News Article
The real reason why Telemarketing is coming out on top
by Geoff Thomas, managing director, Integrity Business Connections
View the article on B2B Marketing Online
What’s
the real reason telemarketing, or appointment arranging, works? Here’s
the intellectual reason. During the recession I’ve noticed some
companies have been forced to find another angle to reach their audience
and gain new business.
Direct marketing has been pushed down the
list because of cost, public relations has also been dropped as there
was no guarantee that the business would see an instant ROI. So what
marketing campaigns are worth pursuing?
Building trust has got to
be top of the list. We’re all so savvy of marketing campaigns these
days. The main objective of public relations being to get the brand,
name or service noticed, telemarketing is a great way to get
face-to-face meetings with key decision makers.
Yes, I did say
the ‘T’ word! Everyone seems to shy away from it, but it’s been a very
strong channel for marketing campaigns throughout the recession because
the ROI can be closely tracked at every stage and clearly demonstrated:
did I get an appointment with them, yes or no?
Supporting
telemarketing with PR is often advantageous to help support the campaign
and warm-up the prospects so they are more familiar with and receptive
to your messages. Telemarketing allows you to strike up a conversation
directly with the decision-maker and build a strong relationship with
them.
Engagement is critical. Just look at the phenomenal growth
of Facebook and Twitter. That’s all of us connecting with each other.
This is a core attribute in the recession as building business
relationships and trust has been one of the most important key factors
to get an appointment and begin the first stages of securing
long term and profitable business.
Telemarketing,
especially when run in association with supporting PR, can be a highly
cost effective method of kick starting new business development in a
recession because securing every new customer starts with one important factor – a face-to-face appointment.
Intellectually
correct. But what’s the real reason? A lot of people don’t like using
the phone to make that ‘cold-call’. Emotionally that’s even more right
isn’t it? I bet there are quite a few of you out there who just hate the
idea of making that cold call to a new contact.
