How do I start as freelance telemarketer?

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B

B2Btelemarketer

Free Member
Mar 18, 2013
2
0
Birmingham
  • #1
    Hello,

    I'm new here and thought it would be a good place to start on the freelance road.

    I currently have 15 years experience in telemarketing, covering various industry sectors. I have been toying with the idea of working freelance for many months, and I am now at the stage where I want to give it a go.

    I have only worked for companies selling their products, and never even tried selling "telemarketing" before, so I'm really looking for some advice...please!

    My questions will more than likely sound daft?!? But anyway here we go.
    1-What should I charge? I know what I want, but will people pay £20.00 per hour for a 1 man band telemarketer working from home?
    2-Having never actually cold called offering "telemarketing" before, is cold calling companies the right approach?
    3-Do established telemarketing agencies employ freelancers (I'm thinking of this if work is quiet), and what do they pay?
    4-Do I work on 28 day credit, or do I ask for a deposit? as I have seen some agencies ask for an upfront fee to cover training costs etc.

    Like I say some of these questions may sound daft, but I have only worked in companies selling their products and not actually selling "telemarketing".

    Any help or advice would be great.

    Thanks
    Mark
     
    C

    compareyourcalls

  • #2
    Hello Mark,

    Forgive me for maybe missing the point here, but is there any particular reason that you want to be a freelance telemarketer? Just some potential concerns i thought I may address, if you are looking to charge £20 per hour, how will this earn you enough money to grow if you are restricting yourself to one business per hour? Like I say I may have missed something as my expertise is not within telemarketing.

    Are you going to be targeting the same industry/market so that your hours worth of time can be used by more than working for one company?

    Regards,

    Chris
     
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    B

    B2Btelemarketer

    Free Member
    Mar 18, 2013
    2
    0
    Birmingham
  • #3
    Hi Chris,


    Thanks for your reply, you`re probably not missing the point, maybe I need do to charge more? I will hopefully find out.


    Its questions like this I'm really looking for help with.


    Also I dont want to limit myself with the same industry sectors, my background is with various sectors (IT, print, food/drink, construction), and I would like to keep it varied.


    Mark
     
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    C

    compareyourcalls

  • #4
    Ok, the reason I asked about whether you are going to be working in different industries, is because if you are charging £20 per hour for 5 companies all in different industries this means the most you can earn, based on 9-6 mon-fri, is £3924 per month (based on average working days in a month of 21.8).

    I don't know if this is something you have already factored in and this is what you wish to earn?

    Hope this helps :)

    Chris
     
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    B

    Bruceflea

    Free Member
    Apr 6, 2010
    521
    56
    Belfast
  • #6
    kate1 said:
    Hi Mark

    Theres a few of us on here that are freelance telemarketers, we all work/charge differently. Some have basic, plus commission, some charge a higher hourly rate. I think it depends on what kind of work you going to be doing.
    Click to expand...

    I would agree with Kate1. In my opinion it depends on the product you are selling for them and what the current business model is for the sales cycle to complete e.g. if you need to book an appointment for the company's rep to attend and close.
    I have experience with a company who we outsourced this to and they were paid on performance. We established criteria with them firstly as to what makes the appt 'viable' for us and if the appt matched this then they were paid. If it resulted in a sale, they were paid a bonus.
     
    Last edited:
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    I

    InspiredTelemarketing

  • #11
    £20 is certainly a reasonable per hour rate for a freelancer but, as has been accurately stated above, if it's just you there's only so much you can earn, that's also not taking into account that unless you already have a pipeline of customers you're going to need to put time per week into business development otherwise you'll find yourself in a loop of feast and famine.

    I started out as a freelancer 3 years ago - my first step was to contact as many Telemarketing businesses as possible to see if they'd outsource work to me. That generated enough work to see me through the first year but, after that period I realised that I wanted a greater level of control over the campaigns so had to ensure things were getting delivered exactly the way I wanted.

    At that point I looked for local companies in industries I'd previously worked in and pitched myself as a freelancer - we've still got clients with us now from that period.

    Essentially it's about having some well developed processes and a good enough track record of success that prove to a potential client how you're going to bring real value to their business, not just cost them an hourly rate. Focus on results and how you're going to achieve them at all times!
     
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    L

    Lucie@MightyOak

  • #12
    Hi

    I run a marketing agency that also offers a telesales service.

    I started off as a "one woman band" and yes, you can make a damn good living from it and yes, it is possible.

    Firstly, I think as a new start up £20 per hour is slighly excessive.

    I charge £15 per hour for telemarketing which people don't mind paying to be honest with you. If you can get your own calling lists together - trawl yell and google - and put a spreadsheet together for target calls you can charge for this separately. You can easily get a 100 strong calling list together in an hour and will put you in an excellent light with any clients.

    Always ask for a minimum of 5 hours and always always get at least 50% upfront - no questions and no exceptions. I was screwed over royally in the beginning and although to some businesses ripping someone off for £100 might not mean much to them, but to a freelancer this could mean the difference between eating and not eating that week.

    Email companies directly offering your services or use People per Hour - they are always screaming out for telesales/telemarketing people on there.

    If you need any more advice please ask me. I have been there and done that and am still doing it very successfully. I would be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

    Well done for making the decision and good luck with it!

    Lucie

    Mighty Oak Marketing

    Don't let people knock your hourly rate down but do offer special offers i.e. 15 hours for the price of 10 or something like that.
     
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    B

    beasty

  • #15
    How can you say

    Do not let people knock you down on your hourly rate but do special offers like 15 hours for 10, taking you from 15 quid to 10 quid an hour!!

    Anyway, if you are good at telesales it should not be tough, i think the agency suggestion is a clever one offering to take their overflow as you build up.

    Really it is on you though, how YOU perform and freelance t sales are notoriously variable in results!
    Even on PPH i see a girl who has 90 percent plus rating and i know she sucks, she has good feedback for nice spreadsheets, makes me highly suspicious of the standard on pph and makes me think the system must pressure both buyer and seller to leave good feedback, encouraging work and over stating their ability

    Good luck with it, it is not for everyone
     
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    L

    Lucie@MightyOak

  • #16
    beasty said:
    How can you say

    Do not let people knock you down on your hourly rate but do special offers like 15 hours for 10, taking you from 15 quid to 10 quid an hour!!

    Anyway, if you are good at telesales it should not be tough, i think the agency suggestion is a clever one offering to take their overflow as you build up.

    Really it is on you though, how YOU perform and freelance t sales are notoriously variable in results!
    Even on PPH i see a girl who has 90 percent plus rating and i know she sucks, she has good feedback for nice spreadsheets, makes me highly suspicious of the standard on pph and makes me think the system must pressure both buyer and seller to leave good feedback, encouraging work and over stating their ability

    Good luck with it, it is not for everyone
    Click to expand...

    Figure of speech!

    Love this site .. nit picking at every opportunity!

    PPH isn't all bad and you get good and bad - choose who you work for and who you employ - yes some people over state their ability but the majority do not.
     
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    maxine

    maxine

    Free Member
    Oct 13, 2007
    6,154
    1,952
    Cambs
  • #19
    beasty said:
    How can you say
    Do not let people knock you down on your hourly rate but do special offers like 15 hours for 10, taking you from 15 quid to 10 quid an hour!!
    Click to expand...

    I think what Lucie might mean is not just to reduce the hourly rate from £15 to £12 for the fun of it but a "volume discount" is OK, where if they buy more than say 40 hours the rate might reduce to a lower equivalent rate ...?

    But advice from me...

    - don't give credit ever. All upfront or forget it. Even if you break it down into stages.
    - lower introductory rate or something where it's a low cost trial or test for someone
    - target clients where the VALUE you will bring them is a darn sight more than £20 a hour (higher value products, lower sales decision times etc)
    - don't scrape data together - it takes up way too much time, is usually against t&c's of the provider such as yell or directories, has no name, and usually needs a tps/ctps check as legal requirement. Buy data from a credible supplier.
    - get organised with crm, phone systems. Get comfortable and efficient then you can do your calls and post on ukbf at the same time :)

    Good luck
     
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    P

    Paul Brooke

    Free Member
    Mar 8, 2011
    159
    27
  • #23
    Yes Sean. The boilers came to an end quite sharply.... bloody government moving goalposts again...still do a bit of loft and cavity wall in rural CSCO... but mainly getting involved in thermodynamics now..... it knocks solar thermal into a cocked hat. Hope things are better for you now matey.
    It's good to read the different experiences that telecanvassers are having here and the fees they reckon to earn.
    Are any on here familiar with solar, themal, etc and in the market now? It would be interesting to find out the cost of lead generation for this product
     
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    L

    Lucie@MightyOak

  • #24
    maxine said:
    I think what Lucie might mean is not just to reduce the hourly rate from £15 to £12 for the fun of it but a "volume discount" is OK, where if they buy more than say 40 hours the rate might reduce to a lower equivalent rate ...?

    But advice from me...

    - don't give credit ever. All upfront or forget it. Even if you break it down into stages.
    - lower introductory rate or something where it's a low cost trial or test for someone
    - target clients where the VALUE you will bring them is a darn sight more than £20 a hour (higher value products, lower sales decision times etc)
    - don't scrape data together - it takes up way too much time, is usually against t&c's of the provider such as yell or directories, has no name, and usually needs a tps/ctps check as legal requirement. Buy data from a credible supplier.
    - get organised with crm, phone systems. Get comfortable and efficient then you can do your calls and post on ukbf at the same time :)

    Good luck
    Click to expand...

    Basically Maxine yes - Offer an "introductory" price or "package" price to get the clients in then you can revert back to original price. Clients understand this.

    It is a shame that so many people on this site nit pick at every opportunity .. trying to make one person look stupid when all it does is backfire ;)
     
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