what are our TOP 5 TELEMARKETING TIPS?
Telemarketing is a marketing process and like most marketing processes there are many things to consider that will influence the results. Here are some tips that may assist your campaign.
1) Watch out for the Cowboys
Like most industries there are cowboys and scammers in the Telemarketing industry that unfortunately tarnish the reputation of all other reputable telemarketing companies. And the number one mistake businesses make when talking to these Cowboys is; making assumptions! Assuming that they have your best interest at heart, assuming that what they tell is achievable let alone true at all.
Instinctively we know who they are; they are the ones that tell you what you want to hear, or it can also be as simple as not disclosing all information, costs and or processes that may impact on your business.
* It is always best practice for professional businesses to conduct a telemarketing Trial/ Pilot campaign before losing hard earned money on stated averages or assumptions. A trial campaign can save you thousands in the end.
2) The most important component of telemarketing is – YOUR point of difference
In order to make a telemarketing campaign as effective as possible you need to give your prospects a compelling reason or point of difference for them to want to listen then act on the call. This point of difference needs to be stated within the first 30 seconds of the conversation for them to want to learn more about you and what you offer.
Put yourself in the shoes of a prospect receiving a call.
Try to recall the last time you received a call from a company using the same old tired clichés and platitudes; it simply starts to become just noise. In other words, you don’t really listen or pay attention and you tend to switch off, or brush them off don’t you? Well so does everyone else.
Consider this example of electrical retailers. Most electrical retailers sell the same products with the same brands as each other, but do they achieve the same results? No!
Most electrical retailers have the same marketing message in that they sell on discounted prices. (Big mistake!). But one sells the message of “Buy Now and Pay Later”.
Not only does this marketing message have great cut through it does NOT have a spirally erosive path of price discounting and they stand out from the pack as the leaders even though they all have the same products.
It simply comes down to what differentiates YOU from your competitors otherwise you may be simply marketing based on the numbers game.
3) Don’t rush the process
Telemarketing is in fact a marketing exercise. And like all marketing exercises, they need to be planned well so that they are executed professionally and effectively.
If you are in a hurry for a telemarketing campaign to start then STOP, slow down and reconsider the impact of a hasty start.
No matter how small the campaign is; the more time and preparation you invest in the setting up of a campaign the better the results. It’s as simple as that.
In addition to the training required for your product or service, most professional telemarketing operators will use some kind of software that is specifically designed for telemarketing which will require tailoring and configuring to your campaign. This takes time to setup.
If you push a campaign through, not only may there be errors, the results may also be poor.
4) You get what you pay for!
The old saying “you get what you pay for” is true for telemarketing as well. Unfortunately; like in many other industries; there are good and bad operators. The bad operators can either be poor communicators, or misleading in their representation of your business, non compliant with current legislation or simply unreliable and under re sourced.
All of which may impact on your business financially as well as do damage to your potential future earnings. Don’t under estimate this; it is a HUGE risk.
After all you will be employing someone to represent your company and you would expect that they will do this with your best interests at heart. Some telemarketing companies unfortunately don’t and you WILL get what you pay for.
5) Know your target audience
With any marketing activity in order to maximize your results you must know or research your target audience otherwise using a ‘shotgun’ approach will achieve mediocre results.