Interactive Depot

It’s amazing, but despite your efforts to develop customer relationships, some consumers on your database disappear. Whether the individual has moved home, or has changed job titles continued attempts to send marketing communications are at best a waste of time, effort, and resources; at worst they can cause offense and may damage your brand.

According to published reports 20+ percent of contact information changes annually and in some demographics it’s as high as 30 percent. So stop wasting precious marketing dollars with returned bulk mail, bad telemarketing data with wrong number and address information. With greater cell phone usage and alternative social media, marketers cannot afford to invest in marketing programs that are using aged or unqualified databases.

Many addresses contain simple errors that hinder address matching. These could be typos, or may just be incorrectly spelled addresses. To allow records to be mapped geographically and compared to other databases, address information must be corrected, cleaned, and duplicates removed. Additional benefits of database cleaning and the removal of duplicated addresses are reduced administration costs, a single view of customers, and improved company image through spelling corrections and reduced customer duplication.

So, how can you make sure to get the most out of your database? The most important part of any data collection program is to maintain quality control. Whether you conduct a database cleansing and validation program in house, or contract a company to do it for you, be sure to set up a rigorous audit system designed to ensure data accuracy.

The audit should include script and logic-flow testing, real-time data review, and digital recording and fulfillment analysis to achieve optimum data performance. In fact, not having these tools in place could cause greater database errors. A cleansed database should reduce wrong numbers and bad addresses down to 5 percent, increasing your penetration and success on your next direct mail and telemarketing program.

Imagine quickly accessing the records you need to pinpoint a target area, personalize a communication, and reach your desired contacts efficiently. How would your client Jon Symthe feel when a communication addressed to him that reads John Smith? You can be a database pro and increase productivity with clean, precise and updated data.

Telemarketing has gotten a bad reputation from unscrupulous businesses trying to make a quick buck. There are only a handful of companies that properly follow state and federal guidelines and consider telemarketing a credible and very lucrative sales channel. Here’s 7 techniques the best companies use for effective telemarketing to their customers.

1. Create a unique and interesting offer to capture the customers attention within 15 seconds. You have a limited window to introduce yourself and make your pitch. Rework your introduction as many times as necessary to have the greatest impact.

2. Ask a question as soon as possible to engage the customer into the conversation. Customers are less likely to hang up the phone if you ask a question .

3. Listen closely to the response and be prepared to rebuttal. Most customers will respond consistently and being prepared to respond will always give you an edge. A sales call is a chess match…know the right moves in advance.

4. Building rapport does not mean asking “how are you?”. Most people will say “fine”. Know ask yourself “Did I learn anything from this response?” . The most effective salesperson will do some level of account review , history, research in order to be prepared to ask a relative question in order to establish an additional level of comfort over the telephone.

5. Leave telemarketing scripting to the experts. At Talk2Rep, we work with our clients to understand the product or offer. Quite often marketing people script a commercial to be used over the telephone. Marketing scripts tune out customers and more often than not you will sound like a radio commercial instead of a friendly and personal telephone engagement.

6. Role play the call flow for improvement to ensure the most productivity. Keep the call flow focused and time limited. Balance quality and quantity. More contacts may mean more sales so don’t get lost in providing too much information.

7. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Look at transactional reporting closely. How long are customers staying on the phone? What are customers saying? How are you converting your calls? Collect data and make the necessary telemarketing campaign tweaks to gain the most customers.

While on line lead generation, social media and live chat have become new channels for customer acquisition, Telemarketing continues to be a multi-billion sales channel to acquire and retain new customers. Just follow all regulations, engage customers and represent yourself properly and professionally and follow these 7 steps as a formula for telemarketing success.