Ensuring your remote staff have made a call, any tips please?

[Matt - Videographer]

Hi

I am planning to outsource our telesales/cold calling (an unfortunately necessary part of our lead generation). But I am worried that the people doing this for us could easily just say they have attempted to make calls, and bill us, without actually making any calls.

Does anybody have any advice on how I could legally (and preferably freely) ensure that they're making the calls - for example, insisting they ask a certain question/obtain a certain answer, that could only be provided back to us if indeed they did make the calls? This is the only solution I can think of so far, albeit I cannot think of what said question/answer might be.

Any help hugely appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[WaveJumper]

I clearly know nothing about the telesales industry as I would only pay them if they actually gave me a lead. How does it work do you have to pay them so much a month and hope they get some leads for you?

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Surely the outsourced provider's business depends on them making those calls!

They will be likely to provide you with lots of data, showing who they called, when, over what duration etc.

If you don't get leads, that is a separate discussion.

 

[Matt - Videographer]

Thanks for your response. Yes this is a good point about their business depending on it, but I should have made this clear, sorry - I am not going to a dedicated telesales company, as they charge too much, instead I am hiring a couple of people I know since this is much cheaper, but it is effectively just extra income for them and so their livelihood is not so dependent on actually making the calls. So how might I ensure they are actually bothering to make the calls?

Or, am I being foolish with the above approach and instead should just accept the higher cost of a dedicated telesales outsourcing company?

 

[MBE2017]

It sounds like you would need some call monitoring software which could log the numbers, time on call etc. Not sure as to the cost, you might find a flat lead fee easier.

 

[AllUpHere]

The question isn't really whether or not a telesales team or freelancers is a better solution, but why have you got into a situation in which you need to use cold calling. Are you good at what you do?

To answer your question though, have them use Voip to make the calls on your account and you'll be able to see all the call stats.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

...I am not going to a dedicated telesales company, as they charge too much, instead I am hiring a couple of people I know since this is much cheaper, but it is effectively just extra income for them and so their livelihood is not so dependent on actually making the calls. So how might I ensure they are actually bothering to make the calls?

Or, am I being foolish with the above approach and instead should just accept the higher cost of a dedicated telesales outsourcing company?

Will the people you hire be incentivised to bring in leads or charge for their time?

It will end in tears if you just offer minimum wage to people with no experience or incentive.

 

[The Byre]

You should pay by results and not by hours spent annoying people.

P.S. If it is new business that you need, I would strongly suggest you spend the money to get a proper website. A media company that cannot put a proper website together that is legible is not one I would want to use.

You can get your website reviewed here if you pay the modest fee to become a full member, but I would get a proper website first.

 

[Matt - Videographer]

Thanks for all the responses! Very helpful, and appreciated.

Based on what's been said, I will instead swallow the cost of a dedicated outsourcing company and try to strike a deal based on leads rather than time.

@AllUpHere thanks for the tip, yes very good, and "word of mouth" is ultimately the best, but you cannot rely on that for consistent/predictable lead generation, hence calls being one of the approach methods.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Hi

I am planning to outsource our telesales/cold calling (an unfortunately necessary part of our lead generation). But I am worried that the people doing this for us could easily just say they have attempted to make calls, and bill us, without actually making any calls.

Does anybody have any advice on how I could legally (and preferably freely) ensure that they're making the calls - for example, insisting they ask a certain question/obtain a certain answer, that could only be provided back to us if indeed they did make the calls? This is the only solution I can think of so far, albeit I cannot think of what said question/answer might be.

Any help hugely appreciated. Thank you in advance.

In answer to your question, you are not supposed to rely on whether your people have or have not made a call.

You need some technology that helps you. I am no expert in outbound call centres but if you google "outgoing call center solution" you will see what I mean.

These solutions track calls made, duration, etc. and can give you stats on who is your most/least productive agent, average talk time, etc.

 

[AllUpHere]

Thanks for all the responses! Very helpful, and appreciated.

Based on what's been said, I will instead swallow the cost of a dedicated outsourcing company and try to strike a deal based on leads rather than time.

@AllUpHere thanks for the tip, yes very good, and "word of mouth" is ultimately the best, but you cannot rely on that for consistent/predictable lead generation, hence calls being one of the approach methods.

Obviously as a marketing strategist I'd argue that cold calling is very much a last resort, and also that word of mouth is both consistent and predicable (if used in the right way), but that's a conversation for another day.

 

[fisicx]

How many leads per day do you need? If your business can survive on one conversion per day then you don’t need many leads. Which means you could make those calls yourself. And if they are warm leads half the job is already done.

But….

If they visit your website they will probably be put off. Join as a full member and get a website review.

 

[intheTRADE]

Whilst I believe cold calling works in some industries (energy, insurance - 1 call conversion type industries) and some huge companies are built on cold calling, I have to echo the comments of others of why you need to go down this route as I really don't think what you do will benefit from this at all

If you persist with it, you need to have a clear objective of what you want from the call. I am presuming it will be targeting corporate clients so do you want semi-interested leads, appointments set for you to close, sales closed on the first call (wont happen) or just contact information to send further info? If you do not set a clear objective from the start you may as well just flush your money away and not even bother

I've got to say though, looking at your portfolio you have worked with some huge brands like M&Ms, Coca Cola and Heinz. Why on earth aren't you showcasing that on a decent website and investing money into Google Ads to put yourself in front of people who are actually searching for video production. Your colour scheme reminded me of cannabis when I landed on the site.

As @fisicx says, you would definitely benefit from becoming a full member and getting a website review

 

[fisicx]

I've got to say though, looking at your portfolio you have worked with some huge brands like M&Ms, Coca Cola and Heinz.

I think they are just demos - they weren't commissions. But I may be wrong.

 

[intheTRADE]

I think they are just demos - they weren't commissions. But I may be wrong.

Ah I see. Thinking about it, you may be right

 

[WaveJumper]

Maybe if it formed part of some overall marketing initiative it may have some merit but on its own personally, I would be very doubtful, in fact if you are using inexperienced people to make the calls it could well backfire and paint your company in a bad light. I would go with save the money and think of another approach.

 

[cjd]

Cheapest way I can think of is this:

1. sign up for our service
2. rent as many extensions as you have agents plus one for you, so say 3. (£1 per month each)
3. each agent downloads the free softphone to a PC and registers it to an extension
4. you put some pay-as-you-go credit onto the account so that they can make outbound calls

As the master account holder you now have access to all the agent's individual calling records showing number called, time and duration.

You can record all the calls too if you wish - about £11 per month.

That's all. It's no contract so just delete the extensions when you don't need them any more. Added advantage is that you can all call each other for free.

Best to use a headset than shouting at the computer - £10 job from Tesco is fine.

 

[paulears]

If they are working there socks of making calls - then this will cost them on their phone bill and they'll want you to cover it - by giving you their itemised bill, which shows the time and number they called. The evidence you need, they want to give you to recover the cost to them!

 

[NickGrogan]

I'd do this...

Video commercials showcase your business and are a very important part of your advertising.

Creating quality and professional product video and marketing video to advertise your company’s values helps you to communicate with your audience more effectively and increase sales.

 

[ctrlbrk]

sign up for our service

cjd (slightly off topic for here) I've had a quick look at your site - do you also offer ACD-type services? I.e. an inbound call-centre type setup?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

What CJD said!

 

[cjd]

cjd (slightly off topic for here) I've had a quick look at your site - do you also offer ACD-type services? I.e. an inbound call-centre type setup?

Yup, we do. IVRs, call Queues, diverts etc etc.
Give us a call 020 7043 5555 and have a chat. The guys are tech support, not sales, they'll give you a straight answer.

 

[Matt - Videographer]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I didn't realise this place was so active. Really appreciate all the feedback.

 

[Ozzy]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I didn't realise this place was so active. Really appreciate all the feedback.

I'm using this quote in tomorrows newsletter .

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I didn't realise this place was so active. Really appreciate all the feedback.

Hello fellow video filmmaker business...

So I'd go to a specialist video production sales agency.

I'm in video production as well and our industry's a little different. I'm B2B but for all the B2C stuff which you seem to be aiming at, there are a couple of specialist companies which will put you in front of the B2C brands which interest you. They talk to them all the time, find out when they want to be pitched and then will put you in front of those firms.

Hiring a telemarketing company will produce returns but the specialists will get you in front of more B2C brands at the right time. i.e. When they're ready to buy and they'll also give you insight into what those brands want to help you win the pitch. So if you're ambitious and want to chase the big brands with big budgets, they'll put you in a place where you'll have an opportunity to pitch to them.

It generally costs £3,500 per month to hire a specialist but if you're good, you'll get returns. If you're not, then it's pointless. Also, they're not B2B.