Direct Response Telemarketing

Telemarketing has been given a bad name by unsolicited outbound telephone marketing…commonly referred to as cold calling. It’s the direct response medium that everybody just loves to hate.  But for some Direct Marketers and some offers it works.  The key to being successful with it is knowing when and how to use it.  As a general rule, business-to-business telemarketing is more effective than consumer telemarketing for several reasons.  Consumers are far less receptive to it than businesses and as a result of abuses and over use, the industry created the “Do Not Call” list, which any individual consumer can add their name to.   The exception to the “Do Not Call” rule involves political organizations and nonprofits which may call consumers at their homes.   There is no such list for business.   The other exception involves companies that the consumer has done business with and made purchases from.  Those companies can call their customers.   Since much of business is conducted over the phone, people working in a business tend to be more receptive to it while working.  Telemarketing is heavily used in the business sector for contact discovery and business profiling as well as lead generation.   It’s extremely effective when used in combination with direct mail and email.

The major benefits of it are that it is person to person contact, totally flexible, immediately responsive, incremental and cost accountable.

The range of applications includes contact discovery, business profiling, lead generation, order taking, customer service, account management, sales support, surveying, credit handling, sending your advertising message and building awareness, and 800 number marketing.

Telemarketing management functions and responsibilities include:

• Recognizing consumer attitudes.
• List selection.
• Script preparation.
• Selection and training of personnel.
• Providing proper working conditions.
• Designing production forms and control.
• Maintaining ethical standards.
• Projecting and analyzing results.

The operational checklist includes asking the following questions:

• What are the most highly targeted segments of the market for my product or service?
• What will I say to them?
• What is the most effective way of saying it?
• Who will say it for me?
• When should I say it before or after mail, print, or broadcast?
• What equipment and facilities will I need for maximum results?
• Where will I find able communicators and supervisors?
• How will I establish and implement a training program?
• How will I motivate my personnel?
• Where and how will I design and construct a telephone workshop?
• How will I measure the cost effectiveness of results?