Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Telemarketing

Telemarketing might sound like a relatively new term, but it first appeared in print in 1967. For decades, telemarketers have used this marketing practice to advertise products and services, gather information, increase brand awareness, and track customers, usually over the phone. For many enterprises, telemarketing is more than just marketing. It's a way to interact with leads and customers that could change the entire fortunes of an enterprise. Successful telemarketing can bring in lots of revenue for companies and lead to other successful outcomes. 

In this guide from FiveCRM, take a deep dive into the world of telemarketing and learn what it really means for your business. While some organizations might use telemarketing for fundraising or political campaigning, this post explains telemarketing in a business context. 

Table of Contents

•         Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Telemarketing

–        Telemarketing, Explained

–        Telemarketing Examples

–        What Type of Job Is Telemarketing?

–        What Do Telemarketing Companies Do?

–        What Are the Benefits of Telemarketing?

–        How Does FiveCRM Make Telemarketing Even More Productive?

Telemarketing, Explained

Telemarketing is a type of direct marketing that happens primarily over the phone. It involves direct human interaction, allowing enterprises to engage with leads and customers and influence their opinions, purchasing habits, or perceptions toward a brand. Say a company wants to sell a new product to potential customers who might be interested in their services. A telemarketer might phone contacts on their marketing lists, explain the product's benefits, and encourage those contacts to make a purchase. All of that might happen during a single phone call which could last as little as a few minutes.

Telemarketing isn't always successful. It takes 80 phone calls on average to get one opportunity. Sometimes, telemarketing is just as much about patience as it is about selling or engaging with customers. That doesn't mean telemarketing isn't successful. The best telemarketers can generate incredible amounts of revenue for a company. 

Telemarketing can involve more than just selling. Telemarketers might use this marketing practice to gather customer data for future marketing opportunities, raise awareness about the organization they work for, or complement digital marketing campaigns.

Some telemarketing campaigns and strategies span several weeks or even months. These campaigns might involve multiple telephone calls where telemarketers slowly nurture leads and engage with them over time. The objective might be to move potential customers through a sales or marketing funnel with the end goal of turning a lead into a bonafide customer.

Telemarketing Examples

Telemarketing is a broad term used to describe different types of human interactions with customers. It might involve business-to-consumer marketing (B2C), where telemarketers target personal consumers, often with products and services. Business-to-business telemarketing (B2B), on the other hand, involves building relationships with and selling products and services to other businesses. B2B telemarketing often generates higher revenue and profits for enterprises than B2C as companies tend to spend more money than personal consumers. 

What Type of Job Is Telemarketing?

A telemarketing job can be an exciting and rewarding one with lots of moneymaking opportunities. Telemarketers might receive a commission for any sales they make, as well as a basic salary, which provides them the possibility to generate a sizable income. Day-to-day duties might include explaining product features, tracking contact lists, taking payment information, appointment setting, and building relationships with potential customers. 

Telemarketers often work with each other on the "call floor" to meet daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly sales targets. They might maintain records of outgoing calls and update marketing systems with any data generated from telecommunications with leads and customers. Challenges associated with this job include reluctance from people to answer calls or engage with telemarketers. Due to the rise in robocalls and other scams, many leads and customers have become wary of telemarketing communications and might ignore an incoming phone call or hang up on a telemarketer, especially if a company is calling from an unknown landline number. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandates many guidelines for companies that engage in telemarketing. Regulations on the telemarketing industry include limits on the number of times a telemarketer can call someone and the time of day they can make calls. (Telemarketers cannot call people late in the evening, for example.) Leads and customers might report telemarketers to the National Do Not Call Registry or leave a negative review on social media.

Companies that use telemarketing also need to abide by any data governance legislation in their jurisdiction or industry, such as HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA. Company owners can receive hefty penalties for not complying with these laws. 

Telemarketers often possess the following abilities:

•         Excellent communication capabilities.

•         Negotiation and persuasion skills. 

•         Computer skills.

•         A friendly attitude. 

•         Broad knowledge of different sales and marketing strategies.

•         Successfully deliver a sales pitch.

•         Explain products and services in a meaningful and impactful way. 

•         Talk to people from diverse backgrounds, communities, and socio-economic levels. 

What Do Telemarketing Companies Do?

Businesses of all types might partake in telemarketing; however, telemarketing companies devote their entire operations to this practice. Organizations can outsource their telemarketing endeavors to these companies and concentrate their efforts on other types of marketing. Telemarketing companies contain telemarketers who are well-versed in the art of direct marketing. These sales representatives might use cold calling to contact leads from a marketing list without knowing anything about those leads. Another telemarketing method is warm calling, where telemarketers in a sales team communicate with leads who have previously shown an interest in a company's products or services. 

Companies might off their telemarketing services 24 hours a day and engage with leads around the world in different time zones. They might work on behalf of multiple companies simultaneously and use various telemarketing methods based on an enterprise's products and services. 

What Are the Benefits of Telemarketing?

There are numerous telemarketing benefits:

•         Telemarketing is a relatively cost-effective direct marketing method. The main outgoings are paying telemarketers and purchasing and maintaining the communications equipment required for telemarketing (phones, headsets, marketing systems, etc.).

•         It provides instant access to leads, new customers, and existing customers. Marketers don't have to travel to different cities or countries to sell products or increase brand awareness. 

•         Telemarketing can be lucrative for generating sales and revenue. Nearly 60% of marketing managers in Fortune 500 companies say telemarketing is "very effective" for generating leads and reaching customers. More than 90% say telemarketing is "effective." 

•         It can be a practical way to upsell and cross-sell products and services. 

•         Telemarketing can be a great way to follow up with customers who have previously purchased products from a company. 

How Does FiveCRM Make Telemarketing Even More Productive?

For decades, telemarketers have created connections with leads and customers, typically over the phone. This engagement has resulted in lucrative outcomes for companies that invest in telemarketing and provided these organizations with a profitable revenue stream. Despite the many benefits of this marketing practice, telemarketers need software and systems that facilitate day-to-day tasks and make communicating with leads and customers easier.

FiveCRM is the only customer relationship management (CRM) system designed specifically for telemarketing and lead generation teams. Automated workflows and processes power your telemarketing teams to: 

•         Comply with data governance regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA.

•         Maintain information for every contact on marketing lists.

•         Manage your call center operations.

•         Update information about contacts for future marketing opportunities.

•         Store customer consent information.

•         Store telemarketing data.

•         Quickly dial telephone numbers.

•         Offer a better telephone service.

•         Create and update call scripts.

•         Double call rates, handle callbacks, and manage telemarketing agents. 

•         Improve both outbound and inbound telemarketing.

This telemarketing software also helps you wrap up calls, automatically switch between contacts, and gamify your marketing processes. Plus, FiveCRM's real-time dashboards, reporting tools, and analytics make it easier to track outbound and inbound campaigns.

Contact FiveCRM for a demo today.