Telemarketing Lead Generation Blog

“Dedicating” Yourself to Lead Generation Telemarketing

Posted on Feb 26, 2008 by Melissa Joffrion, Account Executive

Many of our clients are faced with the decision of whether to outsource telemarketing on a campaign basis or to invest in a dedicated telemarketing agent (or team of agents) on a long-term basis. Assuming your overall telemarketing volume warrants it, utilizing a dedicated team on a consistent basis has noticeable benefits. Some of those advantages are…

Training- Dedicated agent(s) become a true extension of your sales team. They receive initial training before the launch, and build upon that knowledge through ongoing monthly/quarterly training sessions, as well as independent research. You can also incorporate your telemarketing agents into your corporate culture by having them attend annual sales and marketing meetings, engage with your sales channel (as appropriate), and taking part in your certification programs. Alternatively, when you outsource on a campaign by campaign basis, in many cases your outsource agency will need to assign a different agent to each campaign – perhaps someone who does not have experience calling on your behalf.

Consistent Flow of Leads- After the pilot period, benchmarks and baselines for productivity are determined and you typically can rely on a consistent flow of leads. This makes monthly/quarterly trending and determining potential ROI much simpler. Conversely, if you engage in campaign work, you will see peaks and valleys in your lead flow. A dedicated consistent model eliminates the unpredictability of lead volume.

Greater Analysis- With a dedicated team, you are more easily able to test new markets and introduce alternative value propositions and messaging. It’s also easier to spot “big-picture” trends in the market, your messaging, your competition, etc. Alternatively, stand-alone campaigns are many times isolated and “big picture” trends are lost.

More Flexibility- You can more easily change the focus of the calling if necessary. For instance, if your agents are predominately focused on tele-prospecting (cold-calling) and there’s a spike in responder activity, you can quickly change their focus to tele-qualification. You agents are dedicated to your company’s marketing efforts, thus you have even more control over how they should be utilized.

Sales Team Buy-in- Because there’s consistency with your telemarketing agents, your sales team learns to trust the quality of the leads. We have found that it is also beneficial to open the dialogue between sales and your dedicated reps. This allows your sales team to directly provide feedback on the leads, thus further solidifying sales collaboration.

Easier Funding Approval- Going back to the “well” to get more funding usually has its challenges. Thus, you may find it is easier to obtain buy-in from senior management to fund a dedicated team on an annual basis, than it is to gain approval numerous times throughout the year for campaign based work.

Tagged: telemarketing leads, sales leads, teleprospecting leads

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