Why telemarketing is an effective marketing strategy?

As we've discussed before, telemarketing is still regarded as a highly effective marketing strategy and tool - even in today's digital age. If performed correctly, telemarketing can be a complete game-changer for your business. A good telemarketing company, in today's environment, will have well-researched, sophisticated, and engaging strategies and approaches. Effective telemarketing takes time and a lot of planning, so why not leave it to trained professionals whose everyday focus is on making calls, making sales, and nurturing relationships?

Time and time again, telemarketing has proven to be a useful marketing strategy in generating leads, making sales, building a larger client base, keeping existing clients satisfied, and so much more. The effectiveness of telemarketing in our digital world all lies in the level of personalisation and exclusivity that it offers customers. As we say so often, customers and prospective buyers have changed. They want an open and honest dialogue and a relationship that is genuine and rewarding for both parties.

In this article, we'll briefly look at the subcategories of telemarketing, the difference between telemarketing strategies when it comes to business-to-business and business-to-consumer, and most importantly, some of the advantages that come with an effective telemarketing strategy. We'll also look at some important factors to consider when deciding on the correct service provider, and tell you why we believe Spirus might just be the ideal partner that you've been looking for!

Subcategories of telemarketing:

Lead generation:

As the name suggests, this subcategory focuses on generating new leads. The aim is not necessarily to sell anything but to collect vital information and data as well as to make new contacts.

Sales calls:

Usually involves calling people via telephone to try and convince them to purchase products and or services. Nowadays, however, sales calls have also evolved with video conferencing calls, allowing for a more interactive session between a salesperson and a customer.

Outbound:

A hands-on approach whereby existing, as well as prospective customers, are reached out to directly.

Inbound:

Involves responding to incoming calls and requests for information. Generally prompted by advertising or sales efforts, inbound calls are considered "warm" calls as customers will typically already be familiar with the company and the products and services on offer.

What is the difference between B2B and B2C telemarketing call strategies?

Business-to-business (or B2B) occurs when one business makes a commercial transaction with another. In today's climate, research is the one crucial concept that has the potential to almost entirely determine the success of your B2B telemarketing. Outbound B2B sales agents are often more like private investigators these days and will customise each of their pitches and strategies before even thinking about picking up the phone.  

Business-to-consumer (B2C), always known as direct-to-consumer, refers to the selling of products or services directly to customers, thereby bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or other middlemen. Similarly to B2B, comprehensive planning is a prerequisite these days in order to achieve a successful campaign. B2C transactions are generally more impulsive and on-the-spot, and because of this, B2C telemarketers have a much smaller window of opportunity to achieve their ultimate goals. All of this must be taken into consideration going forward. 

Whilst the two strategies may seem like polar opposites, it's important to remember that there are in fact quite a few similarities between B2B and B2C. Of course, in the one, you’re selling to businesses, and in the other, you’re selling to consumers, but at the end of the day, you’re still selling to people! It's really all about understanding your audience and what their individual needs are.

What are the advantages that come with an effective telemarketing strategy?

As mentioned, when done correctly, telemarketing can be a complete game-changer for your business. The advantages and benefits of an effective telemarketing strategy are almost immeasurable, but we'll do our best to show some of them to you below:

• Direct communication

With direct communication, a brand is almost certain to build strong customer relationships, because it allows for the opportunity to discover each of your customer’s preferences and specific needs. One can also use the information acquired to then personalise promotional messages and offers, thus creating a closer link with your customers. 

• Cost-efficient

Compared to other marketing strategies, telemarketing is, without a doubt, one of the most cost-effective ways for you to promote your business, especially if you decide to outsource. Because you are engaging directly with your market, not only do you have the potential for obtaining a new client, but you also receive any and all feedback immediately. This can be used to further hone your marketing strategy. It is time efficient to ask the questions directly to your target market, rather than wait on assumptions or metrics of other marketing tactics. 

 Forget about needing a budget for an in-house team and all of the costs associated with that, and allow experts to do the job for you. With all the infrastructure already in place, and with a sole focus on your telemarketing needs and goals, it's a no-brainer! 

• Maximises ROI

Objectives and return on investment (ROI) can be measured straight from the get-go. You will be able to see what your conversion rates are and have a better understanding of how to determine and reach your specific targets. After the first hundred-odd calls, you can start drawing conclusions from the data that has been established and begin to work out how many calls you'll need to make in order to acquire an appointment, a lead, and so on. Professional telemarketing companies will have a proven track record of delivering the maximum ROI. 

• Generates and strengthens quality leads

Time and time again, telemarketing proves to be one of the fastest ways of generating leads, securing new customers, and retaining strong relationships with existing clients. Lead generation and strengthening are all about searching for the right customers, and a professional telemarketing company will know exactly where to look in order to find them. As previously mentioned, a good telemarketing company will have well-researched, sophisticated, and engaging strategies and approaches.

Here are other advantages and benefits of an effective telemarketing strategy:

• It enables you to sell from a distance, and increase your "sales territory" so to speak.
• Telemarketing is fully measurable.
• Telemarketing is flexible as well as customisable.
• Telemarketing can and should provide a more personal and interactive experience.
• It creates an immediate rapport with your customers.
• Telemarketing helps adapt marketing strategies as needed.
• It gives you immediate feedback on products and services.

These are important factors to consider when choosing the correct service provider for your needs:

• Technology

A big incentive for businesses and companies when it comes to their telemarketing needs is gaining access to the latest technologies that the sector has to offer. Investing in similar infrastructure is a monumental budget expense, let alone all the other costs associated with hiring an in-house team. Ask about the technologies that the service providers use, and remember that some will stay on top of the latest technology trends, while others might fall behind. 

• Experience

Another make or break choice for your business is finding an experienced, skilful, knowledgeable and professional telemarketing partner. Cross-check the companies that you are analysing, and make sure that they have the experience and track record to meet all of your needs. The age-old phrase, "you get what you pay for", is extremely suitable when deciding which service provider you choose to do business with.

• Feedback

One "secret" to successfully choosing a telemarketing company is to discuss and assess their method of reporting and how they provide you with feedback. As a client of theirs, they should keep you up to date at all key stages of any given campaign. The right company should agree to give both quantitative and qualitative feedback that provides you with all-around insights into how the campaign has been going so far.

• Security

With today’s technology, professional telemarketing service providers offer their services both on-premises as well as cloud-based. It's important to ask and understand what security measures said provider makes use of.

What does Spirus' telemarketing strategy look like?

By making use of skilled professionals, and focusing on building long-lasting business relationships for our clients, we use the trusty, old-fashioned telephone to make sincere and genuine connections. A lot of companies these days employ quantity over quality approaches, but at Spirus, we prefer to rehumanise the profession, rather than becoming script reading bots!

It's vital to us that we know everything about our clients and the products and services that they offer so that we can ensure each and every call has value. We do all of this pre-planning not only for our clients but also for their potential customers, who will hopefully feel that they are starting a relationship with value. We also do this for ourselves, because we take pride in what we do and want our work to be enjoyable and valuable.

We follow GDPR guidance because it is the law, but also because we believe it to be best practice.

At Spirus, we believe it would be counterproductive to call people, or businesses, that choose not to be called.

So, what's next?

We’re available on 01638 741830 or you can email us by clicking here and asking how we can help you introduce telemarketing to your marketing strategy.

We look forward to hearing from you!