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Telemarketing Success Factors

Jonathan Silverman

GSA Business Development Ltd

Oct 2010

What kind of business calls can

you make using the telephone?

What is Telemarketing?

• Sometimes called telesales, tele-

canvassing, telephone marketing or cold-

calling

• The use of your phone to make outbound

calls with a view to generating business

opportunities.

Types of outbound calls

• Account management / customer service calls. – Cross-sell or up-sell to current customers.

• Resuscitation calls to lapsed customers.

• Face-to-face new business appointment setting. – Follow ups for direct marketing or email marketing campaigns.

• Telephone appointments, web demos and webinars.

• Booking and follow up for seminars, exhibitions, breakfast briefings, workshops and other events.

• Telesales to generate sales quotations.

• Subscription or membership renewal services.

Integrate with Other Activity

• It doesn’t have to be a totally cold call.

– Seminars and webinars may also need calls.

– Send them articles.

– Send them invitations to webinars and events.

– Meet them at exhibitions.

– Send them a press article.

– Introduce them to a client.

The Telemarketing Challenge

What percentage hit rate would you

expect from a cold call to reach a

decision-maker?

The Telemarketing Contact Process

• Your decision-makers are Illusive, busy

and under pressure.

Decision-makers

Gatekeepers

Influencers

Switchboard / Reception

Opt outs CTPS/ Voicemail

Inaccurate data

20%

15%

Time / m

oney

15%

34%

16%

So, what factors influence

success?

Tip Number 1 – Realistic objectives

• What level of new business meetings can you handle alongside the ‘day job’?

• Not every prospect is looking for your services at the time of the call.

• Your proposition needs to be attractive.

• Set objectives consistent with your business status. – If you have something everyone wants & the credentials & client base to back this up, you will achieve more than a start-up company with few clients & no experience.

• Go to speculative meetings They build momentum for you and your mid-term pipeline.

Tip Number 2 - Take action

• No time is perfect and the key is to generate

impetus and momentum.

• Successful business development requires effort

and consistency.

• Every business has a defined gestation period

before sales leads and profit begins to flow.

• Don’t wait for the perfect literature to send out.

Most marketing brochures end up in the bin.

Tip Number 3 - Define your market

• Lapsed customers

• Current clients

• Vertical sectors where you have experience

• New markets? – recognise the impact

• Work to your strengths

– Don’t go after Financial Services business if

you have no experience and no compliance

knowledge

Tip Number 4 – Use a good list

• Don’t use old data including your own!– Get a ‘recent & accurate’ list from a quality list provider

– Validate the list & screen against CTPS

– A specialist vertical sector list from an industry magazine or association?

• Data is King!– 5.7m business details change every year:

– a company name change occurs every minute

– a business closes every 2 minutes

– a business fails every 4 minutes

– a business moves office every 6 minutes

List Parameters

• Get the parameters right

– Location – National, International or local.

– Sectors

– Size – £20m+ Companies to justify your fees

or validate the cost of marketing?

– Head office or branch site

– Decision maker – Who holds the budget?

Tip Number 5 - Proposition

• How do you make your business and services attractive to prospective clients?

• How are you different from the next company that calls?

• What problems does your business solve rather than what services do you offer.

• On the phone you have one or two sentences at most to grab a prospect’s attention.

• Decide what product or service to focus on

• Build a ‘Trojan Horse’

Tip Number 6 - Brief your callers well

• Why are you unique, why a prospect should see

you, why they should see you now and what

problems does your service cure or help?

• Provide a written brief (about your business)

• Put together a strong call structure (not a script)

including likely objections & buzz words

• Present to your telemarketer(s)

• Keep two-way communication high with your

callers. Give regular feedback. Don't keep them in

the dark and expect results.

Tip Number 7 – The right people

What are the attributes of a good

caller?

Tip Number 7 – The right people

• Choose the right people

– Attitude, interest, enthusiasm, energy and consistency.

• Attitude and passion will outperform technical knowledge

• You can train skills. You will struggle to train attitude!

– Match the telemarketers with the prospects you’re

calling.

• If you’re calling the marketing director of Mars or Unilever or

have a very technical sale, you probably don’t really want an

18 year-old student to make the call.

• Peer to peer communication is important

– Get training on skills, rapport, tone & technique.

Tip Number 8 –

Measure performance

• What you can’t measure you can’t manage

• Use a good system and proper database to manage and measure results– Number of calls

– Calls per hour (but take care not to measure in isolation!)

– Decision-maker %, gatekeepers, voicemail

– Call per decision-maker and per appointment

– Incorrect data (you may want to data clean)

– Track and manage performance on a weekly if not daily basis

– Refine the approach based on the learning

Tip Number 9 – Be patient

• Telemarketing isn’t a precise science.

• To some extent it is a numbers game

• Don’t expect results overnight.

• Be consistent and build momentum.

• Record & make the call-backs and build rapport.

• Document every call and record properly

– Record verbatim comments to mirror language and

build rapport!

– Update records with new data

Tip Number 10 –Follow-Up

• Follow-up - Follow-up - Follow-up– Have relevant written or email information available.

– Make sure info and meeting confirmations go out promptly

– Prepare for the meeting. Review the prospect website if possible. Use Linkedin for the person you’re meeting.

– Agree next steps at the end of the meeting. Agree a time to call back or meet again.

– Follow-up when you say you will and keep doing so until the lead either converts to business or it becomes clear that no business will be forthcoming.

– Make sure you work with your telemarketer to brief them on the outcome so the loop is closed.

Summary

• Tip Number 1 - Realistic objectives

• Tip Number 2 - Take action

• Tip Number 3 - Define your market

• Tip Number 4 - Use a good list

• Tip Number 5 - Proposition

• Tip Number 6 - Brief your callers well

• Tip Number 7 - The right people

• Tip Number 8 - Measure performance

• Tip Number 9 - Be patient

• Tip Number 10 - Follow-Up

More info / advice

• www.getsoundadvice.com

• 0845 658 8192

• Jonathans@getsoundadvice.co.uk