Once you have decided you are going to run a telemarketing campaign as part of your marketing plan, you’ll still have lots of decisions to make when it comes to how you’re going to do it.

One main point to consider will be whether you use some form of call recording system.  This needn’t be an expensive investment.  If you’re not restricted by stringent compliance for your particular telemarketing activity and your team is relatively small, then you can purchase a call recording software package and analogue calling devices and manage to keep costs to a minimum.

If you’re restricted by compliance, say for example if you’re in the consumer finance area, it’s worth looking in to the best system you can afford that meets all of your essential requirements.  You’ll also need to consider investing more budget if you have a larger telesales team and a quality assurance process in place.  It may even be worth paying for a consultancy service rather than risk purchasing the wrong ‘off-shelf’ solution.

Reasons to use a call recording solution

Compliance – Certain industries will be heavily restricted by compliancy issues, particularly within the financial services industry.  You should read up on legislation fully before commencing with any campaign, perhaps even seek legal advice.  Most consumer finance campaigns will certainly require all calls to be recorded.  The onus will be on the business owner to make sure they are compliant.  Investing in the right recording system and seeking professional advice will always be cheaper than being landed with a hefty fine!

Quality Assurance – It’s worth considering appointing someone who will be responsible for quality assurance.  When the telesales teams put leads or appointments through, they are passed through quality assurance to listen to the call in question.  The lead is then assessed against a quality scoring matrix to ensure they are qualified to the required criteria.  This will give your sales people more confidence in the leads they are being fed and reduce conflict when it comes to what does and doesn’t count as a lead.

Training – Most people hate listening back to themselves speaking on the telephone but it’s one of the best ways to identify their strengths and weaknesses.  A good trainer will always use a combination of both side by side ‘live’ listening and listening to a random selection of calls.  This way you can listen to calls which have successfully converted, to hear what’s working, and what’s not working on calls that haven’t gone well

Performance Reviews – Telemarketing agents should be encouraged to save recordings of their best calls and use them during training, appraisals and performance reviews.  If you offer a promotion structure to your telemarketing team they should be able to demonstrate their value using particular success stories.  Call recordings are a great way for them to show you what they’ve done well, how it helped achieve results and where they have improved.

Complaint Handling – Even the most serious of customer complaints can be a case of ‘he said/she said’ without being able to review the history of calls made and the content of those calls.  The ability to listen back to calls to compile evidence will ensure you can deal with complaints swiftly whilst minimising damage to the reputation of your business.

Dispute Resolution – Disputes can arise from different situations.  A telemarketer may feel they correctly dealt with a call but their supervisor thinks differently.  A field sales agent might go out on an appointment and be told that the prospect was expecting them on a different date.  A buyer could protest that they ordered 100 units of your product not 1000.  Think how much time can be saved resolving these types of issues when the call recordings in question are accessible at any time.

Customer Care – Essentially your levels of customer services will be effected by all of the above.  If you don’t record the telemarketing calls being made for your business, it’s impossible to ensure you are providing the best service for your customers.

What do I need to think about before I purchase a call recording solution?

It’s worth seeking expert advice and speaking to companies who specialise in call recording solutions but you shouldn’t be pushed into investing into something which isn’t appropriate for your business model or needs.  Find out what works for other businesses either through your own network of contacts or via blogs and other online platforms.