How Effective is Telemarketing?
If you’re thinking of using an outsourced telemarketing company for your lead generation but you’re wondering about your return on investment, you’ve come to the right place. Let me explain.
There are many telemarketing companies out there but not all telemarketing services are created equal. The truth is there are a number of different factors that will determine whether your campaign will yield results.
But successful B2C and B2B telemarketing campaigns leave clues. And we’ve spent two decades studying them, so we know what works and what doesn’t.
Here are some things to consider if you’re shopping around for an outsourced telemarketing service to increase your lead generation.
Persistence over pressure
How often do you buy from someone the first time you speak to them? We’re betting you take a bit of time to make your decision, particularly if it’s a large investment.
The same applies to your prospects. Much of the time you won’t get to yes in the first conversation. Initially they’ll be gathering information and weighing up their options.
And if you don’t hear back from them at all?
People are busy. Not hearing back right away doesn’t mean it’s a no. That’s why it’s so important to be persistent, but not pushy.
We always say, the fortune is in the follow up. Because a great deal of the success of any telemarketing campaign depends on this.
Following up shows your prospects that you care about winning their business. It also means you can be sure you’ve provided all the information they need to make a decision. And you’ve kept yourself front of mind until that decision is made.
That’s why we keep going until we get a qualified conclusion, no matter how long it takes. And to us, that means a yes or a no from a decision maker.
Nurturing relationships with lost, past, and new clients
It’s crucial to follow up with lost, new, and past clients.
If a prospect says no, follow up in 3 months time and ask how things are going. It’s entirely possible they’re still in the market for your service and are now more ready to buy.
Or perhaps things didn’t go that well with one of your competitors, and here you are, just when they need you.
The same goes for past clients. Keep nurturing those relationships, so that when the customer needs your service again you’re the one they turn to.
Perhaps they’ll even refer you to someone else. But it’s your job to make sure they think of you and not one of your competitors.
And don’t forget your new clients. Nobody likes to feel forgotten about once a company has their business. So thank your new clients for giving you the opportunity to work with them. Check in and make sure they’re happy with the service they’re getting.
The fortune is in the follow up.
Test, measure, and feedback
An effective outsourced telemarketing service will be committed to testing, getting feedback, and changing course where necessary. There should be a feedback loop built into the service.
For us this means weekly reporting and meetings with you to review your results and make any necessary changes.
We also have a live listening feature which is especially important at the beginning of your campaign. This is where you can listen in on calls as they are happening, and if something isn’t working we’ll fix it straight away.
Testing and reviewing means we can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
Know your market
According to the Office for National Statistics, at any one time 3% of businesses are ready to buy, 45% of businesses know they have a problem, while 52% don’t even know that they need your service.
This goes back to stages of awareness in marketing.
Prospects who are unaware don’t know they have a problem and aren’t looking for a solution.
Those who are problem aware know they have an issue but don’t know a solution exists.
Those who are solution aware know that a solution exists but they don’t know about you. Yet.
Product aware means they know about you and are still weighing up their options.
While those who are most aware are either about to buy from you and just need one last push, or they’ve already worked with you. With this group you’ll want to nurture the relationships so that they buy from you, continue to work with you, and ideally refer you to others.
Why is this important in telemarketing?
Because it’s essential to know who you’re speaking to and the stage of awareness they are at.
This way you can segment your audience, knowing who you need to inform or educate, who you need to warm up, and who you need to nurture.
At Trifle, we have an in-depth implementation process where we gather all the information we need about your audience so that we can do this part right.
During this process we also get to know you and your business inside out. Because an effective telemarketing campaign needs to understand you, as much as the people you’re talking to.
I've done telemarketing before and it didn't work
There are lots of reasons why a telemarketing campaign might not work. We dig into some of these here.
But one of the main obstacles to a successful campaign is dabbling. You must commit to the process. You’ve got to give it time and let your telemarketing team do what they know works.
Consistency and persistence. Testing and tweaking. Following up and reinforcing the message. If you do this you will get results. And we know, because we’ve been doing it for two decades.
Know your product, know your market, and go for it.
Could I just do it in-house?
Only you know the answer to this question.
Do you have the resources in-house for a dedicated telemarketing team? We’re going to take a guess that your sales team doesn’t have the capacity to follow up consistently in the way that’s needed. What other marketing methods are you using?
If you’re growing, outsourcing your telemarketing is an efficient and effective way to scale.
Telemarketing cost
Every outsourced telesales company will have its own pricing structure but it’s difficult to compare on price. This is because there’s usually a reason a service is cheaper.
If a service provider is charging a lot less than their competitors, it’s likely they are skimping on costs internally in order to make this affordable.
That could mean lower staff pay which comes with higher churn; less investment in training leading to a lower quality service; an implementation process that only skims the surface; or a lack of capacity for the kind of consistent follow up that’s needed.
This is why, when you’re considering an outsourced telemarketing provider, it’s crucial to ask about their implementation process.
How do they measure, test and review? How many times do they call a prospect? What does a qualified conclusion look like to them? How do they ensure consistency on a campaign if a staff member is off sick?
It’s also important to consider the hidden costs behind a lower quality service. The cost of sleepless nights, your work-life balance, your time, your health.
What’s the opportunity cost of your energy and focus?
We believe that transparency is important. So we’ve put together a handy guide explaining how we do it. We’ve also outlined our pricing structure and what’s included in our service.
If you know how much a lead is worth to you, you know how much you’re able to spend to get that lead.
We can do the rest.
Our biggest competitor?
‘We did nothing.’
Thanks to the art of follow up, we’ve found over the years that our biggest competitor is when a prospect doesn’t do anything at all about their telemarketing.
When we follow up we often hear that they didn’t partner with another telemarketing company and they are still having the same problems. This can be a really good thing because that’s when they’re ready to buy from us.
Okay, so what are your results like?
We’ve worked across a diverse range of sectors including SaaS, education, public sector, steel, telecommunications, healthcare, technology, broadband, engineering, finance, energy, childcare, lawn care, and bid writers.
And we’ve put together some handy case studies so that you can see for yourself the results we’re getting for our clients. Get in touch with us here and we’ll share these with you.
And many of our clients come back to us again and again which tells us we must be doing something right.
Here’s one testimonial from a happy client, and there’s more where this came from:
“Trifle really get what a quality lead means and the value of providing
opportunities that are ready to convert,rather than just throwing
any old contact over the fence to hit a quota.”
Rhian Old, Head of Sales | Technology, RM
Telemarketing is just one piece in your marketing strategy, but it’s our piece and we do it very well.
We disrupt the norm, we go above and beyond. That’s why our motto is we don’t do our best, we do whatever it takes.
If you’d like to find out how we could help your business to get a steady flow of qualified leads, get in touch today.