The 5 MOST Effective Ways to Use Telemarketing When some people think of telemarketing they imagine a “robot” on the phone mindlessly pitching irrelevant products to the wrong audience. Not at Perfect Pitch! With us, we have one intelligent human being speaking with another, projecting a sense of purpose, direction, and professionalism. Here are the 5 most effective ways to use telemarketing. 1) Lead generation Telemarketing has the versatility to be used as a standalone marketing channel, or as part of an overall strategy. It provides the perfect platform to qualify prospects and to set up appointments, or if you’re hosting an event or a webinar, to invite them along! 2) Data cleansing B2B data corrodes at 15% on average per year. Therefore, if you take a set of data records that hasn’t been updated in 2-3 years, it’s likely to be largely inaccurate. Telemarketing provides a tool which allows you to check the quality of the data of your target company and to update it accordingly. Furthermore, you might find that you’ve happened to call at the right time and may even end up generating a lead! GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is set to come into effect in May 2018. It dictates that for all the data records you hold, you must: Declare providence. Have permission from the contact to keep their data and have their confirmation that they understand what their records will be used for and how they will be stored. It is possible to use telemarketing to create a data set that is GDPR compliant, therefore saving the risk of heavy fines from the ICO! 3) Market research What better way to gauge the perception of your brand than to speak to potential customers and current clients! With telemarketing you can find out if people have heard of you, whether they like your website, and if your offering clear and relevant. Confirmation on all of these aspects can help your marketing campaigns to be more effective and can provide guidance to improve your overall offering. 4) Client retention Want to check in on your clients but prefer the personal touch of a human to human conversation? Pick up the phone and get chatting. Find out what’s working, what isn’t, how can you improve and most importantly, are they happy enough to remain a client? It’s easier for people to open up during a conversation as opposed to an email. Plus, tone of voice can be very telling and phrasing can be very telling and give more of an insight than email or feedback forms. 5) Increase brand awareness Do you want to get your brand in front of 100s of potential customers? Call them! Tell them about your brand, gauge if they are a decision maker, whether they have budget for your product and do they have an idea of when they’d like to buy? If they don’t want to buy, do they have clients who might want to? You’d be surprised how much a strong rapport with a contact can benefit your brand awareness. If they like you, they’ll remember you, and there’s every chance they’ll spread the word! If you are interested in finding more about a telemarketing campaign then send us an enquiry and we’ll be in touch very soon!
Don’t be let down by your data DMA research has shown that B2B Telemarketing has an ROI of £11 for every £1 invested. However, bad data can delay the progress of your campaign and soon whittle down this attractive ROI. Furthermore, call a non CTPS (Corporate Telephone Preference Service) approved record and you could be facing a fine of up to £500,000. How can you make sure your records are up to date and that your business is reaching the right people? At Perfect Pitch we have the necessary expertise, so why not let our team of Specialists help you? Cleanse Figures suggest that over 3/4s of UK businesses waste at least 14% of their marketing budget on bad data. A further 84% said that bad data has affected their ability to implement their cross channel marketing strategy. At Perfect Pitch we can cleanse your data by calling the record and confirming that your target’s details are correct. All updates are part of our service and all notes and new numbers obtained will be yours to keep. We have long standing relationships with established, specialised Data Brokers so we are able to purchase accurate and reliable data for you. In your criteria we can include: Job title Sector Company size. We’ll even provide you with a sample size before purchasing so you can be sure you are targeting the people you need. Furthermore you can rest assured that all records provided will be CTPS approved. Sample Unlike other Telemarketing companies, we will not use your records on another client’s campaign. We will also not sell on your data nor will we use it for our own means. When we supply you with data from one of our brokers, this is instantly yours to keep. That way not only will we be generating leads for you, but you’ll receive a cleansed list of CTPS approved targets, saving you time and money. Want to know more? Contact us today.
8 Telemarketing mistakes you MUST avoid Below is our guide to 8 common telemarketing mistakes and advice on how to avoid them. 1. Superficiality. Beginning the conversation with “How are you?” to someone you don’t know screams SALES CALL! It feels unnatural and forced so it’s best left unsaid. 2. Pitching to the wrong person. Imagine the scenario; you have got on well, you have concluded your pitch and they like the sound of your proposition. So you go in for the kill only to hear the nightmare response, “Oh it’s not my decision. You need to speak to my colleague, but they’ve just taken on a similar service.” Do not waste time! Identify the decision maker as quickly and as politely as possible. 3. Pestering. At Perfect Pitch, we work on a metric that it takes 3-4 calls to speak with the contact. Constantly phoning someone will only create annoyance. However, we’ve that it is a much more effective strategy to try to find out from their colleague when it is best to phone them, and to diligently spread the calls apart over a reasonable period of time. 4. Not listening. Nothing annoys a prospect more than feeling like the person on the other end of the phone isn’t listening. By not listening closely you might miss a golden nugget of information and above all, it’s rude. 5. Being rude. Politeness is key with telemarketing. By minding your manners with gatekeepers, you might be able to build a rapport with them, and eventually get them to put you through to your prospect. One key tip is to NEVER eat whilst on a call. The sound is amplified and it is immeasurably impolite and unprofessional. 6. Using closed questions. You want to build momentum on the call which will make your prospect more inclined to open up. Instead of asking questions which have a yes or no answer, try those which begin with how, why or when. 7. Being underprepared. If you’re calling with the aim to book a meeting, make sure you have your diary to hand. Having to scramble around for it whilst on the call will only delay the conversation and could put off the prospect. Equally, if you have a name of the person and the company you are calling, it is advisable to check out their website and see if the contact is on LinkedIn. Opening a question with, “I’ve had a look on your website and I think we can help with…” is much more impressive than, “erm, so what do you do?” 8. Over-talking and talking too fast. The prospect should talk for at least 75% of the call. This is your opportunity to find out as much as you can about what they need. Wait for your moment to strike, keep it concise and speak clearly and at a moderate speed. Want some guidance with your telemarketing? Get help now!
GDPR update: Government confirms GDPR start date Government confirms GDPR will apply from May 2018. The Government has confirmed that the GDPR will still apply in May 2018 as the UK will not have left the EU. Some businesses owners had previously thought that the result of the Brexit referendum on June 23rd 2016 would exclude the UK from the GDPR ruling. However, the DMA has urged UK businesses to begin the compliance process as early as possible in order to meet the deadline. Read the article in full here.
Turn attendees into clients! Do you connect? Hosting events and seminars can be a great way to make connections and increase brand awareness. But figures suggest that up to 75% of the generated leads* are not followed up. This can cause missed opportunities for business, a reduction in market presence and an unattractive ROI. Could you be doing more to convert new leads? Get the right people Use our in-house team of Sales Professionals and Trained Actors to promote your event, maximise attendance and get the contacts you want to do business with. Perfect Pitch can handle the whole process: Sourcing and cleansing the data – making sure the right people are attending your event. Marketing Materials – we can arrange distribution of your collateral to interested delegates. Booking – we can register attendees whilst on the call and issue confirmation. Event Day – let our team join you on the day to increase your presence and gain more lead generation opportunities. Learn more at Perfect Presentation. Follow Up – maximise your ROI by letting us convert those leads into qualified meetings. Your new representatives We pride ourselves on not charging set up fees, we can offer monthly rolling contracts and we do not commit you to a minimum spend. Call today to find out more or email us at info@ppitch.co.uk.
Toast of Surrey 2016 Awards nomination – International Trade We’ve been nominated! We are pleased and proud to announce that we have been nominated for a Toast of Surrey Business award in the International Trade category! With our pool of local language speakers, we call APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America and can provide 24 hour coverage to cater for the global market. The current UKTI backed Exporting is GREAT campaign has seen the British government aim to have 100,000 additional businesses exporting by 2020. If you want to be one of these and would like to find out how we can help, please contact us today. We won our first Toast of Surrey award in 2013 in the “Companies with a turnover of up to £1m” category and are overjoyed with our continued growth. Here’s hoping for Toast of Surrey award number 2! See the full list of nominees here.
Want to find clients overseas? Pick up the phone! Exporting is everywhere right now! Whether you’ve read it in the press, been to one of the many events, or seen the adverts on TV, you will know that the government has kicked off its campaign this autumn to have an additional 100,000 businesses exporting by 2020. Whether it is something you have considered, or tried already, it is safe to say that the process for successfully sourcing clients abroad and supplying them with your products, comes with plenty to consider. Firstly, how will you find your clients? The government has set up a platform on www.exportingisgreat.gov.uk to present opportunities to bid for, but why stop there? There is a whole wealth of businesses out there, with 45,508 listed on stock exchanges alone across the globe. But what about a more direct route? B2B Telemarketing is an effective avenue to consider when it comes to finding and creating new business opportunities. It can be used on the back of an e-marketing campaign, or to follow up a piece of direct mail, and provides incredible flexibility to be used as a versatile and effective tool. At Perfect Pitch, we have a pool of foreign language speakers who call globally. Our team regularly book appointments for our clients to meet with prospects, or they book delegates to attend seminars. We also offer customer service calls and market research survey completion. We have strengthened our offering by using foreign nationals. We’ve found that by using natives, not only do you have a reliable language speaker, but also, you obtain cultural knowledge which can help you get the edge. You would be surprised at how far knowing about the local cuisine can get you on a business call! One thing to consider when calling abroad is to ensure that your marketing material is suitably adapted. The last thing you want is to create a prospect, only for the development of the opportunity to stall due to the marketing copy being in the wrong language. Furthermore, do your research on the area. The UAE work Sunday to Thursday so don’t schedule calling for outside this time. Also, preserve your budget by being aware of typical working hours and public holidays. Finally, if used correctly, telemarketing can increase brand awareness, fatten up your pipeline, and potentially uncover that golden opportunity you have been searching for. There’s a reason it has such an attractive ROI (B2B – 1000%), but it needs to be used intelligently for maximum gains. It’s not enough just to have a language speaker, you need them to be trained in telemarketing. So, if you want to ride the export wave, and open up your business to a whole new gateway of opportunity, before you set sail, think about the potential telemarketing could bring! Contact us!
Telemarketing vs Telesales What’s the difference? A study suggests that 2 in 3 marketers use marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness whilst 84% use them to generate sales leads. Furthermore, 1 in 3 B2B marketers favoured telemarketing to be the most effective form of lead generation alongside e-mail and live events. With telemarketing and telesales providing a low cost, direct, personalised solution, do you know the difference between the two? More importantly, which one would best suit your business? What’s right for you? TELEMARKETING So what exactly is telemarketing? The common consensus is that telemarketing is a lead generation tool that is based around building brand awareness. A typical telemarketing call follows these steps: You telephone the target and BANT (Budget. Authority. Need. Timeline) qualify them. If the contact is interested then it is likely they’ll ask for some collateral in the form of a short email or PDF presentation. The call is then followed up on an agreed date with a view to setting an appointment for the Sales Team or to take the contact to the point of sale. TELESALES Telesales has a more sales focused approach. Usually in this scenario you will have a product or service to sell. A telesales call would follow this pattern: Over the phone you BANT qualify the target and pitch to them. If they request it, you send the target some collateral. When you call back the target at the time they suggested, instead of setting up an appointment or a sale for another division of your company, you look to close the lead there and then. From this a picture emerges of the utility of these two marketing methods in the B2B environment. It could be the case that one might suit your requirements better, or perhaps even a combination of the two. What the two techniques share however, is an efficient, economical, tangible marketing option that frees up resources and can significantly boost your pipeline. Experts If you want to see how Perfect Pitch can improve your bottom line, head to our website or give us a call today on 01483 422998.
New laws surrounding B2C cold-calling Facts In total there were over 175,000 complaints related to nuisance B2C calls and texts, made to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2014. However, new legislation has made it easier for companies making unwanted marketing calls and texts to consumers to be hit with fines of up to £500,000.* But as a business, should this matter to you? And why should you care about telemarketing anyway? Enforcement Currently the law requires that before action can be taken, the ICO has to prove that a company caused a consumer ‘substantial damage or substantial distress’, due to their conduct. However, the new law has seen the Government remove this threshold, resulting in the ICO having the power to assist with more cases that are brought to them. Justice and Civil Liberties Minister Simon Hughes believes that: ‘Being pestered by unwanted marketing calls and texts can bring real misery for the people on the receiving end.’ He went on to say that the new change in the law, which comes into effect from 6th April 2015, will make it easier for the Information Commissioner ‘to take quick and firm action against companies who give so much grief to so many people.’* But is B2B or B2C telemarketing worth considering anyway? Recent research would suggest yes. Despite the damage a small number of ‘rogue’ companies might have done to the industry, telemarketing is still in favour with B2B and B2C Sales and Marketing Managers, with each channel producing an ROI of over 400%.** Need to know more? Get in touch!
Give your sales cycle a boost! Generate Research has shown that it takes, on average, 7 “touches” to convert a “suspect” to a “prospect”. Furthermore, it takes between 9 – 11 “touches” before the sale is made. In addition to this, findings suggest that nurtured leads produce 20% more sales opportunities than non-nurtured leads and 70% of leads generated through marketing are “longer term opportunities” worth nurturing. Alarmingly, 75% of companies discard leads that do not offer an immediate sale, overlooking the long term potential. So, are you making the most of your leads? Nurture An examination of 29,000 B2B telemarketing calls showed that it takes on average just 80 calls to generate a new opportunity. Coupling this with other successful marketing forms such as email marketing, which typically generates a click-through rate of 3 in every 100 emails sent, an effective strategy soon begins to form. Convert Here at Perfect Pitch, we can offer Lead Generation and Appointment Setting. We also provide Delegate Booking, Research Distribution and Customer Insight Surveys. If hosting an event is part of your sales cycle, you can use us to book delegates to attend. We can also give your targets a call after the event to see if they would be interested in meeting with you further. Call us!