Boutique Telemarketing Firm or Call Center – Which is Right for You?

Boutique Telemarketing Firm vs Call Center – Which is Right for You?

Boutique Telemarketing Firm or Call Center – Which is Right for You? Right or wrong, call centers have a reputation as a place where thousands of identical calls are made each day and there is little room for personalized customer service.

It’s true that agents at most call centers work from a script that is, for the most part, set in stone. They also speak mainly to lower-level managers who are not usually authorized to make high-level decisions. Most of these managers are interested only in finding the best deal or lowest price.

Thinking a large call center is your only option can be discouraging if you need help with specialized tasks such as:

  • Getting past gatekeepers
  • Talking directly with decision makers
  • Making complicated cold calls to top-level executives
  • Setting appointments
  • Generating qualified leads
  • Nurturing existing leads

Thankfully, there is an option other than a large call center. A boutique telemarketing firm. While large call centers can work well in situations where people simply order products, boutique firms use highly-trained sales professionals that act as an extension of your sales team. But don’t be fooled, despite their high-touch approach, boutiques firms are well able to handle a large numbers of calls.

One of the most important differences between a large call center and a boutique firm is the type of training agents undergo. Since the goals of most call center agents are very specific, and they are discouraged from going “off script,” they need less professional development than their counterparts at a boutique firm.

Agents at boutique firm, on the other hand, are highly-trained professionals who must understand the intricacies of lead generation, lead nurturing, and appointment setting. They also must be able to get past gatekeepers and establish strong relationships with decision makers.

It is important to note that boutique firms and call centers each have a place and one is not better than the other. Instead, which is better depends on your unique needs. In most cases a call center works best when you are selling a pre-existing commodity to mid-level executives or purchasing agents. A boutique firm works best when you have a complex product or service that can be modified for specific customer needs and you need to interact with high-level decision makers or executives.

In Today’s Digital Marketing World, Telemarketing Still Reigns King

In Today’s Digital Marketing World, Telemarketing Still Reigns King

In today’s competitive business environment, marketing your product or service takes a multi-channel approach. And while it might seem that in such a highly digitized world, telemarketing wouldn’t be as relevant as it once was but that is not the case.

Although telemarketing has been around since the 1970s, the technology and tools it uses presently are as sophisticated as any currently available. Further, just because there are new marketing tools available, it doesn’t mean that the tried-and-true methods are no longer useful.

Study after study has shown that even with marketing tools like social media, search engine optimization, and interactive websites, it is tough to beat the value of talking to a customer one-on-one. Telemarketing’s highly-personalized conversations are especially effective for lead generation and lead nurturing.

Today’s telemarketers are adept at using new technology to make what they do more effective. For example, armed with big data, telemarketers can pinpoint who to talk to, when to talk to them, and what to say.

Experts anticipate a rise in more personalized marketing techniques in the coming months. And talking one-on-one with potential customers is as about as personal as it gets. Telemarketing is expected to continue to grow in popularity because savvy marketers know to put their money in methods that have the best return on investment. Telemarketing is one such investment.

While technology is helping to make sure that telemarketing remains on the cutting edge of marketing, the human element is what makes it so successful. This is one reason why you should strongly consider outsourcing your telemarketing campaign. Professional telemarketing companies have a firm grasp on how to harness information and use it to achieve the desired results. They also have a team of professionals who are experienced in connecting with decision makers over the phone.

It is important to remember that today’s successful telemarketing efforts have carefully formed objectives. These include:

  • A marketing plan with accounting and analysis criteria
  • Effective scripts, sales outlines, and presentations
  • Training and hiring procedures for supervisors and sales personnel
  • Analysis and evaluation of all campaigns, marketing personnel, and return on investment
  • Established goals
  • Emphasis on follow-up

Telemarketing is anything but a thing of the past. Instead, its evolution over the years has made it one of the most effective and affordable marketing techniques available today.

Why Social Media Won’t Replace Telemarketing

Why Social Media Won’t Replace Telemarketing

In this age of social media, it might seem like the art of live conversation is no longer necessary. And while technology seems to be taking over every facet of marketing, studies show that telemarketing continues to offer an outstanding return on investment.

Telemarketing is an excellent way to find leads and convert those leads into sales. Telemarketing is similar to other forms of marketing in that campaigns must be designed to meet the needs of its target audience. The best telemarketers also realize that their job goes way beyond making sales – although this is the end game. Lead generation, relationship building, and lead nurturing are the hallmarks of any successful telemarketing campaign. Experts will tell you that nurtured leads spend more money – over a longer period of time – than customers who were won over with a quick sales pitch.

Telemarketers need to work hard not just to make sales but to capture vital information and find new opportunities. In this way, telemarketing is anything but behind the times. Telemarketing allows companies to compile a great deal of data that will allow for pinpointed marketing campaigns.

While telemarketing continues to outpace most other forms of marketing – including social media – there are certain components that are necessary for a telemarketing campaign to be successful. These include:

Repetition: The most successful telemarketing campaigns are anything but one and done. In order to forge the type of relationships that lead to long-term customer relationships you should expect to make several calls to prospects. Remember, it’s all about relationship building.

Well-Defined Goals: Getting a prospect on the phone is just the beginning of the process, not the end. Make sure your script is clear, concise, and delivered with confidence. There is a very short window of time to engage your prospect. Make sure you make the most of it.

Relevancy: Make sure the product or service you are calling about is relevant to the prospect. In today’s data-driven marketing world, there is no excuse for poorly targeted prospects.

Telemarketing continues to outpace other forms of marketing because of its high success rate. No matter what you are trying to achieve – sales, lead generation, customer retention, market research, etc. – telemarketing will continue to be important for one simple reason: it works.

Why Your CRM Needs to Go Mobile

Why Your CRM Needs to Go Mobile

Gone are the days when sales reps spent most of their time chained to their desks making cold calls. In fact, in today’s sales environment many sales reps don’t even come into the office. Instead they are on the road or working from home.

No matter where your sales reps are at any given time, customer relationship management (CRM) is vital to their success. And statistics show that when salespeople use mobile CRM their sales increase by 29 percent, their productivity by 35 percent, and their forecast accuracy by 40 percent.

In light of these numbers, it is easy to see why you need to make sure your company’s CRM is as mobile as your sales team. After all, Americans spend more time today on their mobile phones than they do on their computers – and this statistic is even higher for those in the sales industry.

If you are still wondering whether your company needs mobile CRM, here are some facts to consider:

  • Mobile CRM is cloud-based so sales reps can use their device of choice. This leads to greater productivity because when sales reps don’t have to waste time accessing an unfamiliar operating system they can better focus on closing sales.
  • Mobile CRM is easily customizable so your company is able to keep pace with constantly changing technology.
  • Mobile CRM provides faster service. Requiring sales reps to come back to the office to submit or change orders is a huge waste of time. And time is money. Customers today don’t like to wait, either. Mobile CRM means anything a customer wants or needs can be taken care of wherever a sales rep is at any given moment.
  • Mobile CRM helps companies keep ahead of the competition. Companies that adopt mobile CRM technology report that their sales teams are better able to give more accurate information and presentations. This allows them to stay ahead of the competition because they can close lucrative deals faster.
  • Mobile CRM means everyone in the company can access the information they need in real time. Plus, information such as lead generation is organized in a clear manner that is easy to access and decipher.

Mobile devices play an important role in the success of your sales team. When you marry CRM with smartphones and other mobile devices such as tablets, the advantages of both of these powerful tools can positively affect your bottom line.