Outbound calls can be used in a variety of ways to put across different messages. Here are a few things to consider…..
Is telemarketing right for you?
Telemarketing is not right for every company or product or campaign. Make sure you feel comfortable about the approach before discussing with any telemarketing companies.
What are your expectations?
Be clear on your objectives. Be realistic about what you expect from the results of a telemarketing campaign. Ideally take a small or intro campaign to start so that you have an idea of what to expect when the campaign is scaled up. Define what you feel constitutes a lead or appointment so that there is no misunderstanding.
What is the commitment?
This is important and will vary enormously between telemarketing providers. Ideally there should be a test phase or a minimum commitment of around 10 hours. This 10 hours gives the telemarketing provider time to tweak the campaign to find the best approach. From that point you can both decide how the campaign should proceed.
How will the data be sourced/supplied?
If you’re supplying the data, is it up to date? Do you need to flag the telephone numbers against the TPS/CTPS register? Most telemarketing companies will be able to offer this service, and some might do it for free. If you want freshly sourced data then some telemarketing companies will be able to provide that or you may need to go to a list broker. Please see the Buyer’s guide to data if you need to source data yourself.
Experience of similar campaigns
If you’re researching telemarketing companies ask them if they have experience of working on similar campaigns. Most established telemarketing companies (unless they niche) will have a broad base of experience and should be able to advise you.
How skilled are the telemarketers?
It is absolutely worth checking if the telemarketers are temps or whether they’re permanently employed members of the team. How is training managed? Is there an ongoing training programme?
Charges – daily/hourly/charges by lead/appointment
Charges will vary. Some telemarketing companies will work on a daily rate or an hourly rate and/or they may well have training rates as well, so it’s important to do your homework. Charging by the lead or appointment might seem an attractive option but if that’s how the telemarketers get paid there will be a danger that they will exert pressure to get the prospect to agree to something that they don’t want and the damage to your reputation could be irreparable.
Reporting/updates
You will need some access to the progress of the campaign. Ideally live access through a cloud based system will give you secure access, you can then read through notes and make sure that the campaign is being managed as you wish.
Telemarketing campaigns vary in size and objectives so hopefully this will help or for more details please call us 01905 755320.