Know-How Exchange : Other

"Telemarketing seem to be dying" Maybe, calling you at dinner to sell long distance service, might be hurting these days, but targeted outbound calling efforts have NEVER been more important.

No other practice allows you to target the exact people, in the exact organizations you need to do business with, and allows for the real time intelligence acquisition that determines your next best action. Calling allows you to engage with decision makers versus end users, interrupt existing evaluations, evangelize your offering, and DRAMATICALLY improve times to sale.

Companies, now more than ever, need to pinpoint and hunt their business rather than sort through non discriminatory names and clicks.

I'd argue that $5 per lead for vast wastelands of unqualified "leads" is far more expensive than a well organized and managed calling effort that produces qualified and actionable sales opportunities....especially if there is no mechanism to sort through the and prioritize the garbage from the gold.

Ok....well since I depend on telemarketing and cold calling and e-mail marketing and they're all generating income......I guess I should stop.

The question is more a definition of "lead". If you're talking about someone who is looking for your product right NOW, I would submit that I can get much more than $5 for that contact.

Michael

I have personally spent over 10 years on the phone via a high-end telemarketing services. I learn new things every day. There are a great many highly qualified firms that specialize in this area and may be able to help you and/or your clients.

It is not possible to answer your question with these little boxes we have four replies. Each client situation is different. Each product and sales cycle is different. And technologies are constantly changing.

My suggestion is that you partner with a firm who has the capabilities that you lack. There is no shame in this. I know practically nothing about Google ad words and search engine marketing and so forth. I'm a specialist in certain limited types of highly focused marketing. You can't be all things to all people.

Business to consumer telemarketing is definitely dying. Telemarketing is clearly not appropriate in many situations. And the ROI on telemarketing campaign is almost always lower than you expect, and I would never advance to create leads for five dollars or less for me.

I believe you are wise to drive you respond to the needs of your customers. And it can be dangerous to revert your best customers to potential competition. If I were in your shoes, I would attempt a partner with several firms who had the experience and expertise you lack. I would not, repeat not, send any of my clients to these competitors. I would start by referring new business opportunities only, until you get an idea about the quality of the service they provide and their business ethics.

Good luck.