Telemarketing ≠ Standard Cold Calling
Telemarketing is more than just “traditional” cold calling. We take a holistic approach to telemarketing, starting with data segmentation. In the next step, we contact the relevant individuals by phone or via LinkedIn. Accompanied by written follow-ups, we ultimately succeed in scheduling appointments. When looking for a good agency, we recommend keeping certain criteria in mind.
Criterion 1: First Impressions of a Telemarketing Agency
Your first interaction with a company reveals a lot about how it operates. The following points will help you assess the conversation:
- My contact person asked questions, listened, and addressed my specific needs.
- The conversation was low-key and wasn’t aimed at making a quick sale.
- I felt like I received good advice
An important step before your first phone call is to visit the company’s website. Take a look at it to get a sense of the company culture it conveys.
- How are employees integrated into the projects?
- Is telemarketing a core competency?
- How does the telemarketing agency position itself in terms of content—in other words, do they think beyond the traditional cold calling approach?
Criterion 2: Strategic Expertise of a Telemarketing Agency
As the saying goes: If you don’t know your destination, you leave the journey to chance. This is not an option when it comes to business decisions. Sales, lead generation, and service strategies should therefore be based on clear strategic decisions.
A professional telemarketing agency understands your business goals and can provide valuable strategic input. It is important to jointly establish realistic and measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to gauge the success of the project or campaign. To determine these, the following considerations are helpful to keep in mind beforehand:
- What do we hope to achieve with this project or campaign?
- What is the purpose of these phone calls?
- For lead generation projects: How many leads do we need in the sales pipeline to reach our revenue goals?
Criterion 3: Project Planning at a Goal-Oriented Telemarketing Agency
If a company promises you’ll be up and running tomorrow with a large database, the end result is usually sobering. A good telemarketing agency prepares the project in a way that ensures you take the best possible path to achieving your goals. Thorough planning does not mean wasting valuable time. Depending on its scale, a campaign can be up and running within two weeks—and in a way that ensures valuable resources are used effectively.
4. Criterion: Billing Models of a Telemarketing Agency
Some telemarketing service providers sell “net contacts” at low prices. While this may sound appealing at first, it can lead to unrealistic expectations and confusion regarding billing. Why? The definition of what constitutes a “net contact” varies. Therefore, be sure to clarify the definitions of contact types (interested, not interested, interested later, etc.) at the start of the project and establish the criteria for classifying them.
The results of projects using the net contact billing model are often less than ideal. This is especially true when the only goal set is the number of contacts, without considering their quality.
Professional telemarketing agencies, on the other hand, make it their mission to identify potential in every contact and respond accordingly. Sometimes this may mean having several phone calls and a written exchange with the decision-maker before an appointment is scheduled. The quality of that appointment is then significantly higher and more likely to lead to success.
Criterion 5: The Briefing—A Good Telemarketing Agency Asks the Right Questions
At the start of a telephony project , all necessary information must be gathered. This requires a well-thought-out approach, because the result is only as good as the briefing. Whether the briefing is successful depends not only on the client. Above all, it depends on how easily the agency representative guides the client through the information-gathering process—that is, by steering the interview and asking the right questions.
Criterion 6: Who answers the phone at a telemarketing agency?
People want employers to provide competent leaders and show appreciation. A company with a modern, positive corporate culture typically has outstanding employees who enjoy their work.
This enables long-term project support. The telemarketing agency can also ensure that project staff and call center agents possess all the skills required for a specific campaign. A customer-focused and technically proficient approach to conversations, combined with empathy and negotiation skills, forms the foundation for success on the phone.
In addition, a good lead generation strategy not only generates leads but also helps ensure that in-person sales appointments are optimally prepared.
Telemarketing with LeadEngine
We help companies make their sales and marketing efforts more effective. Telemarketing plays a central role in this process—from acquiring new customers and qualifying leads to providing strong customer service. Our inbound and outbound telemarketing teams guide you every step of the way, thinking beyond the traditional approach of cold calling.
- Systematic Telemarketing
- Where appropriate, we combine telephone and online marketing
- We work flexibly to help you achieve your goals—without rigid contracts
