B2B Telemarketing Myth Busting

B2B Telemarketing remains an essential component within many companies marketing strategies and why not, it offers a human element to your campaign that simply cannot be delivered via digital or traditional marketing mediums.

In spite of this there still remains a number of myths and common misconceptions around B2B telemarketing. Note that I say B2B Telemarketing because here at MarketMakers that is what we specialise in and as such we cannot speak for the B2C guys.

All telemarketing agencies are the same…right?

Not at all as alluded to above, many agencies specialise in key areas, the most common either being B2B or B2C. Now depending on the size of the company is how far they take that specialisation.

For example a smaller agency may choose to only specialise in finance so that the team can dedicate their time to learning finance products, whereas within a larger more established agency they will have divisions that all specialise in different areas and products.

Just like in so many other areas of business you fundamentally get what you pay for, if it seems too good to be true, or doesn’t feel like the right fit for you, then you are probably right.

They just buy data I can do that!

Whilst it is true that agencies may well procure data to support a campaign, the best agencies will work with your own data and help develop the accuracy of that data so that over time it will support new campaigns and can be drawn on and used again to better results.

Data like this is priceless as it is tried and tested and also updated with the latest changes. For example if someone has left a company this will be reflected and verified. Databases like this take a long time to build and are hard to replicate.

Our sales team can schedule and generate their own appointments

Yes they can that is true, but it is also true that different sales people are better in different environments. We know that all our teams are excellent on the phone and thrive in that environment. We also employ internal sales staff that prefer to be on the road and meeting face to face.

The likely hood is that your sales team also prefer to be out there meeting potential clients and closing deals. So let the phone experts create those appointments and keep the sales teams out there on the road doing what they are good at and prefer doing.

Telemarketing agencies just employ those that can’t get a job anywhere else!

This could not be further from the truth, well certainly at MarketMakers at any rate.  Any Telemarketing company worth its salt will look to take on the best, brightest and most motivated. Telemarketing can often lead to having to deal with a lot of negativity as in all honesty not every call will result in success, the same as any sales environment in business.

True not every telemarketer is a graduate in marketing, law or economics; however, there is a special set of qualities that are required regardless of educational background.

So by employing those with a can do attitude you minimise the risks of lacklustre performance, although there are many factors that can affect the outcome of a campaign which we will look at in the future.

Every call is a potential sale and you should not take no for an answer

This is always a hard one. In one hand no one likes an overly aggressive sales call, but at the same time you want to be sure that your telemarketing company are making an effort and not just walking away.

Whilst this is a complex subject that no doubt could be discussed considerably, the key things that spring to mind is not everyone will be interested, but it takes skill and experience to determine just how far to push.

Many people when they first get a call are defensive and say no, but a skilled telemarketer should be able to overcome this, explain the proposition and determine if the recipient of the call is good to pursue or not. Time wasted on a bad fit could lead to lost opportunities further down the line. Similarly overly aggressive tactics will lead to a negative brand association.

And the list goes on…

I have no doubt that we could all add to this list and we may very well do a follow up in the future, but ultimately it comes down to choosing the right agency that matches your expectations and brand values which will be reflected in the campaign outcome.

Contact us to see how we can help your business

Image Credit: Rupert Ganzer

Tags: B2B Telemarketing, myths, Telemarketing