How To Avoid Potential Issues When Outsourcing Telemarketing
The main advantage of hiring independent b2b telemarketing companies is their ability
to deliver your message quickly to your target market through teams of telemarketers making hundreds of calls a day, something which you can achieve in the same short period of time only if you have your own fully-staffed in-house telemarketing unit.
While the benefits of working with b2b telemarketing companies are obvious, there are also potential problems with outsourcing telemarketing if the buyer failed to do due diligence in evaluating prospective service providers. Telemarketing services cost money and although outsourcing is a cheaper alternative to assembling an internal team, it can be a wasted investment if the agents have poor marketing and selling skills.
Another issue with outsourcing to b2b telemarketing companies is the agents lack of product-specific knowledge so they are not able to engage with a potential client when the conversation veers to more a technical discussion. Many providers limit their services to gathering and verifying information, setting appointments and conducting surveys. There may also be an issue with poor quality contact database.
To address these potential problems with b2b telemarketing companies, it is important to have a few people from your company to facilitate the outsourcing of your telemarketing activities. When starting a campaign, have some of the best people on your sales team train the call centers trainers or the agents themselves so you can discuss the technical side of your product and help agents better engage with potential clients.
Also, you can train agents on the distinct aspects of your business and your target market if you handle the initial training prior to the campaign launch. Do oversee the creation of call guidelines, which has been proven among b2b telemarketing companies to be more effective than using a verbatim script.
Lastly, before you ask agents to start calling make sure to provide them with a fairly good telemarketing list to begin with. A good quality and targeted list can make a huge difference in the results you get. All of these potential problems with b2b telemarketing companies can be avoided by making sure you hire a reputable company with a proven track record of successfully managing similar telemarketing programs. Always check references and ask for only experienced callers to be calling on your behalf.