The Different Facets of Software Telemarketing
View PDF | Print View
by: erpsoftleads
Total views: 25
Word Count: 577
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 Time: 6:30 PM
It's no surprise that B2B business owners initially raise their brows when someone suggests telemarketing as a way to generate software leads. Usually the first thing that comes to their mind is hiring a bunch of desperate telephone sales personnel to bother clients in their homes, hoping to sell to any random number they call.
To be fair however, it shouldn't be surprising either that the telemarketing firms still in the business (yes, they're still out there) do all they can to reverse themselves from that stereotype. When you've actually done your homework, you'll find that random cold-calling is not the only thing they've managed to minimize (or even do away with entirely).
Telemarketers these days aren't just about using calls to generate leads. It's one of their major services sure but the ends to which they pursue with those means can be quite different from the popular imagination.
First, you need to know what those ends are. Suppose your company's specialty is an ERP software solution and you've decided to outsource to another firm for software telemarketing services. Chances are, such companies generally offer two things: B2B lead generation and appointment setting.
B2B lead generation focuses on simply identifying highly potential prospects and delivering you a list to quickly pursue so as to get ahead of competitors. How this is done without too much randomized cold-calling will be explained later.
On the other hand, appointment setting can be similar to lead generation but it also takes it further by setting you up with appointments with each interested prospects. Things like your schedule and the traits that define your ideal client are all strictly taken into consideration. This can be quite beneficial if you're too busy improving other things in your company to set up meetings yourself.
Now how is all of this done without the embarrassing method of giving calls to unsuspecting people in the hopes of getting them interested? Well for starters, all veteran telemarketers have invested in a very large database that is heavily loaded with up-to-date business information. True they may have had to cold-call at some point but once a firm has gathered enough information and experience, they'd have been familiarized with a lot of people who have certain needs. So long as they're familiar with marketing the products of your industry, they will know exactly the kind of clients who are most likely to be interested.
That probability is key to the survival of their business you see. In order to keep cold-calling to a minimum (or better yet, avoid it at all), they would have to make sure that their calls are not as unwarranted as their receivers would first perceive. If a prospect has a problem and both you and your telemarketer know that your product can deal with it, it'll be hard to refuse and the said prospect will have to at least admit that calls regarding their problem should have been expected.
In other words, they have a way with making connections. If the telemarketer also possesses some international experience, then consider the number of their connections doubled. For instance, they could have a call center in Australia or conduct telemarketing in Singapore. If you know how to use these people well, you can market your product to any known business on the global map. Therefore, don't be afraid any more and outsource to one so you can see what they're really all about.
About the Author
Claire Hansen works as a marketing communications program manager. She is inviting you to visit http://www.erpsoftwareleads.com to learn more about lead generation and appointment setting for the software industry.
