1. Do Not Call
Registry/Telemarketing Sales Rule Provisions:
It goes without saying...If you are looking to conduct
outbound telemarketing, you need to acquaint yourself
with the latest Federal and State Do Not Call regulations.
It's best to take a few moments to review this material
prior to contacting an Outbound Vendor, this way you
have the comfort level you need to move forward
with your campaign.
Since the launch of the National Do Not Call List in 2003
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/donotcall/index.html),
some states have discontinued
individual do not call
programs, merging their information with
the Federal list.
Other states continue to maintain separate
do not call lists, a list of State do-not-call regulations
can be reviewed at:
http://www.the-dma.org/government/donotcalllists.shtml
If your telemarketing campaigns involve any calls across state
lines — whether you make outbound calls or receive calls in
response to advertising — you may also be subject to the
Telemarketing Sales Rule provisions. This legislation
gives the FTC and state Attorneys General law enforcement
tools to combat telemarketing fraud, give consumers added
privacy protections and defenses against unscrupulous
telemarketers, as well as help consumers tell the difference
between fraudulent and legitimate telemarketing.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/tsrcomp.htm
Other key Telemarketing Sales Rule provisions:
- require disclosures of specific information
- prohibit misrepresentations
- limit when telemarketers may call consumers
- require transmission of Caller ID information
- prohibit abandoned outbound calls
- prohibit unauthorized billing
- set payment restrictions for the sale of certain goods and
services
- require that specific business records be kept for two years
If you have additional questions about an outbound campaign you are
considering you can also contact:
Division of Marketing Practices
Bureau of Consumer Protection
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, DC 20580
(202) 326-3737
2. Scripting:
Remain open to working with your Telemarketing
Vendor in constructing a script which emphasizes
the key selling points of your product or service.
Even if you have a telemarketing script that
you have used with some level of success, be sure
to use your Outbound Vendor as a "sounding
board" to review the elements of the script.
You know your business and your prospects better
than anyone else - so be sure to share your insights with
your Vendor, ask yourself:
- What are the 2 or 3 key "selling points" that you feel
are most important and should be emphasized on every
call?
- What are the 2 or 3 most common objections you often
hear with from prospects - and what are the answers you use?
- Construct some FAQ’s for your Telemarketing Vendor containing the
most common questions and answers
that are asked by your prospects.
- Are there any questions the TM agents might receive that
you'd prefer to handle on your own because they are too complex?
If so, work with
your Vendor on how you will approach
these types of calls.
3. Reporting:
Make sure you write down every call result you want
to track so you can have the analysis you need to
plan future campaigns.
Reporting is perhaps one of the most overlooked
aspects of any outbound campaigns -- most clients
focus only on sales results -- and while this is,
of course, very important, there are many other
important metrics to track.
It's often helpful to track responses for:
- How many people indicate that your product costs
too much? (Helpful so you can see if this is a popular
response so you
can carefully construct an appropriate response with your TM
Vendor).
- How many people indicate they are already using
something similar to what you are offering?
(Also track what other solution the customer
has indicated they are using
…
This is helpful so you can measure
the strengths of your product vs. the competition and craft an
appropriate response).
- How many people indicate they would like
additional information before they make a decision
about your offer? This is helpful so you can
plan
collateral sales
material as follow-up to the prospect.
Tracking these
types of responses can help
both you and your Outbound Vendor create
various objection responses and can also help
better fine tune your sales approach.
4. Lead, Sales and Data Expectations:
Be sure to review and define your
expectations with your Outbound Vendor
before your campaign begins. Share with the
Vendor how many orders/leads your office
is able to handle per day and what you are
looking for the outbound effort to generate.
There is nothing worse then carefully
planning an outbound campaign only to
find yourself swamped with orders
you can't fulfill. Most Telemarketing
Vendors can plan their calling efforts
based on your needs - so it's always
best to clearly define expectations
before any calling is conducted on your
behalf.
This is also a good opportunity for you to
review the
various internal procedures/processes
you are using
in-house in order to move fulfill new
orders. Make
sure you feel comfortable with the
way leads and
orders will be moving from your
Vendor into (and
out of) your operation.
If you have specific data layout requirements
make sure to review these with your Outbound
Vendor before you
start your campaign.
This way you can be sure to receive your
sales/lead data
in the file format and layout
you require.
5. Campaign Rollout Options:
Most Telemarketing Vendors will look to
conduct some sort of initial test in order
to determine the viability of rolling out
the campaign beyond the test phase.
During this period the Vendor will be looking
to perfect the script based on your particular
offer -- and will "tweak" objection responses and
the script in general in order to help
improve responses.
After the initial test is complete, your Outbound
Vendor should have a good idea of what they
can generate for you per hour. At this
point some Vendors may allow you to work
with them based on a "per-sale" or "per-lead"
arrangement. This will allow you to
pay a fixed per-order cost for every
lead or order generated by the outbound agency.
It's always best to discuss campaign
rollout options with your Vendor prior
to any outbound calling -- this way you can consider
any alternate payment options they may offer before
you get started.
Person to Person
Direct's outbound telemarketing
strategies have consistently delivered positive
results for our clients -- for over 25 years!
Looking for a
free outbound telemarketing
consultation? Contact our in-house sales
team at
sales@persontopersondirect.com.
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