Telemarketing

By Nigel Temple

Are you selling to other businesses?
Do you need a constant stream of sales leads?

Then read this article, because effective telemarketing can work wonders.

(Mind you, I'm keeping some of my best telemarketing secrets for my clients; if you want to find out more - get in touch!)

A note for my UK readers (with thanks to Camwells)
As of June 25th 2004, businesses can register their objection to receiving unsolicited direct marketing calls - via the Telephone Preference Service.  Click here to find out more.

Definitions
'Telemarketing' means telephone-based research, appointment making, or other information exchange.  Telephone selling (or telesales) is where an actual sale can be made over the phone, such as advertising sales.  I will use the term 'telemarketing' for the sake of simplicity.

Using the telephone to sell is hard work, isn't it?  If you have just agreed with this statement - I guess that you have had a go at telesales. Countless thousands of salespeople have 'earned their stripes' by selling on the phone.  This happened to me when I tried selling life insurance, in the City of London (I lasted for a whole three days).

Five times the response of direct mail
Telemarketing is expensive - on a cost per contact basis (because of the labour costs involved).  However, money is a relative commodity, isn't it?  Yes, teleselling is expensive - when you compare it to, say, direct mail. However, it is also extraordinarily effective.

This is because it is a live medium, where objections can be dealt with, appointments made and decisions reached - just as in a face to face selling situation.  BUT without the time involved in travelling, not to mention the training and experience which is required to become an effective salesperson.

Which perhaps explains why it can typically generate five times the sales / results produced by a direct mail shot.  Interesting, isn't it?

Here, then, are some of the cardinal rules of telemarketing:  

Objectives
As always in marketing - decide what your objectives are.  Do you want people to request further information?  Are you trying to organise sales meetings?  Or can you actually take orders over the phone?

Targets
Always set targets for the number of calls, and / or the number of Decision Maker conversations, or the number of 'successes' (appointments, direct sales, etc) which you will achieve for each session.  It is amazing what people will achieve, if you set them a target.

Database, Database, Database
Have you heard the old one about houses?  (Question: What are the three most important things to take into consideration when you are buying a house?  Answer: Location; Location; and Location).  It's the same with telemarketing.  The three key things are your Database, your Database and (yes, you've guessed it), your Database.

Install a sales and marketing database package on your PC.   Then transfer your lists onto your PC.

How do you ensure that you are working off a 'clean list'?  In other words, that you have accurate data and that you are not constantly being told that "Mr Smith no longer works here'.

It is quite common for telemarketing agencies to begin by calling an entire list, to check that the contact information is correct.  This stage can be delegated to, say,  homeworkers or students on an a short term contract.

As you can therefore see - the whole thing is a process from research, through acquisition, customer service and business development.  And throughout - you should be updating your database with all of this mission critical information.  

The offer
Are you making an offer on the phone?  For example, to send information; enter a prize draw; make an appointment; see a demonstration; respond early to a promotion and receive a discount; or come to an event?

Your results will be much better if you make a specific offer.  Just asking whether they are currently 'in the market', or whether they have heard of you, is not nearly so powerful.  

Test, Test, Test
Part of the fun of marketing is coming up with lots of ideas.  You've got to come up with lots of ideas before you hit on one or two great ones.  How do you figure out which ones are awesome?  Test them out!

So, for example, if you've thought of several offers - test several out on different sub-sets of your database.  Then ramp up the one which produced the best test result. 

Should you write a script?
The simple answer is that, yes, you should.  This will be a very useful tool to start the conversation going.  In addition - scripts are something that you can test and change.  It is staggering how a few minor changes to a script can double or treble response rates.  But if you and your colleagues are all saying different things each time you call - how can you measure what is effective and what isn't?

I am not suggesting that you should read the script every time you make a call.  Once you've used the script a few times - it will be like the lines that actors learn.  You will have memorised it - and you will be able to repeat it without actually reading it.

The critical opening 30 seconds
In telemarketing, the research shows that you only have a few fleeting seconds to grab someone's attention, before they 'switch off'.  They then immediately kick into defensive mode.  Then all they want to do is get you off the line.

So you have next to no time to say something interesting and attention grabbing.  I have seen countless salespeople and so-called telemarketers waste this 'Golden Time'.  Here is the key: establish that you have experience of helping other people with their job title, in their industry with a series of issues which they are probably facing right now.

Conclusion
The more calls you make, the more relationships you will strike up.  In combination with the rest of the marketing mix - you will soon find that there are plenty of 'warm calls' to make and that the number of people who call you will increase.

Written by Nigel Temple, business to business marketing specialist.
Visit: www.nigeltemple.com