Are you thinking of using telemarketing?
A lot of business owners (including me) have tried telemarketing to get appointments before. A few swear by it. A lot more swear at it. Some know that it can be very effective, but haven’t worked out how to make it pay for them.
I’ve had several experiences of telemarketing, both buying it for my IT business(with mixed results), and project managing for a telemarketing company.
What I learned was that there are 3 reasons why telemarketing campaigns can fail:
- The telemarketing company
- You
- The relationship between the two
In this post, I focus on making sure your choice of telemarketing company is a good one.
(If you’re planning on using a self-employed freelancer instead of a company, not all of these will apply)
- Ask for references. Go for 6. Call 3 at random. Ask the referees what sort of problems they’ve had, and how the telemarketer dealt with them.
- Visit their office. Preferably at very short notice. Are their staff motivated and comfortable, or do they look stressed? Do you get a good ‘vibe’ from the place?
- Meet the person who’ll be managing your project (this shouldn’t be the same as the person doing the calling). Do you have confidence in them? What process will they follow to make sure you always know what’s going on?
- Demand to meet the people who’ll be calling on your campaign. Expect seasoned telesales people with at least a couple of years’ sales experience, NOT students.
- Ask the individual personally what sort of campaigns they’ve worked on before. Don’t worry too much whether or not they’ve worked with companies like yours before. What matters is their experience, confidence and credibility when dealing with the level of decision maker you want to meet with, in the type of companies you are trying to sell to.
- Ask “what happens if the person doing my calling is ill”? If you can, make sure 2 people are up to speed on your campaign from the outset to ensure you don’t lose momentum.
- Don’t expect to find a decent telemarketing company who’ll do “pay per meeting”. Good ones have enough business that they don’t need to take on risky contingent projects. Bad ones will fill your pipeline with crap to make the numbers. Some will do “results” after an initial pilot phase, but only after they’re confident in your proposition.
- Ask about the campaigns they’ve run which haven’t worked out, and why they didn’t work. A good supplier will admit to unsuccessful projects, and tell you what they’ve learned.
- Ask exactly how they decide what a ‘qualified’ meeting is. Does it agree with your definition?
- Find out how they gather and record data as they go along. Even with prospects who don’t want to meet you now, they should make sure no calls are wasted.
- Ask how they qualify “send me some information” requests. 90% of the time this is a fob-off to get you off the phone.
- Ask how they respond when a prospect says “we’ve already got one of those”. Even better, roleplay it with them.
- What does their plan for ongoing staff sales skills training and development look like? Ask to see evidence.
- Find out how they sell: using scripts, or based on their training? A structure is fine, and scripts are useful for opening the call. Beyond that, prospects never follow scripts, so why should salespeople?
- Get the person doing your calling to phone you for a test call where you roleplay a prospect. Ask yourself “would I book an appointment with this person?”
This list isn’t exhaustive by any means, but if you’re satisfied with the company after going through the above, you’re a lot less likely to be disappointed.
{ 5 comments }
My firm has been “conned/done over” by inappropriate Telemarketing firms in the past but we still believe that in Principle there is some merit in having this form of marketing as part of our strategy. We are curently talking to two Telemarketing firms (both of whom have been highly recommended) and Ian’s 15 point check list is going to be an invaluable tool to help us decide which one to chose – if indeed we decide to appoint either of them! If only this advice had been available to us years ago!
Great contribution from Iain.
The only issues I would take with this would be the requirements to meet face to face. Ability on the telephone is what people are looking for. Working virtually has shown that people choosing telemarketing as their chief long-term career option are the ones that will ultimately prevail in terms of commitment and quality. Individual reputations are at greater stake when people represent themselves, have to prove themselves worthy of projects to work on. It’s for this reason that the teams we work with are composed of proven and results oriented people.
Peter, thanks – good luck with the next project!
Shaun, that’s a very interesting (and valid) observation. Personally, I think it’s vital to get a really good feel for who the people are who’ll be representing your company. In my experience, good telemarketing suppliers need to be more than just good on the phone. They need to be able to exercise judgement about how to handle opportunities and campaigns, and possess good account and project management skills. It can be quite difficult to gauge those abilities from one or two telephone conversations.
The situation’s different when you’re dealing with an freelancer (or group of freelancers) than when with a company… I have known quite a few telemarketing companies to get their most senior person to bring the clients in, then use inexperienced staff to do the calling and manage things, with predictably poor results.
That’s not such a risk with freelancers.
Good use of social media etc can replace the need to meet people face to face, by giving a much better idea of who you are before the client even speaks to you.
The only problem is that most telemarketers are absolutely terrible at using it, with certain notable exceptions
Nice article.
I’ve been a telemarketer, run a TM crew and used them. I think you have a pretty good list.
One thing I’ve noticed is that a number of ads to hire telemarketers in my area stipulate “no phone calls about this job.” I consider this to be a red flag because you would want to know how they project over the phone before anything else. I believe this usually indicates high turnover and that they want you there in person so they can close the deal. These companies will usually hire anyone who can fog a mirror.
Thanks!
You’re right, that does seem kinda weird for someone hiring telemarketers. Makes you wonder what they’re up to !