Telemarketing Resources

What is telemarketing?

Telemarketing is a discipline that is fast growing and is seen as a powerful tool for business leverage. The main tools used within telemarketing are the telephone, which is used to perform direct sales. Those individuals or organisations who are hard pressed for time, have the option of outsourcing a telemarketer who will conduct their business over the phone.

In what ways can telemarketing be used?

It can perform several important roles including:

The follow up on customers who respond to adverts, exhibition attendance or the follow up from mail shots;
To identify the key personnel at relevant target companies;
To research new areas of sale or potential new products and services;
The sales of direct goods which are sold on a return on sale or return or a trial basis;
To contact existing companies to remind them of anniversaries or special offers, and to check if they are satisfied with a product or service.

Telemarketing can offer a way to reach prospects without having to meet them face to face. It can save on time, money and also target a high number of contacts. Telemarketing can also have its disadvantages, such as not knowing the impact the telemarketing service has on the customer or knowing if the focus from the customer is 100% on the product or service. The customer can easily cut a telemarketing sales person off the phone, if they don’t require their assistance, or if they are unhelpful in any way. Even with its disadvantages, telemarketing can still be used to great effect. It may be possible for a sales person to make a sale over the phone for the first time, but the success may depend on how easy to understand or how well known the offering is. Telemarketing or telesales as its better known can work well by keeping a customer informed of new products and services that can encourage repeat sales to their client’s organisation.

Why is telemarketing important in the field of marketing?

There are varied reasons for the increasing popularity of telemarketing in the marketing field:

Minimal cost – it is a very inexpensive way of marketing. Telephone call rates have drastically dropped over the years and still are day to day, so therefore telemarketing is a very inexpensive way of marketing.
Direct talk – talking directly with the customers and the consumer is a good method to use in marketing, mainly because the customer is made to think about the product, can ask questions about the product and receive those essential answers which will help them learn more about the product.
Saves time and brings technology – this marketing method can save time because sales executives do not have to visit a customer face to face to sell, they can call the customer from their office.
Large level employment – provides employment at a large scale.

What are the various methods of telemarketing?

Any telesales executive who initiates the calls, whether they are for direct selling, arranging appointments or for prospective sales should ascertain the main purpose of the call. Before the call is made, the clear objective should be set in their mind. The choice of words and the most appropriate language also plays an important role for a sales executive. Thinking clearly about the choice of words that are spoken to a customer can create a good impression. Another important aspect of effective telemarketing is the use of a script. A script can effectively help a sales person clinch a deal. A script should contain important points that must be stated or give detailed answers. If the staffs are required to cold call, then the sales executive should find out if the customer would like to continue with the conversation before they launch out. If a customer is busy, a sales executive can rearrange a more convenient time to call. A sales executive should make as many calls as they can, because each call may not endure a sale, so therefore the number of calls that a sales executive can make can determine the chances of success. It is important though that only those customers who qualify should be on the list of prospective callers made by the sales executive.

Can telemarketing be performed by a firm or should one use an agency?

Maintaining contact with existing customers and updating customer lists can be performed in-house. Outside telemarketing agencies can be used to book appointments and handle research work, but obviously a company will have less control over the quality of work. Skilled telemarketing agencies can be effective to use when actual sales are involved. To sell over the telephone and try to get a sale on every call can be difficult to learn. If the work can be organised on a trial basis, for instance, if an organisation has 5000 names, a telemarketing firm will perhaps trial 1000 of them and hope to win the contract for the other 4000. A successful telemarketing firm do not want poor response rates, they want success. If an organisation is contemplating handing over an assignment to a telemarketing agency, the telemarketing provider and their staff should be pleased about the script. It is also useful to find out how many times the agency will call customers, before finally giving up. Telemarketing agencies can either disclose their identity or call on a client’s behalf. The latter can generate an effective response, if performed well.

An organisation will always find it useful to try out the campaign in-house before outsourcing the help of an agency. Existing staff should always be given a chance, and then the results could be compared. If an organisation is able to carry out the work in-house, all or part of it, it can save money and ensure that the campaign is managed correctly and under the organisations control. Failing that, there is no alternative but to outsource help from an agency. Like many specialists in their field, those people who spend all day performing their telemarketing role will often be good at it, so if an organisation has to pay for this service, they will usually get good results.