Using Targeted Data To Maximise Telemarketing Results
Post published 25th April, 2014
The right data is crucial to the outcome of a telemarketing campaign.
Making more calls will not necessarily get you more sales if you are not targeting the right people.
Follow our guide to choosing the most effective data to maximise your results.
Learn how to less time on the phone and still achieve better telemarketing results
Telemarketing is an effective, but time consuming process so it’s important to think about who you want to target, depending on the potential sale value with that prospect. Who will potentially win you the greatest amount of profit in relation to the time taken to actually bring that client on board?
Before you pick up the phone to make a call you must spend time planning your campaign. Think about what you want to achieve from your campaign and be specific.
Target the right people. Good data is crucial to strong telemarketing results. Think very carefully about who your product or service would actually benefit.
It can be tempting to think that anyone can buy your product or service, which may be true, but being specific not only ensures a higher number of sales, but also a higher return on investment on those sales.
It’s better to have a target list of 100 companies who represent the right sales value to you, than 2000 who could each buy something, but not necessarily the most profitable thing for you as the real gems could be lost in this pile.
If you already have a database in place it may be worth spending some time data cleansing before you start this process as this can save you hours and hours of time in the long run.
If you’re purchasing data you will usually pay per record, so it makes sense to have a smaller, more accurate list. If you’re not used to making telesales calls a smaller list can seem a less daunting task to start with and most importantly it’s far easier to get a sale if you think about what you need from the start.
An example refining your data that you can apply to your own telemarketing campaigns
Let’s use the example of an IT Support company who want to start a telemarketing campaign. Probably every business has a computer of some sort, so theoretically every business could be a prospect, but is that really what they want? It stands to reason that companies with more PCs will have a more regular need for IT support. On a very crude level, you could assume that a company with 20 PCs will in theory generate 20 times the support work of a sole trader. If it takes the same amount of effort and cost to win an account with 20 users compared to a company with one user then clearly the company with 20 users will give a better return on investment.
Still thinking about the size of the company, you may think that when a company has say 40 employees or more, the chances are they will have an IT Manager in house, and although they may still subcontract work out, these accounts could potentially be more difficult to win.
Now think about location, they may be able to cover the whole of East Anglia, but cutting down on travel distance makes sales more profitable as it means less travel costs and travel time is reduced, meaning potentially they could see two clients in the time it would have taken to see one. It is also a selling point to the company that they are on their doorstep as this may mean a faster response time, plus people in the main do like to buy locally.
Now let’s say that this IT Support company work with a broad range of clients, but they do have a good track record with accountants and understand supporting accountancy software and this is something which they feel gives an edge over their competitors.
What they now have is a compact, highly targeted list. They are looking for Accountancy firms within 5 miles of Bury St Edmunds who have 20-40 employees.
Not only is this list made up entirely of their ideal clients, who they have a good chance of winning business with in a location that is convenient, but this compact list will take less time to work through and have a higher success rate.
Try this in your next campaign and see if it improves your telemarketing results.
Got your data but still don’t want to make the calls yourself? Give us a call on 01284 363463 to see how we could help.
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