Michael Jackson of EB Marketing suggests that Telemarketing is one of the most successful forms of marketing available and in fact gives one of the best returns on investment.Whilst on the outside the telemarketing approach may look like a simple and easy way to generate new business is not as straightforward as it first may seem.

To the contrary, it requires good communications between the telemarketing company and the client through both the good times and the bad. It also requires a new vibrant way of approaching telemarketing to be a success and with cost effectiveness at the forefront of any campaign; it must ultimately demonstrate measurable results.It is common practice for many telemarketing agencies to offer either appointment setting or lead generation, so why do they not offer both? And why not at no extra cost?

Enter Pipeline Management.

Pipeline management is simply the process of arranging appointments where the potential client is ready to discuss requirements of whom has a budget, and who plans to make the changes now.Generating leads for those who show similar interest but suffer from budget issues or for those who are awaiting budget, requires more work and effort, but results in a bigger pipeline for the client. Naturally budget is an important factor in any marketing activity, and clearly the Pipeline Management approach is a double winner: the client gets more for their money, and the telemarketing company is able to build a long-term relationship as a result of the size of the pipeline they have built over time. But offering Pipeline Management alone will not guarantee a long and happy client relationship – they must be offered more.

Lead Qualification

It’s one thing for someone to be interested in meeting; it’s another to know why. Qualifying appointments and leads is paramount.Clients must ask themselves:

• What issues are you currently facing?
• Who is this a problem for?
• Who will make the final decision?
• When will the final decision be made?
• Has budget been allocated to this project?

The object of this exercise is simple – to provide a leading edge against the competition, and most importantly when walking through a prospects door you are armed with the relevant information to wow them and close the deal.
The ideal length of an initial campaign can and does vary, but generally clients should look at no less than 10 days and the average is nearer to 20 days.Because a campaign never finishes in the same way it started due to changes and improvements, a small pilot campaign is always sensible. Many companies agree to 3-month contracts without any prior experience of a telemarketing company, so it is vital to make sure their ability is tested before signing on the dotted line for longer-term campaigns.
It is advisable never to buy data through a telemarketing company as companies like Corpdata provide similar information directly, and the data will belong to the client rather than the telemarketing company.If carried out appropriately, telemarketing is one of the best ways to generate new business, but it is not a simple, quick fix approach and requires a dedicated telemarketing team who understand the needs of the business. Do not see them as outsiders to the business but as an integral part of the sales force and as such, they require the same input and communication as internal sales and marketing departments.

Ultimately the success of the campaign should never be based on the number of appointments; but on the quality of those appointments.

About Michael

Mike Jackson is director of highly acclaimed Telemarketing Company EbonyBailey Marketing. After launching the business in 2004, and with the help and funding of the Princes Trust, he was able to quickly establish his credibility in the industry and now boasts an impressive client base including Gartner, Sage, Dalkia, NSPCC and Tottenham Hotspurs FC. Blackburn Rovers FC, Fulham FC, Stoke City FC, Birmingham City FC, Bolton Wanderers FC, Crystal Palace FC, and Hearts FC.Mike has almost a decade of experience in the telemarketing industry with his last role involving the running of the telemarketing department for an ISP. In only a short time, Mike was able to radically improve the fortunes of the department, and over the years Mike has worked on behalf of some of the world’s largest organisations.

The process works something like this:

A decision will be made to recruit, either locally or through an agency. A decision on an hourly rate will be made, normally no more than most businesses would pay for a cleaner, let’s remember that the telemarketer will be a window to your business on the phone.

The average age of this employee will be between 18 and 23, so will naturally, and through no fault of their own have little to no experience.

Then a manager, or business owner ( with little or no experience in telemarketing ) will explain how they want the telemarketing performed, often with large enthuses on Product knowledge, the product training is often over done.
The job of the telemarketer is to explain who you are, what you do and how its going to benefit the potential client in the quickest time possible.
Support is often non-existent to the telemarketer and targets are often based on expectation rather than any solid research. By the end of the campaign it is almost certain that the results will be disappointing, that the telemarketer will be let go and that telemarketing will be considered a failure.

So what are the options:

Of course you can outsource it to a company with experience and success in your industry.

You can hire a telemarketing training company that will train your internal team to the level of a successful outsource company, or they can help you at the recruitment stage to make sure you are hiring the right people.

There are other options that could and should be considered. The point is that not to even attempt to use Internal teams to carry out telemarketing if this story sounds familiar.

Success does not come cheap, but it needn’t be expensive either.

Michael Jackson

http://www.bailey-aaron.co.uk/

http://www.ebonybailey.co.uk/

http://www.ebony-angel.co.uk/

EbonyBailey Marketing

The Ultimate Telemarketing Guide

The steps below are a few tips to help you get ready for a telemarketing campaign.

1.Data is Paramount!!!

It is the most important thing, make sure your data is up to date, if not the campaign is as good as the quality of the data, and will most likely fail. You can buy defined data from many companies, as a suggestion for B2B Data try: http://www.corpdata.co.uk/

2. Do you have information that can be sent if requested?

Be able to provide further information, either by word or PDF that can be emailed. This way you keep costs down, if they will not give out an email address the likelihood is they were not interested in the first place. This is sometimes a good indicator into whether this is a genuine prospect.

3. Who sends the email?

Your choice, either you can at the end of each day, or we can, but it will require you to set up an account for us that we can access online. Webmail gives us the opportunity to send the info straight after the call so its fresh in their minds and your business looks efficient.

4. I think I’ll just test it for a few days.

Don’t bother. Telemarketing is not a quick fix, you need to put effort in to get the desired results, a few days tell you nothing. The first few days will be getting up and running, results tend to level out in the second week. Carrying out a Pipeline Management campaign requires no less than 20 days, we need this to generate a vast list of leads for the short, medium and long term.

5. How do I keep those leads fresh?

One good way to keep potential clients informed is by newsletter once a month. This way they remember you, and you can keep them informed of any offers or changes. That way when you call back they will know who you are.

6. What about the strength of any Appointments / Leads I get?

Before you start any campaign agree the qualifying questions, what questions do you need answering before you can tell it’s a genuine interested party?. Timescale, Decision maker process, budget are just a few.

7. What is important when choosing a telemarketing company?

Same as any other, who are their clients, what is their experience, what are their staff like, will you have one person on your campaign throughout, or many different people.If you are looking seriously at telemarketing you will need a budget of at the very least £2k, the average and more successful campaigns tend to be around the £4k mark

8. How often will I receive reports?

Most companies will do it every day, separating the main data and the Appointments/Leads so that it is easy for you to see the results.You should look for flexibility with the telemarketing company on how the report. You may wish for any appointments to be emailed through straight away for example.
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