Many people argue that telemarketing is an outdated concept now, especially because social media has taken over everything these days. They claim that several hundred leads can be reached all at once just by putting up a post on any of the social media platforms. While this may be true in most cases, you should also realize that it takes time for any social media marketing campaign to set in, and do its task. Also, while there is a chance that some of your content might not reach all of your targeted audience using social media marketing, the same does not hold true when it comes to telemarketing. You just pick up the phone and dial a potential lead’s number, and unless they don’t receive your call, you are sure to get your message through to them. Hence, it is advisable for business owners to not let go of this option entirely, and benefit as much from it as possible. In order to help you out in doing just that, we have put together a list of do’s that you must incorporate within your telemarketing strategy for it to give out the desired results.
Take your telemarketing campaign seriously
When maintaining and running a call center, many business owners forget to lay down a proper strategy pertaining to telemarketing. They just go by the lists randomly, which causes them to lose out on valuable leads. Hence, always have a strategy ready to implement before using telemarketing for your business. In order to do this, you must have a list of objectives that you want to achieve. This will help you in streamlining a workable and cost-effective cold-calling strategy for your business.
Be weary of your competitors
Since this is an age of extreme competition, you must be fully aware of what your contemporaries are doing to set their product apart. In order to do so, you can study the way they market their respective businesses, and choose strategies that seem to work for you. Also, if they are employing something new, do not hesitate to experiment, since you cannot afford to lag behind them in any way if you are to succeed in the market.
Make your own calling list
This is very important, and will form the basis of your personalized telemarketing campaign. While it is fairly easy to get pre-made callings lists, they may not necessarily resonate with your business. You can still use them for starters, but what you really need to work on is conducting some market research, and looking for people who might be interested in your product or service. Once you have some of them, form a list, and begin working as per your telemarketing strategy.
Concentrate more on forming a lasting relationship than making sales on your first call to a potential lead
When you call a potential lead for the first time, make sure that you do not begin to “sell” right away. Instead, work on forming a relationship with them first so that they can trust you. This can be done by talking about their interests, and offering them complimentary services.
Make sure that you keep sorting through your lists
This is a very important aspect of cold calling. Once you have compiled a list, you can pick up the phone and call each of the potential leads. However, once you are done with a call, make sure to label it based on its usefulness as a lead. This will help you in reaching out to the people who are actually interested in buying your product or service.
Keep a track of numbers
This is again very significant for any telemarketing campaign. Your call agents must be able to keep a track of the number of calls that they have made on a given day. Also, they must be able to record the number of times when their calls were answered, and the frequency of positive responses. This will help you in analyzing the competency of your campaign, and whether or not you need to update it in any manner.
Let your call agents and other team members know of the analytics
Your team must be aware of its performance on a regular basis. This is the reason why you must share with them the analytics almost every week. As a result, they will be motivated to perform better, and give even more positive results.
Use your sales department effectively to respond to increasing queries and orders
The benefits of cold calling can only be achieved fully if your sales department does it share in an effective manner. This means that once you have gained serious leads, you must convert them into customers by handing them over to your sales department. Here, they will go through the purchasing process, which should be spot on in every manner.
Prepare your call agents for the conversation
While it is recommended to have certain “script”, your call agents need to know that every conversation does not have to be the same. Instead, they should have some basic points written out for them, so they know what they have to talk about specifically. Other than this, it varies with every call, and you can improvise as per the flow of the conversation. But remember to keep it professional and courteous.
Avoid small talk
This is especially detrimental in b2b marketing, where you are engaging other business owners or corporate workers, who obviously do not have any time for small talk during their work hours. Hence, make sure to make it short and precise, while conveying your message fully.
Hire experienced call agents if you can
It is an established fact that cold-calling gets better with practice. This is the reason why you must give your call agents some time before they begin delivering solid results. Alternatively, you can speed up the process by making use of trained personnel, who have prior experience in terms of cold calling. As a result, your campaign will take less time to kick-start.