Yes, I know. Even the title sounds out of date, doesn’t it? Telemarketing is so yesterday. Nobody does that any more. Today, it’s all about social media, baby!
But isn’t a phone call a social interaction? After all, there’s a live person on the other end. A live person with a human voice, a personality and a sense of humor. What on earth could be more social than that?
While even just reading the word “telemarketing” invokes memories of interrupted dinners and fast-talking salespeople, professional telemarketing can and often should be a useful part of a B2B go-to-market campaign. You should give serious consideration to adding telemarketing to your B2B marketing mix. Here are some reasons why telemarketing should be a major part of your marketing:
- Telemarketing is a valuable two-way communication tool. Information flows both ways between marketer and prospect. What the marketer learns about the prospect can dictate the timing and style of the next communication. Telemarketers have the ability (and many have the talent) to engage more fully with a prospect than any other method.
- Marketing automation tools improve targeting. Ideally we would only call prospects that who have a question or are actually in the decision process. With better targeting, telemarketers will call less folks who are not actively engaged in a decision process.
- Marketers and prospects needs are in line. The marketer does not want to market to the B2B prospect who is not interested and no one wants to be marketed to when they are not interested in the product. These issues are most quickly clarified over the phone in a telemarketing situation.
- Consumer telemarketing is down. Consumer telemarketing has been largely legislated out of business, reducing the overall noise level and making more resources available for the B2B side. This is, at least for the time being, a good trend for B2B telemarketing.
- Some prospects respond best to being called. Each of us responds to advertising and marketing differently. We each like to receive our information differently. This is one of the reasons for running multi-modal campaigns. Some people like to talk to a live person. Telemarketing plays on this need and can often be the best way to reach some people
So folks, telemarketing is not a thing of that past. It can be used effectively today in many B2B marketing situations. A telemarketing units ability to target prospects, qualify leads and deliver the company’s message is top-notch. It’s time to consider it for your marketing funnel!
Have you used telemarketing in your B2B marketing? What suggestions do you have for using telemarketers?
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Eric Lundbohm's Blog 
Human interaction is definitely the way to create that relationship, where your client buys from you, because they have a relationship. People like to buy from people they like. Period. Think about your favorite apparel, electronics or other store. there is always that person whose opinion you trust or whose personality brightens your day. One of the things I see happening on the B2B telemarketing side, is that it has become de riguer NOT to answer your phone when you are at the office, and just listen to your voice messages. This is a real downer for people who want to turn leads into contacts by phone. I am not sure where the courtesy of “anser by the third ring” went, but making people leave voice mails has become a huge part of business culture.