Since 1st January 2021, when Brexit was finalised and the UK left the European Union, almost a third of British companies that previously traded with the EU have seen a decline or loss of customers. As well as this, a survey from the Institute of Directors found that 17% of UK companies stopped trading with the EU, either temporarily or permanently at the start of the year. If you’re one of these businesses and you’re in the business services industry, you might think that just shifting your focus back to your domestic markets will be enough to fill the gaps in your customer portfolio. The reality is, with the changes from Brexit and the pandemic, not only have numerous UK markets seen a drastic change in size, needs, and demand, but in the business services sector, there’s now a lot of competition coming in from US- and European-based companies. Your battle can no longer just be about generating new business and looking at new markets, it needs to be about retaining your current market positions too. To push back and keep your competitors at bay, while also stimulating the growth of your business, you need to take a proactive and direct approach to engaging with your existing customers and new prospects – and this is where telemarketing comes in.
Put Yourself in the Buyer's Shoes
Take a moment to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. When you’re looking for services, say for example a new CRM system, you’ll have a general idea of what you’re looking for - probably just an easy to use platform that will help you keep track of your customer interactions – but you won’t know exactly what you want until you speak to someone who can explain all of the features and benefits and how they can help you specifically.
Think back to a time where you’ve seen a social media post or online ad that has explained all of the features and benefits of a service and how it will help your specific problem or situation … Can’t? That’s because the personalisation of ads and social media content is all about generalising an audience based on their online behaviour, not the specific needs of the individuals!
Also, we’re willing to bet that nine times out of ten, when you do see an online ad for a service that piques your interest, you’ll end up on a phone call with the company anyway to learn more about their service – so why not cut to the chase?
When you speak to someone over the phone about their service, you can find out about specific features and ask questions that pertain to your specific situation and really get an understanding of what it is you might be buying.
To grow your business and stay ahead of your competitors in Brexit and pandemic stricken markets, this is the kind of in-depth, tailored experience you need to be giving your prospects!
Isn't Telemarketing Old & Irrelevant?
No, but the old ways of telemarketing, where you could just pick up your Yellow Pages book and dial every single number until you struck gold, those ways are certainly long gone, and for the better!
Nowadays, telemarketing is about having one-on-one conversations with relevant prospects to educate them on what you do and the problems that you can solve for them while addressing their thoughts and concerns – and the need for this experience, for both you and the customer, will never die out.
A lot of people seem to think that the word ‘telemarketing’ is synonymous with the phrase ‘irrelevant cold calls’ but this couldn’t be any further from the truth.
While there might be some companies out there that use it this way, real telemarketing is about building relationships and nurturing qualified opportunities through well-timed, valuable interactions with relevant and interested prospects.
Telemarketing is still very much a vital part of the marketing and sales world, and it’s showing no signs of dying out any time soon!
Should I Run a Campaign In-house or Should I Outsource?
With the right experience, time, and budget, in-house campaigns can be a huge success. But if you don’t have in-depth knowledge of telemarketing tactics, if you don’t have the time to run or manage a campaign yourself, or the budget to invest in staff to man the campaign, a purpose-built CRM, or data costs and other overheads, it can be far more cost-effective and hassle-free to outsource to an external B2B telemarketing company!
When looking to outsource to an external telemarketing company, you need to make sure you’re choosing a company that has the right experience for your sector. It’s also important to learn how they run their campaigns.
A lot of telemarketing companies out there work on a pay-per-lead model, which may sound like you’re getting good value for money, but often with pay-per-lead campaigns, you can be paying high rates for leads that haven’t gone through any sort of qualification or quality assurance. So, it might seem like you’re getting a lot of leads, but if these leads aren’t up to par, that’s your budget down the drain.
Here at River, our campaigns work on a daily rate which covers everything from agent dialling time to data acquisition and software costs. Before launching your campaign, our team get to know you and gather any possible information they may need to represent your business and your values professionally and accurately over the phone.
We make sure we have a clear picture of what a qualified opportunity looks like for your business, and ensure that any leads that we pass over to you are matched to your specific qualification criteria, so you’re getting opportunities that actually convert.
To learn more about our award-winning B2B telemarketing services or experience, click here to request a quote!
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