Just how good is telemarketing?

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I

INDIZINE

  • #1
    Im considering using telemarketing for another business, and wondered how people have found the results in their experience.

    Was it worth the investment?
    Would you use this service again?

    I have had 3 quotes in from companies local to me. The owners have all worked for the biggest company who quoted, and gone off to set up on their own. Not sure if this is a good thing or not. I'd be interested to hear from others who have used telemarketing and what your business is.

    Whilst 2 say they only charge on quality results, they want to tie you into a minimum number of days (which I realise its a time thing to achieve). The other charges a day rate and though this works out cheaper the results, like the others, are not guaranteed though naturally they all thought they could do well - but they're going to say that because they get my trial money regardless, meaning even if it was difficult, those 10 days, could be spread over 6 months.

    I would ideally like to pay per result (ie a quality appointment) but not be tied in, because the business is a niche area and so not a very common service, however it is not totally unique that it is unheard of.
     
    Gillie

    Gillie

    Free Member
    Apr 12, 2006
    13,065
    1,463
    North West England
  • #2
    To answer your questions yes and yes ....

    I employed the services of Mr Gibson to write me a drop dead beauty of a letter, sent it out and then so many days later used a colleague of mine to follow it up, and low and behold I had a two week diary full of appointments! Having a week off this week, but it starts again for another couple of weeks next week onwards again.

    At this rate, I will be busy till the middle of February ...
     
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    directmarketingadvice

    directmarketingadvice

    Free Member
    Aug 2, 2005
    10,880
    3,527
  • #5
    So would you say that its as much about the person doing the work itself, as opposed to telemarketing in general?
    Click to expand...

    As I was part of the process from the outset, here's my thoughts:

    We were promoting a new form of business borrowing - it works out cheaper than factoring in many instances (but not always) - and experience told me we needed a 2 step process and that the 2nd part of that process needed to be a discussion.

    So, telemarketing stood out as the most cost effective way of doing this.

    So, part of the sucess came from bringing the right tool to the job.

    Another part came from Gill spending a lot of time with the telemarketer working on the script.

    And the final part was the effectiveness of the telemarketer.

    Steve
     
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    T

    telemax

  • #7
    We often carry out per appointment work, if we have good data supplied to us. We actually used to gather data and build lists for people as part of the service but now we charge that at a day rate as it takes a lot of time.

    We aim our pay per appointment service at people looking to sell into large companies such as law firms or accountancies, or top 500 companies at director level. However we are not the cheapest and charge £500 per appointment, we wouldn't consider any customer with a product worth less than £10k for this as it wouldn't be cost effective for them.

    Not a huge number of telemarketers will do this as it involves them taking all the risk.

    I hope this helps

    Jonathan
     
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    I

    INDIZINE

  • #8
    Why shouldnt a company take all the risk for what they sell? Most businesses usually do.

    I cant say i will do my best to provide a website for £1,000 in 4 weeks and deliver one worth £600 in 8 weeks. (I just made those figures up, before anyone jumps on them!!)
     
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  • #9
    Becuase we do not know you or your business or its reputation, for all we know we do a campaign, and find that people do not want to work with you becuase of your rep, there are many reason this is justone of them, and if your confident in your productwhy would'nt you take the risk too.taken on any campaign is a isk thatis why i only take on clients i am confident we can help. Its a two way thing, what other type of business would take all the risk and do the work for nothing?
     
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    D

    Dany Boy

  • #11
    The telemarketing companies can fail in many forms:
    1. Just take up a campaign for money's value and not knowing anything about the outcomes.
    2. The campaigns are not sellable over the phone however just get in to it for the heck of it, to get some pounds in and dissatisfy the clients.
    3. Lack of good agents who can perform really well.
    4. Lack of good database, planning or the telemarketing plan, analysing the USP's and so on.

    From the business promo's view:
    1. The business owner needs to make his plan before he can approach the Telemarketing company and plans first of all, is the product sellable over the phone, Is it possible to get business when I call my customers, can I afford to pay the telemarketing company xxx amount of money, what is the ROI, and so on.
    2. They just want to use a Telemarketing company on a trial and erroe basis and if the error occurs they immediately publish that telemarketing is not worth it, but on the other hand when you are trialing something must be ready for failures also.
    3. Telemarketing cannot be carried out in the same are with the same database for a certain period of time, the business needs to expand or else it will get saturated.

    There is lot more that we can come up with but the best thing is like Vineet said good telemarketing companies just say no when they can't do it.
     
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    T

    telemax

  • #12
    Hi

    Im with Michael on this one but to give an example.

    If I am making apointments for web sites worth £500 to £1000 to small businesses egg B&B's, florists etc, I'm confident that I can make a decent appointment every 20 - 30 calls.

    However if you came back to me and said I didn't sell anything from those appointments you are fired Jonathan, we would have to look at your abilities as a sales person or just how good your web sites really are,rather than my abilities to gain appointments.

    Also I recently was approached someone with a new service, they wanted me to sell it in to large companies, it was a bit to specialist for me but when I had asked them how much market research they had done the answer was zero.

    If I'd have take it on I'd have had maybe a 50% chance of succeeding, if it had gone wrong I'd get the blame, when the reality they had not even tested the market, so we are very careful in picking our clients

    Jonathan
     
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    Shay

    Shay

    Free Member
    Mar 9, 2006
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    Staines
  • #13
    Telemarketers can at times get some stick when in truth there are other factors which may break a campaign.

    Of course a good telemarketer is needed, goes without saying.

    An understanding of the clients requirements or perhaps more importantly the client has to have an understanding of what they want.

    A quality list is essential. Without it, a great telemarketer will struggle and that includes buying a list from the barmaids brother down the 'dog and duck'

    Telemarketing is just another form of marketing which will work for some and not for others and there are lots of different tangents it can take you. Either way good luck.
     
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  • #14
    Each campaign is different, but you should start to see results by the end of the first week. Dont just set appointments though generate leads for further down the line, appointment setting is very restrictive.

    Michael

    PS. My offer still stand I am happy to have a chat with you.
     
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    G

    GeorgeM

  • #15
    Why shouldnt a company take all the risk for what they sell? Most businesses usually do.

    A good telemarketing company will often provide a guarantee that the appointment they make is with a particular person (such as a named person) or a function (such as MD).

    Also if you are offering a new product or service for the first time then some of the risk lies in the product offering itself - untried, untested. The risk for successfully marketing such a product can't all be 'outsourced' to a telemarketeer.

    In these sorts of cases I recommend you consider running a short pilot campaign (either yourself or using a telemarketeer) and evaluate the response.

    And yes you can pay on results (ie pay per appointment), as has been stated already.

    Hope this is of some help.

    Regards
     
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    Shay

    Shay

    Free Member
    Mar 9, 2006
    430
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    Staines
  • #16
    GeorgeM said:
    A good telemarketing company will often provide a guarantee that the appointment they make is with a particular person (such as a named person) or a function (such as MD).
    Click to expand...

    Do you mean there are telemarketing companies out there who make appointments without a named contact? When I make appointments the name and job title will be the very least and knowing the other telemarketers on this forum that would also be the minimum.
     
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  • #17
    INDIZINE said:
    So at what point would it bcome clear that the problem lies with a) the telemarketing company or b) the business being promoted?
    Click to expand...


    Theres no doubt that telemarketing works, for the right product or service to the right list.

    All advertising of every form needs testing, and split testing is best.

    Why not give two companies a trial? - the overall response will give you a clue to whether it will become viable - the difference in response will tell you which company is better. For this to work, dont tell them they are in a contest - it might distort what they do for the short term

    In order to develop a script, had you consider doing it yourself for a period??
    Find out which are the hot buttons for that product.
     
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    L

    lloydh

  • #22
    If you get the right company then telemarketing can have a dramatic and positive affect on your business.

    Make sure that you speak to some of the companies clients before going ahead.

    I think if the guys have set up on their own they must have the talent and ability to make it happen as most telemarketing campaigns are done on a small hourly rate and a commission.

    Also dont take their first quote haggle and try to get the rate down on a trial basis. If it works and the quality is good then agree to pay them more. Reward for quality leads as oppose to number of leads.

    Let the company come up with a new script or pitch. They are experts in their field and know their stuff so let them do it.

    Good luck
     
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    Mark Lee

    Mark Lee

    Free Member
    Jan 16, 2008
    17
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    Pinner near London
  • #23
    Our telemarketing work went to specialists who understand the concept, are familiar with our audience (smaller firms of accountants) and can avoid the pitfalls I've heard about. Outsourcing was more cost effective and less soul destroying than doing it myself. Didn't have to provide a script. Faster payback than direct mail too.

    My starting point was to ask for recommendations from within the business network in which I'm active (the BlackStar club on Ecademy). I was keen to avoid relying on one-man bands that could be susceptible to sickness, and who might be tempted to give priority to bigger clients. I was also keen on a pay as you go approach. I paid a flat daily rate for telemarketing with no minimum contract.

    Before making a decision as to who to use I wanted to know about their expertise in my sector, how much capacity they had, what problems can arise and how they deal with these. The answers I received were surprisingly frank.

    I had a face to face chat with the owner of the telemarketing business and could tell from the conversation (and the testimonials he had received) that he was credible, experienced and professional. One of the secrets I think is that he didn't just say 'yes' to everything I asked. He challenged my assumptions and sought clarity before moving forwards.

    I suspect that a common mistake is to     focus on price as the key determinant and using a provider who has insufficient track record and understanding of the marketplace in which the business operates.
     
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