Telemarketing: What You Need to Consider

Telemarketing: What You Need to Consider An Executive Overview. Bend, Oregon, January 30, 2011 -- If you are considering any business-to-business (B2B) telemarketing project, whether in-house or outsourced, this executi e o er iew is a must read! It is based upon the results of o er a million telemarketing calls and will tell you what works and what doesn"t when implementing a call campaign! #he reality is that less than twenty percent of all telemarketing projects are long-term! #his is due to the lack of planning, hurried or poor training, inade$uate testing and improper measurement of results! %n the other hand, a properly planned and executed telemarketing program will yield a great return on your in estment! n!"ouse or Outsour#ed: The $isks and $e%ards &ome companies think that they can execute an inexpensi e, yet successful B2B call campaign by hiring people at a minimal or entry le el wage, $uickly train the caller(s) how to properly conduct calls, pro ide little super ision and then watch the appointments or leads come in! #his is in almost all cases false! #here are two reasons for this negati e outcome! 'irst, the actual cost is much more than just the hourly rate! %ther indirect costs, such as the time and resources to inter iew, hire and train (initial and ongoing) need to be considered! #he expense of taxes, office space, management and e$uipment also need to be calculated! &ome studies show these factors can raise the total wage to almost three times the hourly rate! &econd, unless you ha e substantial telemarketing experience in areas such as training, list generation, script de elopment, caller management, reporting and $uality assurance, your inhouse telemarketing enture may not be ery producti e! (n outsourced telemarketing project, when properly implemented, will almost always yield better results than an internal effort and the company)s in ol ement of time should be less than an in-house project! In regards to cost, what may seem expensi e (typical rates for *!&! based firms range from +2, to +-. per hour) is actually competiti e with the total in-house in estment! It is also important to note that in-house telemarketing efforts usually take more time to implement and cannot ramp up as $uickly as an outsourced solution! /ow that we ha e compared in-house ersus outsourced call campaigns, the remainder of this paper will discuss the best practices of outsourced telemarketing projects!

O&& 'hore or ()') Based Call Centers #he primary reason why companies select off shore call centers is to sa e money! (nd in telemarketing, the old adage is ery true 0 you get what you pay for! #his is especially rele ant if your company offers a product or ser ice that is technical or not ery simple to articulate! #hink about where your business is located! If it is in the *nited &tates, then your call center representati es should be there as well! 1lease be aware (and stay away from) telemarketing firms that seem to offer pricing that is too good to be true! /o experienced company can charge less that +2, per hour and still pay for producti e callers and other expenses o er the long-term! *irtual or Cor+orate Call Centers ( irtual or remote call center is one that uses callers that are not on-site at a physical location! #hey are ery likely working from a home office! 2hile this might reduce a client)s hourly in estment and make it more con enient for the caller, it does not o ercome the pitfalls associated with this business model! ( telemarketing endor might tell you that it monitors remote callers, but there is really no way to tell what those people are doing and what distractions they may ha e in a home-based en ironment! #he management, if any, is unable to work closely with the callers on a daily basis to deli er the best telemarketing solutions for its clients! ( corporate (or physical location) call center has a central location and all callers report to work, interact with each other and work closely with management! #he callers are more producti e in this en ironment and there is no $uestion of how they might be spending their time! #he initial and ongoing training is usually much greater (and more hands on) at a physical location than with a remote call center! 3ost remote call centers do not e en ha e the ability to meet callers in person before they are hired or properly e aluate their work en ironment! #his is not the solution for companies seeking a successful B2B telemarketing firm! One 'to+ 'ho+ or B2B '+e#ialist 3ost telemarketing companies claim to pro ide multiple ser ices, such as outbound businessto-business (B2B) telemarketing, outbound business-to-consumer (B24) telemarketing, inbound telemarketing, email campaigns, direct mail programs and so on! (lthough some of these ser ices re$uire similar skill sets such as communicating well o er the phone, it is ery difficult to be the best in the telemarketing field acting as a one stop shop! #he way a B2B call is conducted differs greatly from a B24 call! 3ost B2B calls are con ersation-based, aiming to $ualify a business prospect and generate an appointment or lead! #hese calls typically re$uire a more knowledgeable caller and are best dialed one at a time during business hours, whereas B24 calls usually in ol e an auto dialer system and try to contact people at home during e ening or weekend hours! #he goal of a B24 telemarketing project is a higher olume of calls and a one-time sale or lead ersus the more professional approach used in B2B call campaigns! &imply put, if you are going to execute a B2B telemarketing project, it is always best to

choose a company that primarily focuses on that task! nde+endent Contra#tors or ,m+loyees Independent contractors are most often associated with remote call centers and the employer does not pay taxes on their earnings! #his is a common model with call centers looking to sa e money, but the downside is that independent contractors cannot be managed like employees! &tudies in the telemarketing industry ha e shown that independent contractors are more transient than employees! #his leads to high caller turno er and poor results for client projects! #here is really no benefit (other than cost sa ings to the telemarketing company) to a business using a call center with independent contractors! &o be sure to ask the telemarketing firms that you are considering if they hire independent contractors or employees! 5ou will also want a telemarketing company that pays its employees (especially the callers) a ery competiti e wage so that turno er is minimal and the endor is able to attract the most $ualified talent! -e.el o& /re+aration and Training 5ou should not expect a call center to yield positi e results with minimal preparation and training! In order to lay the foundation for a long-term and mutually beneficial telemarketing program, the call center should work closely with you on tasks such as de eloping a targeted list, creating a alue-added and action based call script, setting up reports and implementing an initial and ongoing training schedule (that you ha e the option of participating in)! #his le el or preparation takes approximately two weeks to accomplish, so be aware of any telemarketing endor that will start your project right away or does not want you to be in ol ed in any part of the process! Telemarketing 0etri#s 4lient communication is a critical part of any project and you should recei e daily reports of all calls made and the outcome! 4all centers that use superior technology will be able to pro ide you with metrics such as number of dials to contacts to leads! Information should also be a ailable regarding ariables such as outcome by geography or industry! 5ou will want to confirm the method of report deli ery as well, particularly if you plan on importing the data into customer relationship management (463) software or other program! %ne outcome that is just as important as leads is the not interested category! It is important to re iew these records with the telemarketing company to better understand the reason for the response and to learn from it, making the call campaign more effecti e o er time! %ne last item to consider is a refund policy! 3ost reputable telemarketing companies will ha e some type of established process in case you want to stop the call campaign prior to its completion and get a partial return of your in estment! The deal Telemarketing /ilot /ro1e#t

#he ideal telemarketing pilot project is one that will pro ide the results that you need to determine if a long-term relationship with the telemarketing company is financially beneficial to your organi7ation! In order to increase your chances at success, you should create a checklist like the one found at www!telesourcecenter!com when inter iewing prospecti e telemarketing partners! &ubtract point for each check in the left column and add one point for each check in the right column! #he company with the most points would be the logical decision for an ideal telemarketing pilot project! 23out Tele'our#e Center: Tele'our#e Center, located in Bend, %regon, pro ides superior business-to-business (B2B) outbound telemarketing solutions, inbound call center ser ices and database list products for companies across many industries! 4ompanies that want to increase their sales utili7e #ele&ource 4enter for appointment setting, lead generation, e ent registration, sur eys, sales lead follow up, data cleansing, email ac$uisition and brand awareness! #he bouti$ue firm hires only the best professionals in the industry and works ery closely with clients to ensure a successful and mutually beneficial long-term business relationship! 4all 400)550)6370 or isit www!telesourcecenter!com for more information! Conta#t: /ick 3c4allion 8irector of 4lient &er ices #ele&ource 4enter 9.99 &2 :mkay 8ri e &uite 2.; Bend, %regon <==.2 Tel: >..!==.!-?,. 8a9: ,-9!;?<!-... ,!0ail: nickm@telesourcecenter!com We3: httpABBwww!telesourcecenter!com