How Important Telemarketers are in your Business Success

Professional telemarketers are trained staffs to do direct marketing through the phone or other means that would require the telesales agent and the people they are talking with to be in direct conversation. This involves the use of telephone or computers to call people. This method is used by professional telemarketing firms to contact potential clients.

Professional telesales agents always undergo training so they can meet the requirements requested from various companies that need their service. The training for these agents range from dialect and language training to product and service familiarization so they can advertise and sell all these effectively to prospective customers. As much as possible, telemarketing firms must keep language barrier between the agent and the person who receive the call to a minimum because if not, both of them will not be able to understand each other and would result into both being frustrated. This only wastes time, resources and a potential client that might be interested to buy in the future.

Keeping the language barrier minimal is significant for this will provide better understanding and improve customer relationship. To achieve this, professional telesales agents must use English language so they can communicate with their leads and clients because it is widely used all over the world.

Professional telemarketing agents can be inbound, outbound, sales or lead generation. Inbound telemarketers are agents that handle the procedures of incoming orders for customers that require various types of information. These agents do little to no sales persuasion since the outside salespeople will do this. In addition, people calling inbound telemarketing agents already decided to buy products and services before they call.

Outbound telemarketers call various leads and clients included in their lists for several reasons that may involve sales but at times, outbound agents call their leads to advertise the products or services they offer. Some agents collect surveys and feedback for business firms that need their services.

Sales telemarketers on the other hand are responsible in selling products and services of a firm that hired their services. These agents are well trained and have persuasive script to achieve the required volume of sales.

Finally, lead generation involves finding prospective clients for business forms. These telemarketing agents gather information and to find out whether or not the person they are calling is interested to purchase the products or services offered by the company.

These professional telemarketers can help support the needs of business in order for it to survive in the tough competition of the market.

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.

Role of a telemarketer

Each telemarketer plays a very important role in every business organization. The job entails to call leads and turn them into potential clients. Several styles may vary depending on the business need. The most important thing is results and consistency. That is the top mindset of every telemarketer.

Opening a business chat over the telephone is quite challenging. The challenge to build trust and confidence with the prospect on the other line is evident, all the more to get their attention and have them listen attentively. How much more to gatekeepers! They are the receptionists, assistants, secretaries or even just the janitor or worst, the guard! These are just few of the trivial things that a telemarketer needs to master in his way through his sales presentation.

It is not easy to be a telemarketer! Regardless of the expected deliverable target, experience and peculiarity of related skills is imperative. The expectations are high, the demands are huge and satisfaction is insatiable. It is the challenge to every telemarketer to live up to these expectations and be able to consistently meet the target.

The increasing demand to telemarketing services is directly proportional to the demand to telemarketers.  It means the more businesses looking for telemarketing jobs all the more massive will the hiring for telemarketers are. Quality must remain high and its measure is the consistency on the delivery of favorable and positive outputs commensurate to the years of experience.

From appointment setting, lead generation and surveys the telemarketer emerges to be a phenomenal member of the business organization. Although he is not directly hired by the outsourcing business per se, but him representing the business in doing his presentation gives a positive impact to prospects that he knows the business by heart. It is therefore imperative for a telemarketer to master all need to know information about the company to be able to confidently brand the company he is representing.

Building bridges between their clients and potential prospects is the primary objective of every telemarketer. It is not just cold calling prospects at the end of the day but also advertisement. Regardless, if it was a successful cold call or not, it is still a form of “unsolicited advertising”. It means, if the call was managed perfectly, it leaves a mark to the prospect about the company they represent and the business they can do. It means, there is a room to revisit in the future and may lead to potential future engagements.

Motivating Appointment Setters

The once revered volume technique, insisting on a high quantity of pitches to accomplish sales goals is no longer cutting it in today’s business. Instead we see a shift towards improving the quality, not of each call or pitch, but of each individual appointment setter. There may at this point be an uncomfortable feeling that this inevitably implies an increase in compensation, but that is neither a practical or permanent solution to explore. We turn instead to Maslow’s third level in the hierarchy of needs for all people, including appointment setters: the need to belong.

Most of the telemarketing industry has neglected to focus on this piece of the equation.  We read in the papers and hear on the radio that “human capitol” is  your most valuable asset for any size corporation.  Keeping your staff motivated will ensure their top performance.

Appointment setters in telemarketing can be compared to a factory line, with the expectation that if agents are on the phone for a certain number of hours, they must deliver results.  Very often those who spend eight hours calling prospects to generate business opportunities while facing countless rejections are often treated as marginal components of the process. And, if you are investing time and money into your campaign in the form of direct expenses for the agent and for the data, treat your agent as you would want to be treated.

First we need to open communication on both ends. It is no longer the status quo to speak to agent once, give him or her a script, and only see them on payday.  A relationship needs to develop that creates a comfortable environment for feedback to be sent regularly. On your end, this means taking the time to get to know the appointment setter, examine their work, and give constant praise or criticism when deserved.  What you will get in return in addition to better performing appointment setter is the peace of mind that you will be kept well informed about your lead generation. So when you decide to take on a sales agent to increase traffic, take the initiative to ensure that the two of you will have the kind of relationship that will benefit your business. The subtleties of feeling like a member of your organization can really enable that agent to produce amazing results in B2B lead generation campaigns.