They practice and give feedback in a bid to refine the craft.
At the end of the day, it boils down to how your competitors are trained and skilled in selling. If they are indeed skilled, you will be disadvantaged. In short, the quality of your salesmanship plays a critical role in your telemarketing campaigns. So approach it with eyes open.
How To Identify The right telemarketing company
These companies come in a variety. There are those who get involved in direct marketing where a wide range of services is offered from generating leads to fulfillment.
Then there are those who invest in inexperienced call reps who are often required to make hundreds of calls just to get a dismal pay at the end of the day.
Whatever the case, consider the following:
Experience of the company
How long have they been around? Do they specialize in B-to-B sales lead generation? Well, if so, get a call center that has vast experience in your specific industry.
Don’t hire call representatives who will cold-call your clients in the most inappropriate times to pitch sales. Ensure they have good customer support call center agents.
Know the numbers
You need to find out the average return on investment from this company. Apart from this, ask them about the number of leads the program will generate as well as the anticipated sales ratio.
Do the legwork for the facility
You need to meet the various account Managers and call teams in this company. See how they are fulfilling requests from leads and listen to their phone conversations as well. You should be able to get a clear picture when you tour the production floor.
Let them give you a written proposal
This should highlight the company’s background, program recommendation, qualifications, and fees. This proposal will tell you whether or not the company is attentive to your needs. It will help you ascertain if they are the right candidate.
Inquire about their technology
You need a sample report on the company’s activities. This will help you gauge whether they have experience in your industry and are capable of integrating their systems with your needs.
References
You should speak to one or two current customers as well as those who stopped using the services of this company a year ago.
This will give you a clear picture of the people who handle accounts as well as the overall quality of services offered by this telemarketing company.
In addition to this, find out if these individuals would be willing to outsource this telemarketer again if there was the need to.
Outbound Vs Inbound Telemarketing: Key Differences
Outbound telemarketing refers to cold calling in which the firm makes contact with customers and asks them to buy a product. On the contrary, inbound telemarketing refers to when customers call the helpline numbers to buy a particular product or seek special assistance.
- Direct Reach Out to Customers: In Outbound calls, telecallers directly reach to consumers or potential leads, whereas in inbound calls customers usually contact to help desk first.
- Change in Goals: Inbound calls largely aim at resolving customers’ post-purchase queries while outbound calls aspired at igniting interest in the mind of the customers about a particular product.
- Lead Generation: Telemarketing Lead Generation is all about inbound or outbound calls when customers seek assistance.
- Timing: Outbound calls are usually processed during the official hours or as per the customers’ convenience while inbound calls are attended to round the clock to help customers even during non-official hours too.
- Top Management: During the inbound conversation, sometimes, customers directly want to talk to uppermost management while outbound calls are largely managed by the experienced telecallers only.
Inbound Telemarketing: Key Works
- Managing incoming calls
- Recording customers name, address and contact details.
- Letting the customers know about the company’s latest products and applicable offers and discounts.
- Assisting the customers throughout the call to solve their worries.
- Handling customer’s complaints on time
Outbound Telemarketing : Key Responsibilities
- Cold calling to random customers
- Calling current and former customers
- Try to pitch a product for sale during a call
- Clear customer’s doubts if any
- Try to analyze the ongoing market trends
Final verdict
Telemarketing is an efficient, flexible and measurable method to market your brand. It gives you an edge over your competitors, and puts your brand top of today’s tightly defined target market.
A well-laid telemarketing campaign can benefit your business and take your profit levels to a whole new level.
As a result, your bottom line and turnover will increase.
[Infographic] – Choosing Best Telesales Company For Your Business
