Top 5 Outbound Telemarketing Campaign Mistakes

Telemarketing and telesales is a growing industry, however there are telemarketing programs that do not meet expectations. Here are some of the common mistakes telemarketers make on an outbound telemarketing campaign:1. Establishing ones goalsMany companies set high goals that are often unreachable, thus the telemarketer will cut corners to reach these unacceptably high goals. If you’ve hired a telemarketing company to do your telemarketing campaign then ask to look at their goals and establish if they are reasonable. Setting reasonable goals will have a higher return on your investment as you are more likely to have successful call then when a telemarketer is rushed and cuts corners to try meet unrealistic goals.2. Choosing a overseas telemarketing company or one from homeThere are many telemarketing companies operating from overseas locations, they often offer a cheaper rate for the campaign as they pay their telemarketers a lower rate than obtainable locally, while this may seem a solution when you are on a tight budget, be aware that you could be short changing yourself. You need to establish if the overseas telemarketers have a good understanding and grasp of the English language, sometimes it would be better to recruit a local company who is fully conversant with the English language. So outsourcing to an overseas telemarketing company may not always be the best choice.3. Placing reliance on the scriptIn the telemarketing industry there are numerous employees all doing the same thing, over and over again each day. One would expect them to be very good at it after a while. Telemarketing is totally reliant on communication between two parties, and no two people are alike therefore the telemarketer can never predict what sort of response they may receive from a call. While the scripts try to cover every eventuality it is almost impossible to have a response for every single situation.Telemarketing companies often have two different approaches to scripting, one is to have scripts of between eight to twenty pages as well as an additional seventy five to one hundred rebuttals or statements after they have received an objection. This may also be placed on a screen for agents to search while on the phone. The other approach is to train agents to be able to respond with the correct answers while they are on the phone. It is good to have the scripts in front of them, but it is also important to allow the conversation to flow and therefore be able to adjust the script or responses according to the response from the customer. The idea is to establish a rapport with a customer without appearing to be reading from a script.4. Visit to the telemarketing service providerIf at all possible try to visit the telemarketing service provider; this can often not be possible in an overseas environment. When you visit you will be able to establish of they are running a 10-1 agent-supervisor ratio, are the agents older and career oriented or just students looking to make a quick buck. You can also look at the environment that the agents work under.5. Using the correct set-up materialsThe telemarketing provided needs to have the correct set up materials related to our business modalities, ensuring that the program is correct from the first day has a better chance of success then if it has not be correctly set up and planned.Success or failure often depend on the approach to the customer, good language and communication skills are important as well as having the relevant material and understanding the products.