HOW TO CHOOSE A TELEMARKETING COMPANY

That’s because eventually the law of averages determines that anyone will eventually have a win, but just how many loses are there until that win?

How many companies get burnt in between and will you be one of them?

What you want to do is avoid being one of those that get burnt. The following questions should be considered when deciding on your next telemarketing partner.

Do they attempt to use gimmicks and or say anything to gain your business?  You know the old saying, “if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is”. If you are chasing guarantees of any kind you will end up being disappointed – no matter how many testimonials!

Do they have staff that have actually done face to face selling themselves? Having this experience means they will understand all the challenges of the direct sales process.

Do they know what a “Closed” or “Open” sales question is? This demonstrates at the very least a basic understanding of sales

Do they know what a “Close” is? If you don’t know what a close is then you can’t close!

Do they know what and how to use NLP in sales? This is the most advance form of selling that less than 1% of organisations use.

Do they know what a USP is and why it is so important? The most important set of words used to spearhead a sales call

Do they have 100% Local callers with 100% Local accents? It is not only important to have Locals perform your calls, it is equally important (if not more) that they actually have a normal Local accent. We don’t even employ staff with a mild English accent.

You should ask for a written guarantee that the person/s doing your calls have a 100% normal, traditional Local accent – it is critical to the success of your campaign. Some apparently “Local” companies have an Local presence with actual Local representatives but when it comes to actually completing your campaign; the calls end up being completed overseas – this is currently happening so beware.

No matter how subtle an offshore accent may be, people can tell if it is an overseas caller – In other words wasted calls – wasted money.

Think about this. Have you ever encountered an shore call centre and ended up being frustrated by the communication levels. That’s what we’re talking about.

It is not a matter of simply reading a script or even sounding intelligent or articulate. Every day, people with even the same native tongue miss-communicate all the time.

That is because communication is a complicated process and has many nuances and subtleties to it that can be easily overlooked.

The fact is most communication does not occur by speech, most happens non verbally. So where does that leave telemarketing? Well it means you really can’t afford a telemarketer with any language barriers such as culture differences.

You need every edge you can get with telemarketing. It certainly does not help adding any extra barriers. It just becomes too hard.

Not all telemarketing companies are the same. Like most industries there are the good, the bad and the down right dodgy telemarketing companies out there! And it’s a mind field of things to consider.

You must get a written guarantee that ALL calls will be performed with a 100% normal Local accent so you have some legal recourse.

Are they Not a “Fly by night” business or have they been operating for over 10 + years? A well established business is an expert their field and it means they’re likely to be around after your campaign if there are any issues or concerns to address. It also helps to ask them if they are a Pty Ltd organisation or a backyard sole trader as this will tell you if they are committed and serious.

Are they 100% Outbound only specialists – NOT staff doing Inbound as well? It’s like comparing a direct sales person to a person who stands behind a retail sales counter. They are different skill sets and Inbound staff cannot perform as well as dedicated outbound staff.

Ask this question; “do the callers only perform outbound calling?” and get it in writing. Do they have articulate & intelligent staff that can offer sound advice? If their representatives aren’t articulate or intelligent then that is not a good sign of things to come.

Do they have experience in your industry?
Experience means they have ironed out and or can anticipate most possible issues.

Does the person managing your campaign have enough experience? This will be the person handling your brand/ company/ reputation

Does the person managing your campaign instill confidence in you about their capabilities? If not then how can you be sure that the campaign will be managed effectively

Do they include a list as no extra cost? This is a sure sign of an amateur and or a trickster! The fact is you cannot substitute a tailored list that matches your exact requirements for a “no frills” cheap list or free list like a yellow pages type list.

You may save upfront but you will loose much more in lost opportunities. Only professionals know why this is the case – just ask us and we can tell you why.

Do they provide Daily Reporting? This keeps you in the loop with all the previous days calls. A must.

Do they have No lock in contracts? A telemarketing service should stand on it’s own merits and not rely on lock in contracts.

Do they have full compliance & understanding? Many companies engaging the services of an outsourced telemarketing company do not realise that they are still liable for any misleading or non-compliant practices their outsourced telemarketing company may cause.

Do they understand all Privacy Laws? Did you know many companies record outbound call conversations without telling each person their call is being recorded?

THAT IS ILLEGAL! If any other person/s other than the caller and the person being called listen to a recorded conversation then you have broken the law and the penalties are very very severe for those that are involved. Don’t deal with amateurs!

Are they prompt in their replies to your questions? This demonstrates the level of importance and consideration they place on your business. And is a sure sign either way of things to come.

So now you are aware and prepared. if someone is offering free hours (nothing is free) add those free hours into the total hours and then that’s the supposed hourly rate they are offering. So if they are offering either low hourly rate upfront, or a low fee per lead, then watch out as it’s just not possible to do it properly.