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Telemarketing Overview
There are different names
for our industry: telemarketing, or teleservices, or
telesales, or call center, or whatever is used in the current
press. Some agencies are very small, with as few as four
stations, or seats. Some are extremely large, numbering in the
1,000 plus seats and multiple locations. Some agencies focus
on outbound calling programs, others on inbound, some do both.
Some only do B2B (business to business), others do B2C
(business to consumer), and some do both. Some provide the
calling list, others do not. Some are highly automated, some
use no automation. Some are directly connected to the
Internet. Some use monitoring equipment. The person on the
phone has different job titles including telemarketer, CSR,
TSR, CRM, etc.
13 Reasons Why Telemarketing Programs
Fail... and how to avoid some of the causes.
If you think you are the only one having
trouble with a telemarketing program, guess again. Maybe we're
slow learners, as we have been operating a service agency for
over eleven years, and we still see, and make, mistakes that
can be avoided or corrected. It's our guess that many internal
programs suffer the same ills as when the work is outsourced,
if you think of your internal user as we think of a client.
The purpose of this somewhat soul searching article is not to
place blame on ourselves, our clients, or our employees, as
there is enough to go around. It is simply an effort to
improve our service to the marketplace, and to help you make
more effective use of the telephone in your business.
The causes seem to fall into three logical
groups:
- Before the calling period begins.
- During the calling period.
- After the call is completed.
A. Before The Calling Period Begins:
1. Plan for the Program:
The calling
begins without a written plan being agreed to by the client
and us. There are about 20 points to cover in a plan, and it
will change as the program moves along, but there better be a
path to follow. No written plan, and you are sure to be
finger-pointing later. Take the time to discuss the issues,
rework them, have a senior caller review it, and start the
calling at a slow pace to see if it is working.
2. Program Objective:
Everybody does not
have the same understanding of the program objective...client,
us, and our callers. The client tells us, the managers, what
they want accomplished. We translate it for the callers. Yes,
everybody knows we are to 'get leads', but it gets confusing
to the callers when the guided discussion (script), caller
information and questions do not focus on the objective. A
program can have several levels of objective, i.e., set
appointment, send literature, have rep call, etc.
3. Expectations:
Having unrealistic
expectations of the results of the calls. The client feels we
can get some number of leads per hour, but we do not know what
that number is, or concur with their expectation. The
expectation may be valid and reasonable, but there are too
many variables to every program to know for sure what the
results will be. It is okay to have no preconceived
expectation of results, and let the client determine if the
results are worth the cost. Meanwhile, the callers should do
the best they can, and they really should not care what the
expectation is. By the way, a 'lead' does not mean there is a
purchase order waiting there for the sales representative to
pick up.
4. The List:
The calling list is bad. It
is old, cold, poorly targeted, over worked, or non-existent.
Using calling time to create a list may be a program in
itself, but a bad list will eat up calling hours very quickly,
yielding poor results and frustrated callers. Regardless of
the clients level of confidence in the quality of the list,
we'll bet the list is not nearly as valid as they think it is.
Also, the physical format of the list is important to the
callers as they probably need to take notes on calls, and
there is nowhere to write if calling from the 'Yellow Pages'.
First, the client ought to know their target market. Second,
if they have to, buy a list from a broker who should be able
to help you understand how to profile the market. Third, the
client better know their market. If not, telemarketing should
be able to help them learn what it is.
Training the Callers: Poorly trained
callers, either on the program or in basic calling proceedures.
Sometimes we start the program without asking for adequate
training from our client. Sometimes we add or replace a caller
during the program, but fail to give them adequate training.
Sometimes we overtrain the callers by providing more
information than they need, and they feel intimidated if they
cannot learn it. Give just enough training for the callers to
be comfortable, and see how effective they are with the task.
They will usually tell you if they are uncomfortable. Also, be
sure the right person is assigned as some people like
aggressive (get appointment programs), and others like easy
going (update customer database) calls.
B.
During The Calling Period:
The Hardest Part: We all like to
think Mr. or Ms. Right is sitting there waiting for our call.
Not quite. The targeted person may be swamped with calls
similar to ours, or loaded up with work, and/or not available
or whatever. More important, they just may not be interested
in what we are calling about. And that may be the most
important information we can gather. The hardest part of
telemarketing is getting the 'right person' to the phone. The
best way we know is to say: "I hope you can help me, I'm
trying to reach the person responsible for...". It then goes
on to the second hardest part.
Guided Discussion: The guided
discussion is bad, and not adjusted as we learn more about the
topic at hand. A 'guided discussion' means the caller knows
the objective, and gets there by guiding the discussion that
way. However, there is still an approach prepared that leads
the caller to the desired outcome, but it is not a script to
be read. Callers must learn to make those adjustments, and the
client and our management must enable that to happen. Here,
the proverbial rubber and road meet. The caller must have the
right tone of voice, and know how to hold a brief
conversation. If they don't, won't, or can't, the rest does
not matter. A lot has to do with the expectations. Don't
expect a caller to get into a technical discussion, instead
gracefully say something to the effect that: "That's a good
question, but I'm not able to answer it. Let me have our
representative get back to you."
Learning Curve: Not enough time is
allowed for the learning curve to develop, and the call
success rate to improve. It takes time for a caller to get
comfortable with a program. All too often, we expect immediate
results, and stop the pilot before the caller can get good at
it, or allow time for adjustments to be made. Give the callers
the opportunity to tell you how to improve the program, and
when they are doing the best they can. Listen to them as you
would like your boss to listen to you.
Support Required: Misunderstanding of
what our client paid for. Some clients want to add
administrative tasks to the program, after it starts, but do
not want to pay for the time and resources required to
accomplish those tasks. Frequently it is not a cost issue as
much as a capability issue. We may be able to provide
telemarketing service, but the client wants broader marketing
service. There needs to be an understanding of what the
commitment is for the fee paid. It's nice to say you can do
it, but it may be wiser to say you cannot, especially if you
did not commit to it in the planning stage.
C.
After The Call Is Completed
Communication: No clear communication
between the caller, the supervisor, and the client, regarding
the successful, or unsuccessful, calls. We don't always stop
and review how things are going, what changes should we make,
etc. Many times, we call our client with questions or ideas,
and do not get a call back for days. Sometimes, we continue
making calls, sometimes we put the program on 'hold', and
neither is good. This is tough to fix as we think the calling
program is the most important task in the world, and the
client has a zillion things going on. Just don't get
frustrated, and do something stupid to spite the client.
Follow Up: No follow up by the client
when we give them the information they wanted. There are all
sorts of statistics showing that sales people will not always
make that follow up call in a timely manner to someone who is
expecting it. Frequently, it is because no one at our client
site has been assigned a priority task of coordinating the
program with us. This usually happens when the calling was not
considered as part of a broader plan. The original plan must
include the responsibility for follow up.
Tuesday Morning Quarterback: Now,
some executive comes along and puts their few cents in. They
were not involved earlier, or they read about what some other
company is doing. The program may be moving along according to
plan, and they want to change it. This may not be a problem,
especially if they are paying for it. However, there needs to
be a basis for explaining what you have been doing, and why,
which goes back to the original plan.
Objective Not Suited For Telemarketing:
Not every business issue can be helped with telemarketing.
If you are trying to save a failing business at the last
moment, if you are trying to get doctors or lawyers or senior
executives to the phone, if you are trying to explain a new
concept that is mostly smoke and mirrors, save your
money...telemarketing is not the answer. In Closing:
Don't give up! Telemarketing is much like
any other business function. Done well, it is extremely
valuable. Also, we suggest you use the term 'telemarketing' in
a broader sense to include every time someone in your company
is on the telephone with your market. Think of 'telemarketing'
as the effective use of the telephone to help your business.
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