If you want the right telemarketing service, ask questons!  And ask lots of them, such as:

Does your telemarketing company have…

1. the latest software
2. the latest equipment
3. specialty services such as:

• digital recording,
• off-site monitoring,
• hot transfer,
• web enabled call stations,
• 3rd party verification
• digital back-up

Does the telemarketing company have a plan that guarantees your campaign is not interrupted, or valuable data lost if there is an outage or disaster?

Most businesses don’t think to ask these questions when they interview a prospective telemarketing service.  If you don’t know what some of these services are, don’t assume that means you don’t need them.  A good telemarketing service will be glad to take time to explain whatever you ask.  If they don’t have time to explain things now, why would they take time with you later?

Posted: January 4th, 2008 under Call Centers, Lead Generation, Off-shore Call Centers, Telemarketing Sales, Telemarketing Services.
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You can always switch telemarketing companies of course, but it makes sense to think about starting out with a telemarketing company that can grow as you grow.  For example, an outside telemarketing call center may handle lead generation well.  But suppose you want to expand to appointment setting?  And what if there is an option for your product or service to become national or international?

A telemarketing company that can expand to other types of telemarketing will make it easier for you in the long run.  Eventually, your company may want to expand to off-shore telemarketing.  Typically, this type of telemarketing is for companies with huge prospect lists and the cost per call becomes a major factor.  Off-shore telemarketing can be significantly less expensive.

Or what if your company wants to add in-bound customer service?  If your business product or service has the potential for expanding beyond your current telemarketing company’s range, you may want to consider  outsourcing with a telemarketing service that has all the services you will need in the future.  This could save you from needing to switch later, as your business needs grow.

Posted: January 3rd, 2008 under Appointment Setting, Call Centers, Lead Generation, Off-shore Call Centers, Telemarketing Sales, Telemarketing Services.
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I’ve been writing in previous blogs that telemarketing has the highest response rate of all direct marketing methods according to the DMA survey.  So, what about e-mail?

Surprisingly, e-mail  comes in second, only to telemarketing, in the ROI category.  ROI (return on investment) takes into account the actual cost verses the response.  Here, telemarketing has 18.2 index points vs. email with 16 index points.

So, even though e-mail has a very low response rate (less than 1%), the ROI makes it fairly effective cost-wise.  For a small price, a business can send out zillions of e-mails and get a fairly good return per dollar spent.  But, nevertheless, telemarketing still prevails in ROI and overall response rate.

Posted: December 31st, 2007 under Telemarketing Sales, Telemarketing Services.
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