Why are telemarketers an indispensable part of the telemarketing industry?

Google “telemarketing jokes” and you will be surprised by the numerous results, most of which are personal pranks made by people on telemarketers. These people think that they were able to hilariously get back at the poor telemarketers who were just doing their jobs. Their antics range from pretending they are taking hostages to pretending a telemarketer is talking to an imbecile.

It cannot be denied that telemarketing services are facing negative publicity, left and right and center. There are some states in the Unites States of America that have implemented restrictions on telemarketing companies. Some jurisdictions have vetoed protection for its citizens like giving them the option of being in the federal government’s “do not call” list,” which makes any calls being made by telemarketing companies to the numbers on this list automatically illegal. Other nations have imposed guidelines for telemarketing companies to follow. The most extreme actions call for the total abolition of telemarketing.

It is a frustrating reality for a telemarketing company to constantly work against this bias. True enough, there are telemarketing companies who teach their sales agents to call people just when they are taking their meals, to using rude telemarketing scripts on unsuspecting people, to invading on privacy by incessantly calling despite of being told not to call again. These are the companies that fuel the hate of the masses for telemarketing companies.

But if you think the world can do without telemarketing, think again.

A telemarketer is at the end of the line when you are hungry and you want a quick delivery of pizza to your place. It’s a telemarketer who will answer you when you have a flat tire and you need help to get back on the road. It’s a telemarketer who will most likely answer your call to your insurance agency when you have to ask questions in filing an insurance claim or when you want to ask about your credit card charges over the phone. It is the telemarketing companies that make it possible for most businesses to have 24/7 help desks. The Home Shopping Network alone handles 200,000 calls daily from their clientele.

But the convenience telemarketing companies give in our daily lives is often overlooked because people normally associate all telemarketers to those annoying sales representatives who call you just as you are rushing to go to your work, or when you are about to take a leisurely dinner. This is wrong. Telemarketing calls of telemarketing companies have different categories. There are outbound calls and inbound calls. It is mostly the outbound calls that generate negative criticisms. These are calls that are made by sales representatives for lead generation where the sales representatives will try to get your interest in their products. This is done through cold calling, or in laymen’s terms, unsolicited calls.

Because of the irritation outbound calls normally provoke, people tend to overlook the benefits of inbound calls. A call is considered inbound when it is the client that initiates the call. It is your call when you need something, from product information to ordering to product complaint.

So think twice before you tell that telemarketer he had just reached Mickey Mouse. There will come a time when it is you who will need their assistance.

The Importance of Appointment Setter in a Telemarketing Set-up

Cost-effective methods in appointment setting, surveys, lead generation and order
booking and database update are some of the regular features of telemarketing services. A business which wants to employ a telemarketer will always look to satisfy himself if these qualities are present in the telemarketer. An appointment setter can be called the first in the chain of employees in a telemarketing Service who would move the business forward to the next level but since the foundation is laid by him, it is
mandatory that he be someone who is confident, knows what he is talking about. He should exude a professionalism that would impress the target and earn a good name for the telemarketing service.

An appointment setter in a telemarketing service goes to work with a contact sheet in which he would find potential leads that might mean a successful contact. He would have to patiently but with tenacity contact each of the leads, be they business or some other organizations. For easy reference, the names in the contact sheet would be divided area-wise most commonly by zip code.

An appointment setter starts by introducing himself with utmost politeness. This demeanor itself should tell the listener on the other side what kind of a person he is engaged in conversation with. There should not be any ambiguity in his mind. When this is done, a few seconds interval is to be provided to him just long enough to prepare himself to talk to you. This interval should not be too long for him to decide that one telemarketing service is like another of the same description and terminate the call.

Now, a summary of the proposal that the telemarketing service has for the business is to be put forth in a professional manner. The details of the business venture is to be given. Whether it is a product or service that is on offer by the company, the man-on-the-spot, the representative of the telemarketing service should have done ample research to know about it. This immediately creates a bond that will go a long way
in strengthening the possibility of clinching the deal. Without seeming to lead the conversation nor putting the words in the moth of the other, a good telemarketer steers the dialog towards a point where the targeted person would feel that it was he who was making the decision and the telemarketer is a mere listener, though a patient one.

When the conversation has ended and the phone has been put down, the appointment setter should be able to weigh the pros and cons of the proposed deal. Since it is who initially and primarily decides whether to pursue the particular company or not and to elevate it to the level of a sales associate or some such person, he should make sure that it is worth the efforts for the higher authorities to continue or not.