Almost everyone has heard the term telemarketing, but have you ever wondered what it means? There’s a little more to it than most people think, and it’s evolved over the years.
So what is telemarketing really?
It is a marketing strategy that involves contacting customers or potential customers by telephone to talk to them about products or services. It can also be called “telesales” or “inside sales”.
Telemarketing calls can come from a variety of different types of businesses. Today, digital marketing strategies are the most common form of marketing. However, there are a few industries where telemarketing is still very common, such as insurance, credit cards, and utilities. Any calls you receive from political campaigns or companies asking you to switch cable services are considered telemarketing.
Some businesses may think that telemarketing has no value, but it can be beneficial for small businesses.
Let’s break down the ins and outs of telemarketing.
What is a telemarketer?
So what is a telemarketer? The answer may be obvious, since a telemarketer is someone who engages in telemarketing.
But let’s look at what a telemarketer does in their day-to-day job. Before the digital age, telemarketers were limited to making phone calls and faxes.
Nowadays, this practice can also include video conferencing and online calls, which will be most often used for current clients.
What is a telemarketing call?
The most common form of telemarketing is cold calling, which involves contacting potential customers for the first time. Hence the word “cold,” because the customer has no idea what is being marketed to them, so it is a cold lead.
However, this is not the only telemarketing application as it can also be used for the following reasons.
- Follow up
- Confirmation of participation in events
- TRACK GENERATION
- Survey
- Customer satisfaction assessment
Telemarketing calls can be made from overseas data a variety of locations. They may come from call centers hired to provide telemarketing services to a business, from the business’s office, or from remote telemarketers.
Unethical Telemarketing Practices
Telemarketing probably has a negative connotation in many people’s minds.
Many people generally find it annoying and risky to be contacted randomly by strangers. This is especially true when many businesses use robocall services to contact potential customers. It is basically a pre-recorded message broadcast to thousands of people in a single campaign.
Overall, robocalls are not illegal, but they are frowned upon and considered unethical. After all, the point of a phone call is the personal contact, but robocalls completely eliminate that factor.
Unfortunately, the telemarketing space is also rife with scammers and fraudulent schemes designed to defraud unsuspecting individuals. These scams often target less tech-savvy demographics, such as seniors. Fraudsters will use a variety of techniques to defraud people, such as pretending to be loved ones, impersonating a professional from a reputable organization, and more.
Ultimately, the basic answer to what a telemarketing scheme is is any telemarketing designed to scam people out of money or steal information. Although this is a very basic summary of the problematic issue.
Effective Telemarketing Strategies
Even with the if you look at your organically ranking negative connotations surrounding telemarketing, it can be an effective strategy for some businesses, especially small businesses. It’s a great way to get in front of your first customer base and build relationships , which can potentially lead to conversions.
When telemarketers are trained and do their job with respect, it can produce a decent return on investment .
The skill of telemarketing
In reality, telemarketing is not for the faint of heart . Those who work in this field or do it for their own business should be aware that they will be hung up on or berated by some people. As mentioned, many people are not fans of being called out of nowhere to be sold something.
Telemarketing can involve dialing multiple numbers throughout the day, and if each rejection weighs on the caller, it won’t take long for them to lose enthusiasm. However, those who don’t take this to heart and can bounce back to make the next call can be successful.
It is also helpful to have some sales experience or training .
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Telemarketing
The reality is that telemarketing ar numbers has its pros and cons. Let’s first look at some of the benefits of this strategy.
Advantages of Telemarketing
- Personal Communication : The biggest advantage of telemarketing is that it allows for personal communication between the salesperson and the potential customer. This can help build rapport for future relationships.
- Low Cost : Compared to many other marketing channels, telemarketing can be a low cost method.
- Sorting Customer Data : Telemarketing can be a good way to sort through your customer database. This helps you determine who is actually a potential customer and remove those who are no longer interested.
- Extended Reach : Telemarketing offers a relatively easy way to contact many customers in a short period of time. This can help generate leads, qualify customers, and potentially make sales.
Disadvantages of telemarketing:
- Intrusive and frowned upon : Many people do not like being contacted with information and a pitch they did not ask for. They feel it is intrusive and could leave a bad taste in their mouth.
- Do Not Call List : There are numbers on Do Not Call Lists that cannot be contacted by telemarketing services.
- Training : It will take time to ensure that telemarketing agents are properly trained and convey a good image of the company.
- Low Early Conversion : In the beginning, it is difficult to get a decent conversion rate for telemarketing. This is because building a customer database takes time, which leaves cold calling as the primary option.
