5 Things You Should Consider When Selecting Your Next Outbound Telemarketing Vendor:

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 federal Do Not Call List in 2003 (http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/), 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 then most - 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 is 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 and 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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