Telenet Marketing Solutions : Blog

Tips for Maximizing your Telemarketing Investment

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The decision to use telemarketing as a tool either internally or using a 3rd party vendor is a decision that should be well thought out. It is necessary to evaluate your current sales and marketing infrastructure, before making this investment.
Consider asking these five questions:

Do you have a specific target market and/or what products or services can you promote via teleprospecting that will support your company’s overall sales goals
Do you have strong communication processes in place between your sales and marketing staff to effectively utilize lead and sales information?
Do you have a champion in the sales department for a telemarketing initiative?
How will you determine your ROI for this initiative?
Lastly, what will you do with the market intelligence that is discovered during your telemarketing campaign?

Asking these questions can help you maximize your investment by:

Structuring your campaign in such a way that you have a clear and concise message and realistic goals to measure the success of the campaign.
Ensuring that marketing is passing the lead information to the appropriate person in sales and there is a communication vehicle in place for sales to report their pipeline obtained from leads back to marketing. It is critical that sales reports any leads that result in a closed sale and attaches a value to that sale to effectively measure your ROI.
Developing a plan for how you will evaluate the market intelligence captured and how you will integrate that information into your sales and marketing plan. Always have an end of campaign evaluation session with your internal team or your telemarketing vendor to discuss data trends, market trends, how prospects responded to questions and what initiatives companies are planning in the future. This is invaluable information to take into your sales efforts and your next telemarketing campaign.

An Unexpected Source of Valuable Information

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Dead Leads. The term “dead lead” is not music to the ears of those of us in the teleprospecting business by any means. Obviously, a dead lead is the absolute antithesis of our purpose in life. However, where do our best lessons in life usually come from? Yes, that’s right, our failures. A dead lead represents a failure of some kind…somewhere along the line, something went wrong. As Lead Quality Manager here at TeleNet, I’ve had pretty extensive experience over the past year with the lessons to be learned from leads that fall by the wayside. In general, I’ve seen that something goes wrong in one of two areas: the lead itself is not a valid opportunity OR the lead was not paid its due diligence once handed off to sales. Understanding why leads do not convert is a key element to end to end success in your B2B telemarketing initiatives.

The lead itself is not a valid opportunity – As much as I hate to admit, this can actually happen sometimes. Some “not so qualified” leads may slip through the cracks due to differences in opinion regarding what represents a qualified lead. Each sales person has their own definition of “qualified” – some may consider a customer accepting a phone call qualified, while others will only call those people who have plans to purchase next week. It’s imperative that the teleprospector has a clear understanding of what sales expects from a qualified lead. If your organization is engaged in an in depth review of dead leads, then you know that sales feedback is priceless. Knowing why a sales person did not convert a lead facilitates constant adjustment and improvement to the product you provide to your clients’ sales organizations.
The lead was not paid its due diligence once handed off to sales – Another thing we hate to see happen, and something over which the teleprospector has little control. This is where dead lead review is a useful source of information for your client. They are paying good money for these leads, and as such, they have a vested interest in ensuring that sales is fully capitalizing on them. Without reviewing the sales activities that take place during the follow up process, there is no way to know what changes, if any, might be in order. For instance, if the issue is sales’ inability to connect with lead contacts. Careful evaluation of the sales strategy for attempting to reach the customer may yield insight into potential process improvements.

Using TeleProspecting to Educate the Market & Promote the CLOUD

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

From a technology perspective, nothing in recent history has taken the market by storm quite like moving to the Cloud.

A generation ago, virtualizing servers and storage was all the rage; this approach to managing IT platforms revolutionized the way businesses thought about hardware and software in their computer environment. Economies of scale, simplified manageability and increased performance became a reality…and virtualization is still pertinent today.

However, there are new options emerging to automate, orchestrate and optimize the delivery of IT- it’s called the Cloud. Depending on who you talk to you can get a wide variety of definitions of what the cloud is- but to define it simply: the Cloud is IT as a service.

Accounts today have many options- Public Cloud, Private Cloud and Hybrid varieties. Cloud computing is delivered through hardware and software configurations that allow more freedom, mobility and versatility than ever thought possible.

But how can you, as a business, stand out from the pack and illustrate how your Cloud offering is different? Better? An option is to educate the marketplace using a service provider that understands Cloud technology.

TeleNet realizes that there are many Cloud “flavors”- and people perceive it differently. Thanks to the strong technology foundation of the company, ongoing technology training and exposure to forward thinking clients- we know how to talk about the Cloud. We know how to work around false objections and answer questions about how to make the move.

We like de-mystifying technology for people. We like making ambitions a reality.

Through our recent experience- we have learned how to make Cloud messaging less “nebulous”.

If you have a complex technology offer and need assistance taking it to market- consider our experience with promoting Cloud Technology. It’s the latest big IT initiative to hit the market- and we have quickly learned what is critical to communicate first to get prospects adopting faster.

How to Use Lead Scoring to Optimize your “Human Touch” Lead Nurturing Strategy

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Lead Nurturing has been a hot button over the last several years especially as marketing automation has become more and more of a standard in today’s marketing world. While most email nurturing engines offer lead scoring as an option, it is important to remember your on-going “human touch” efforts as well. Below are three keys to help you optimize your lead nurturing strategy, which specifically apply to your tele-nurturers:

Assign Values that Sales & Marketing Agree On
While email lead scoring can be pretty straight forward (measurement of clicks, opens, etc.), it is important to allocate values to tele-nurturing efforts as well. These can either be aligned by tele-activity (voicemail, phone conversation, etc), by information gathered on the phone (prospect’s role, timeframe, needs, etc) OR a combination of both. Whatever is decided it is important that Marketing and Sales are on the same page with the scoring model, to help avoid confusion later on in the sales process. Also, if possible make sure that your lead scoring is integrated across email and tele-nurturing.
Analyze Results Consistently
One constant with marketing is change. While Sales and Marketing might have a good idea of what constitutes a “sales-ready” lead today, that could very well be different a year from now. Thus, it is vital for lead scoring to be evaluated and analyzed on a regular basis. If possible, build a task force within your Sales, Marketing, and Vendors (if applicable) that get together on a regular basis to look at the scoring model to make sure it is aligned with your business. If you are ultimately basing your entire lead nurturing strategy on lead scoring, shouldn’t it be something that is up-to-date?
Understand Point of Diminishing Returns
One of the biggest challenges with lead scoring is knowing when to stop. With email campaigns, this is less of an issue due to it being such a low-cost medium. With tele-nurturing it is a different story due to the high cost (relative to email) involved with staffing a dedicated agent. Thus it is important that your tele-nurturers are always being as efficient as possible with their process. Residual “tire kickers” that are always in your sales funnel, but never end up buying anything should be moved to the back-burner, so that other prospects with more potential are focused on. A simple way to do this is to look at the average score it takes for a lead to become “sales-ready” and assign a higher point of diminishing returns. This will help your agents to avoid wasting time and enable you to build out more sales pipeline.

3 Tips to Positively Impact Lead Generation in 2012

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

At the beginning of each year, I usually blog about starting the New Year off on the right foot. In previous years, I have highlighted some ideas and tactics to help you improve your lead generation efforts in the following posts: Three Steps to Starting the New Year Off Right and 4 Tips to Positively Impact Lead Generation in 2011 . To keep up with this tradition, here are three additional ideas to keep in mind for 2012:

Conduct a “Motivation” Meeting – Schedule a meeting to help re-energize your telemarketing team and share objectives for 2012. Telemarketing is a challenging career requiring a lot of dedication and patience, and it is not uncommon for the calling team to have little insight into how the leads they produce are impacting your sales pipeline. Taking time to recap 2011 and share relevant highlights, wins, pipeline activity and feedback on some of the leads can make the team feel appreciated for their efforts and generate positive momentum. Note: This can be particularly effective for long running programs.
Update Your Messaging and Material – The beginning of the year is a great time to review your call guide, value proposition, objection handling, etc, to ensure your messaging is still relevant to the prospect. Consider if any industry trends, legislation or changes to the competitive landscape are impacting your target audience and need to be addressed in 2012. Also, make sure your telemarketing team is aware of upcoming marketing activity and that they are leveraging the most up-to-date content and collateral.
Implement a Voicemail Strategy – Voicemail messaging strategies are frequently overlooked by marketers and they can be a key component of an outbound telemarketing lead generation program. Connecting “live” with decision-makers is challenging and voicemail provides an opportunity to both brand and share business benefits for your organization. Design your voicemail to address a critical business issue relating to your target’s specific business and/or job function. Whether or not your call is ever returned, you have at the very least created awareness, provided a relevant message and warmed up future communication. For more information on this see How to Develop a Voice Mail Strategy .

Are there tactics you use at the beginning of the year to jumpstart your programs or to lay the foundation for a successful year?

The Power of a Face to Face Meeting

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

We recently had one of our clients attend an onsite meeting with us at our facility. This meeting was invaluable in forging stronger relationships, collaborating on ways to improve/enhance and exhibiting TeleNet’s team and process. While we talk over the phone and email on a daily basis, having everyone together in the same room was powerful. Day to day business is becoming more and more virtual and less and less face to face, but we cannot lose sight of the power of a face to face meeting.

I’m telling you this story because it translates into the work we do here at TeleNet for our clients every day. Our agents work in a virtual world of phone and email, so that your sales teams have more time for valuable face to face meetings. Through teleprospecting, we do the “dirty” work – high production, lots of dials, dealing with outdated data, digging for referrals, making connections, having initial conversations, qualifying leads and setting appointments. Off-loading this activity to TeleNet allows your sales team more time to go on face to face meetings, solidify partnerships and close deals.

Keep TeleNet in mind as you plan for 2012. Consider the things on which you really want your sales force to focus, and let us do the grunt work to support them in accomplishing those goals.

Where the rubber meets the road. 5 ways to keep it going.

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

The saying, “where the rubber meets the road”, is an obvious for the automotive industry or racecar drivers talking about their tires, if considering the phrase in a literal sense. But when considering this in other areas of life or in a job, it takes on a new meaning. In my opinion, as our director of Human Resources, “where the rubber meets the road” refers to those competitive employees who consider production and quality as highly ranked factors in their overall job performance. After being trained to perform the Marketing Communication Specialist position, we find that a large portion of our new employees are eager to get into the metaphorical driver’s seat and put the pedal to the floor to get moving. It is exciting to see that energy and enthusiasm continue, especially after the employee has worked in the job for a length of time. Couple that type of energy & enthusiasm with the drive to gather and communicate quality information and actionable opportunities for our client, then we have ourselves a winner! Unfortunately, there are times in which the energy wanes faster than the inertia of getting into the job can take hold and agents fall into some of the common traps of complacency. With over a decade of call center experience, I have learned there are numerous ways to keep that energy going and ultimately get the rubber to meet the road. Here are 5 top tips on staying productive with a quality focus:

Be Present- Wow, a simple, yet very true statement. Employees, who consistently come to work on time or early each day, are more apt to produce a quality product. Yes, it can be that simple.
Own it- Those agents that come in every morning with an agenda, or a list of “to do’s” for the day, are typically consistent with meeting their production and quality goals. These are also the agents who ask questions during team meetings, use critical thinking skills and take pride in the work they produce.
Avoid Distractions- Since a call center is very people centric, it is hard to avoid fellow co-workers that want to socialize. The successful agent avoids distractions by utilizing their time management and making it a point to focus on the work at hand and politely defer others from social intrusions until the appropriate time comes around.
Understand the big picture- Watching the news, staying abreast of current business trends and paying attention to the economic landscape helps in understanding the “why” of the Marketing Communication Specialist position. Our service offerings answer to a number of critical business needs that can help companies to maintain a competitive edge in their respective marketplace. The agent that “gets it” will invariably be able to produce and give quality information on a consistent basis.
Be a part of the solution- What is the solution? Asking that question can help drive performance in every aspect of the business. The saying, “be a part of the solution, not the problem”, brings the point home that if an employee seeks to solve problems in their everyday environment, they are more likely to work harder to meet company goals and to offer solutions on how to perform to success in times of struggle.

While the above list is not all inclusive, it is an operating list on my agenda each day and one that I seek to influence other employees to adopt. So, when “the rubber meets the road” here, it means someone is busy at work generating valuable information that will help a customer in building their business for the long run.

B2B Cold Calling During the Holidays

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Where has 2011 gone? It’s hard to believe we are winding down and about to close out another year. The hustle and bustle has begun this holiday season – planning parties, making holiday gift lists and putting up decorations. But don’t forget! This can be a great opportunity for your telemarketing campaigns to reach key decision makers.

Don’t assume your prospects will be out of the office. C-level executives who are normally away on business travel may be catching up in the office. Your contacts may actually be taking advantage of quiet phones, fewer distractions and less business travel. And you never know when the administrative assistant might be out of the office and the first person you speak with could actually be the contact you’ve been aiming to talk to! Be prepared and take advantage of those conversations!

Jumpstart 2012 and lay the groundwork for a solid year. Make a point to reach out and educate potential customers now so that when they have a little downtime during the holidays they can research and inquire with any questions they may have about your offering. Decision makers may be working, planning for next year and thinking about new ideas. It can be a great time to introduce your company. This will also help ensure that they incorporate what you have to offer into their budget for the upcoming year. Stay top of mind and don’t be a stranger!

Remember- your cold calls are not interruptions. The products and services you have to offer are important contributions to your prospects businesses and are of critical importance. Maintain momentum and take advantage of this time a year when others may shy away from it. Don’t let up on your demand generation activities just because it is the end of the year. Use it to your advantage!

Tips for Managing an Inbound Campaign

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Through our Marketing Blog, we share a lot of calling strategies and techniques about our outbound calling campaigns. Today, I’d like to focus our attention to inbound campaigns and share a few tips about managing those programs.

Inbound calls happen at all hours of the day. Establish a back-up team who can be available to handle immediate situations if the core team is busy handling other callers.
It can be difficult to predict what a caller may need and how a situation should be handled. Create a work-in-progress document that details all processes and procedures at not only the agent level, but also the Quality Assurance, Supervisor, and Program Manager levels. When new situations arise, it is important to update the document and share new processes with the entire team.
Hold bi-weekly team meetings to discuss new and updated processes with all members of the core team, as well as the back-up team. While the back-up team may not be needed often, they need to stay current with processes and training.
Some topics do not come up every day, or even every week. Keep knowledge fresh by providing weekly quizzes to the team about product lines they may not have received a call about in a while.
An inbound caller knows what they want when they call. Agents must be able to actively listen and let the caller drive the conversation. During weekly team meetings, set up role play sessions to ensure that agents can handle unique situations in an effective manner.

The customer experience must be kept at the top of mind of all individuals involved in the inbound campaign. No matter what the situation is, the customer must end up being satisfied with the outcome. These techniques should be established internally to ensure a positive outcome.

Probing Beyond the BANT in Teleprospecting

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Teleprospectors are encouraged to capture 4 key pieces of information when uncovering lead opportunities: Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe. Often the teleprospector will get bogged down in uncovering these BANT details and lose sight of what’s really driving the prospect’s need. It is encouraged to probe beyond traditional BANT questions and seek to discover more project related details throughout the conversation.

Consider the B2B purchase to be something applicable to our personal lives, for example a new car. The first questions one would ask when a friend purchases a new car would be what make or model, what year, is it an SUV or Sports Car? These are the same types of questions that should be asked when probing for a B2B sales opportunity.

What Make/Model did you buy?
In a B2B sales conversation this could be related to what brand or platform was selected. For technology needs, this may include operating systems and applications. Understanding the reasoning behind making the decision to choose one brand over another gives great insight as to how final decisions are implemented in the environment. Whether it was due to pricing, specific features or driven by company standardizations can help you to understand how new solutions are considered.

What year?
It is important to learn if the organization is in the habit of purchasing refurbished equipment or new technologies, they could be categorized as early adopters, late adopters or laggards. Learning the organizations’ preferences will determine which solutions are presented. For early adopters, it would be appropriate to promote fresh new innovations, where with laggards, it is best to stick with the tried and true legacy solutions. This question could also be applied to refresh cycles and trade-in tendencies. Understanding how the organization purchases new equipment will better aid in appropriate follow-up.

Is it an SUV or Sports Car?
Understand if the company’s purchases are based on practicality or keeping up with the latest technologies. In smaller technology purchases, such as mobile devices, it is common to see organizations make more audacious purchases to keep up with the latest trends (moving from laptops to iPads for example). Learning what drives purchases in these organizations will aid in determining which products and solutions are most appropriate to promote.

In determining lead qualification, it is curtail to uncover the BANT information, however probing into the application of the solutions and what drives purchasing decisions can be equally beneficial in uncovering sales opportunities.