FAQ: Successful Outsourced b2b Appointment Setting Campaigns

How do I find the right telemarketing vendor for my appointment setting campaign?

A failed outsourced b2b appointment setting campaign can be a disaster for your company. You lose your investment in the campaign. And you also put a tremendous amount of time and effort into the campaign because a successful outsourced appointment setting campaign is a collaborative effort between client and vendor. So you need to choose your telemarketing partner carefully.

Take the time to thoroughly vet several telemarketing vendors. A successful telemarketing partnership can be a critical boost to your company's success and help you achieve significant growth in sales. There is no exact formula to selecting the right partner for your appointment setting campaign. Ask lots of questions and get as much hard data as you can. Once you do some research on the internet and select your top 4 or 5 candidates, the best company for you will emerge after you engage in a detailed discussion with each vendor. Look for companies that have a track record in your industry and talk to some of their clients. Make sure you are very comfortable with their style and their people because you are entering into a long-term partnership with them.

When does it make sense to outsource a telemarketing campaign verses running it yourself?

A telemarketing campaign may look simple - just get on the phone and call people, but it is vastly more complicated than that. If you do not have experience with hiring, training and managing a group of outbound callers, you are better off learning the process by working with an experienced outbound call center. Once you are familiar with how a successful outbound b2b appointment setting campaign is set up, you can consider moving it in-house. One of the key problems you will face is finding and retaining top callers. A typical call center goes through hundreds of callers to select a core group of professional callers who will stick at the job. Frequent turn over will drive you crazy if you are trying to manage an in-house telemarketing group.

How long does it typically take to start generating results on a telemarketing campaign?

When you engage an outside telemarketing partner it may not be realistic to expect your investment in an outsourced b2b appointment setting campaign to pay for itself immediately. The number of calling hours it takes to generate appointments is determined by many different factors. It depends on the size of the companies you are targeting, the level of the contacts in the organization (the higher up they are the more difficult they are to reach on the phone), how well known your company is, and what product or service you are selling. Also, for many products or services, timing is critical and it may be necessary to first gather critical business intelligence about contract renewal dates, etc. to determine the best time to follow up to book an appointment. All telemarketing campaigns get better results over time because the caller’s progress along the learning curve and the calling list is qualified to a greater degree as the calling progresses.

Will telemarketers who do not understand my business be able to properly represent my company?

It has taken you years to learn the intricacies of your business so you may be concerned that telemarketers, no matter how professional and well trained they are, will not be able to answer questions that your prospects typically expect the answers to. It is true that telemarketers will not be able to deal with your prospects at the same level you can. However, that can be a good thing. Remember the objective of your appointment setting campaign is to set appointments, not to explain all the details of your product or service. Your calling team should be reasonably well versed in the basics of your business but they are not trying to replicate you. A well planned telemarketing campaign has a guideline document for the callers with answers to all of the basic questions they should be able to answer. Beyond that, they should tell the prospect that they are not the best person to deal with that question and turn them over to you. You should conduct an orientation session with your calling team before the campaign starts and at specific intervals during the campaign schedule a conference call with the team to get feedback from the callers and further build up their knowledge level.