Digital and social media channels are the new and trendy ways to connect with potential customers. But, what about having a conversation?
If you are going to invest time and money into a telemarketing campaign, how can you make sure you get it right, generate quality leads and win new business?
Make sure you know what you are trying to achieve. Are you building brand awareness, looking for market intelligence or looking for specific sales outcomes or engagement (such as booking a meeting)? If there are multiple objectives then which are the priorities?
Make sure that you have profiled who are your best and most likely customers and focus on them! Ensure that you source good, up to date data that meets all of the legal requirements (such as screening against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service). Targeting the right people within those organisations is also key, so identify those job functions and responsibilities.
One of the most important outcomes of a telemarketing campaign is a good quality and well qualified database. Building a detailed and up to date prospect database can prove a valuable business asset and support much of your marketing activity. Make sure you are recording the information from each call in a way that enables you to use it intelligently later, ensure that contact details are correct, that you know who the decision makers and influencers are, and that you know where they are in the buying process.
Ensure your team are clear on the key messages and the objectives. They should be able to engage effectively on the benefits of your solution and need good training but don’t need detailed technical information. Telemarketers should be able to overcome objections, interact appropriately and relate to the prospect’s situation. Not following a script allows them to engage effectively, with a ‘human’ conversation that will lead to better outcomes.
With every marketing activity, testing and identifying what works and continuously improving it is the key to success. An integrated message and approach also helps generate results and telemarketing is no different (e.g. link together email and telemarketing activity).
Telemarketing plays a very important role in the B2B sales process and the personal approach can get great results.
This article first appeared on the Beanstalk Marketing blog
