The interest of any audience is notoriously capricious. This is an absolute given whenever you are investing in anything, whether it be a movie, a political goal, the stock market, or a telemarketing campaign. There are simply no guarantees, but with each effort, you can more reliably get closer to a decent return on investment (ROI). This is a point of fact that drives the movie business in spite of what some would consider failures. Silver screen investors understand that every step they take is simply that: a step toward seeing an investment pay off.

​

Take a stroll down memory lane and look at the top 10 most expensive movie flops of all time. As you can see, even with the best of intentions (and investment dollars), nothing is guaranteed to be successful.

​

So what do we do with this information?

​

I sometimes hear the question from my potential clients, “What can I expect from a telemarketing campaign?” The good news is that you don’t have to dig as deep into your pockets as a movie conglomerate. Unlike a movie where the makers have one shot at capturing an audience’s interest, you can take steps to ensure that your telemarketing campaign is far less risky than that of major movie investors. You can limit your exposure by ensuring that you have adequate resources in place and that you’ve done your research on your target audience and on your competitors. Such steps will make sure that you are maximizing your efforts to that fickle audience. You can learn how to alter your prospecting strategy so that you stand out from your competitors.

​

CASE STUDY

​

Here is an example of what I mean by having solid research: A company had two separate target markets in different states. The object was to get prospects to tour their respective facilities in the hopes of selling their services. The outcome was that one of the locations did significantly better than the other, but why?

​

Reasons:

​

• State A call list was 65% accurate, while State B's call list was only 33% accurate. It is essential to start with a current call list that has emails, phone numbers, and a 60-70% accuracy rate, or a list that has been called within the previous six months.

​​

• State A had only 12 competitors, whereas market-saturated State B had 36. We even heard from one prospect in State B say, “If I had a quarter for every time a salesperson called me up about this service, I would be a rich man.” It’s important to ask the question, who are your competitors? What are they offering, and how can you differentiate yourself?

​​

If your market is saturated, consider differentiating yourself with an event

Saturated markets require you to do something different than your competitors. Usually, you can differentiate yourself with a unique event at a noteworthy place. We did another call campaign up in State B several months later with much greater success. This time it was a networking event at a noteworthy, dining establishment instead of inviting people on a tour their facility. Host a lunch or dinner event where you are going to entice people to do something special versus just what everybody else is doing to make those calls. Then ask if there is any interest in a tour. That’s where telemarketing people come in. They support the event by making those calls.

​

Additional call campaign in State C

Prospects were invited to a barbeque and networking event at the facility, but this did not go over as well as they did with the event in State B, mostly because prospects were not as excited about going to a facility as they were about going to a noteworthy dining establishment. If you must do an event at your facility, try to feature a premier catering company or an enticing giveaway.

 

Additional notes to create success

Making sure that you understand who your audience is, what their common pain points are, and their current interests. Always lead with your most popular offering; you can offer other services and products later when you schedule the appointment, but best to not overwhelm prospects on an unsolicited call with too much detail.

​

IN SUMMARY

​

• Have a good list.

• Take steps to differentiate yourself in a competitive market—movie advertisers try to do this all the time with eye-catching previews and glitzy premiers. With telemarketing, this might mean doing an event or something else more creative than your competitor.

• Your facilities—in many cases no one gets excited about visiting them.

• You have less likelihood of getting people to visit you when you have a lot of competition.

• Do a noteworthy event to a good list and separate yourself from the competition.

• Monitor progress frequently so you can make timely and necessary changes to your campaign.

 

Need help with prospecting calls? Contact Lead Savvy.

​

As a virtual extension of your sales team, Lead Savvy helps you identify and cultivate qualified decision-makers who can purchase your product or service. Delegate the tedious, repetitive tasks of B2B lead generation and the rejection that comes with preliminary prospecting efforts. Let Lead Savvy do the initial filtering so you can spend your valuable time focusing on your profit-making operations.

 

Independent assessments are available. Would you like to learn how to add momentum to your existing sales team’s prospecting performance? Lead Savvy's consultation service assists appointment setters in navigating the communications, training, and strategy components of prospecting in such a way that their teams are productive and energized versus being dis-empowered and distracted.

​

Photo by Pol Turrents, Flickr

​

Informational Disclaimer:The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as professional or legal advice. Lead Savvy makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Articles may contain links to external websites that are not provided or maintained by or in any way affiliated with Lead Savvy Please note that Lead Savvy does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any information on these external websites.