Of a
ll the different Direct Marketing methods, telemarketing is the most personal. You are in the front lines, speaking directly to your prospect, in real time. Good or bad, you will always get an immediate response. Obviously, you would rather be talking to prospects who are interested in what you have to say, instead of getting hung up on.
The key is connecting with the prospects most likely to be interested in your offerings. Whether you are marketing to consumers or businesses, the more targeted your telemarketing list, the better your results are going to be. This is even more important when starting a telemarketing campaign because telemarketing is so personal.
With telemarketing you only have small window of opportunity to make an impression. You are going to get no where if the prospects you are calling have no use for your product or service. Don’t use generic, one size fits all telemarketing lists. It would be great if everyone, everywhere was interested in your offerings, unfortunately that’s isn’t a realistic expectation.
Get as specific as possible. Take advantage of highly-specialized selects to pinpoint your ideal group of prospects. Take a good look at your current clientele, find the similarities and base your criteria around them.
The personal aspect of telemarketing will allow you to find out very quickly if the list criteria you used to create your telemarketing list worked or not. If you find yourself receiving more hang ups then prospects wishing you to tell them more, then you know your telemarketing list needs some fine tuning.
Purchase small ‘test’ lists until you have refined the perfect list criteria for your specific product or service. Once you have the perfect target market, then you can roll out a larger telemarketing campaign.
It may seem like a long process, but it will be worth it. You will be reaching out to fewer, but more targeted prospects. This will yield better telemarketing results and better customer satisfaction.
Nurture your prospects. Not everyone call has to end with a sale. Allowing your prospects to hang up the phone without closing the sale can often be necessary in order to pique their continued interest. If they have questions, they’ll call you back, allowing your business an additional opportunity to earn the customer. Sometimes keeping the ball in your prospect’s court gives them the extra bit of time they need to reach a final decision.
Don’t overuse your telemarketing list. Don’t plow through your telemarketing list, calling the same prospects over and over until you make the sale. It’s understandable that you want to squeeze every last ounce out of your telemarketing list because you paid big money for it. Unfortunately, when you over-call your telemarketing list, you run the risk of alienating your prospects. Then the list you paid big money for will stop producing results.
These are just a few things to keep in mind when planning your telemarketing campaign. Make the most out of the conversations you have and build personal relationships with prospects that you develop. By showing your prospect that they are not just another number on a list, but are instead potential clients who have needs that your business fulfills, they will turn into clients a lot faster.