Why telemarketing OBLITERATES other forms of marketing

30 replies
Haha, so I wouldn't think I would need to write this post; preaching to the choir is kind of redundant. However, there will also be not so many of you out there that continue to question telemarketing and particuarly cold callings legitimacy as an effective, presentable marketing tool.

I'm here today to tell you that telemarketing is absolutely THE BEST form of marketing which can be applied to selling virtually ANYTHING imaginable, from investment houses to tampons.

Products exist because there is a market that wants that product, telemarketing is just reaching a high volume of people in that market for that product, matching up the seller to the buyer and then facilitating the sale between the two. That's it.

Now with that basic description let's talk about why it's so effective:

Telemarketing splits buyers from time wasters very quickly, you get economies of scale with more agents and the data can be laser-targeted towards past buyers of the same or complimentary products.

A cold calling campaign can also be piloted, A/B tested and polished within a week. Compare that to how the feedback loop would be for say a direct mail campaign or doing the same thing door to door. Very quickly and sometimes on the first call you will understand what works and what doesn't in your script or offering.
This means you can start making money very quickly if you are strict with the testing process. Even a 0.5% increase in conversions adds an amazing difference to your bottom line, convert that half percent to the difference in sales and work out what that makes to your quarterly and annual income, you will see why it's worth it!

If you are broke, picking up the phone and selling services to businesses is the fastest way to get that urgent cash NOW. You can easily make one sale a day if you committed yourself to learning the script and doing the dials. Just by the sheer amount of prospects you will be talking to SOMETHING is going to stick even if you are very inexperienced.
$799 for a basic website sounds good right? Outsource that to a company such as Odesk for $50 on a basic Wordpress platform, there's $749 you just made in a profit in an afternoon. These are moderate numbers as well, but for most people this kind of money is unimaginable.

In a week that's close to $4,000. Enough to get you out of any kind of financial trouble you might be having I'd think. Imagine how many doors you'd need to knock on to reach these kinds of numbers, how many emails or DMs you'd need to send out. How much would that all cost you in terms of time, money and emotional investment?
When all you need for telemarketing is a headset and an unlimited skype account. Take out the phone book and a script and then start making the dials. This is why cold calling works because you are not ******* around, you are focused on a single point which is why it is so overwhelmingly powerful.
On your first day will you make a sale? Probably not. But after 3 days, 5 days? You bet!

You quickly learn the first rule of sales, and that's always be prospecting. Always be on the phone calling NEW leads, there are acres of diamonds right beneath your feet which are easily uncovered with some nuclear telesales TNT.
#forms #marketing #obliterates #telemarketing
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Pantera, surely you are not suggesting these NZ companies cold call,
    do you...Puma Footwear, Placemakers, Lion Foundation, Lumino The Dentists, Gold Buyers NZ, Fruitworld, Peaches And Cream, Sierra Cafe Group and Rodney Wayne Salons?

    BTW they are my clients.

    Best,
    Ewen
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    • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
      Almost no object you possess at home, vehicle you have ever owned or holiday you have taken has been bought via the phone.

      Your post title is facile.

      In the context of starting a company and having to get clients fast then yes it is up at the top. With a couple of others.

      Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
    Telemarketing/cold calling works, you are right. It is all about developing a thick skin and not letting NOs and people hanging up on you, get the best of you. The more calls you make, the more appointments ya can make and the more sales can possibly be made after you meet, with clients and close.



    .
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    • Profile picture of the author PanteraIM
      Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

      Pantera, surely you are not suggesting these NZ companies cold call,
      do you...Puma Footwear, Placemakers, Lion Foundation, Lumino The Dentists, Gold Buyers NZ, Fruitworld, Peaches And Cream, Sierra Cafe Group and Rodney Wayne Salons?

      BTW they are my clients.

      Best,
      Ewen
      Cool beans.

      If there's a a match between their marketing mix and the product I don't see why not? I have the feeling you are suggesting otherwise.

      Originally Posted by jimbo13 View Post

      Almost no object you possess at home, vehicle you have ever owned or holiday you have taken has been bought via the phone.

      Your post title is facile.

      In the context of starting a company and having to get clients fast then yes it is up at the top. With a couple of others.

      Dan
      People buy investment properties from the result of an initial cold call, buy holiday timeshares from cold calling, and get calls from their dealerships near the end of the buying cycle for new vehicles.

      I can also think of a billion other examples where cold calling DOES work because of the simple economic principles I described in the OP. You combine that with killer technique and attitude and anything is possible.
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      • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
        Originally Posted by PanteraIM View Post

        Cool beans.

        If there's a a match between their marketing mix and the product I don't see why not? I have the feeling you are suggesting otherwise.
        OK, take Fruitworld, they retail fruit and vegetables.

        What about Peaches and Cream, retailers of adult sex toys, R18 DVD's?

        I'm all ears how you can be profitable retailing those things
        via telesales.

        Best,
        Ewen
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        • Profile picture of the author PanteraIM
          Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

          OK, take Fruitworld, they retail fruit and vegetables.

          What about Peaches and Cream, retailers of adult sex toys, R18 DVD's?

          I'm all ears how you can be profitable retailing those things
          via telesales.

          Best,
          Ewen
          This is a nonsense question.

          I already qualified what I wrote when I said IF there's a match between their product/marketing mix it makes sense.

          Seems a lot of you are attacking the absolute stance I took with my post, and for that I apologize. It was meant to be taken as hyperbole and not a statement of fact.
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Originally Posted by PanteraIM View Post

            This is a nonsense question.

            I already qualified what I wrote when I said IF there's a match between their product/marketing mix it makes sense.

            Seems a lot of you are attacking the absolute stance I took with my post, and for that I apologize, it was meant to be taken as hyperbole and not a statement of fact.
            Your quote from initial post...

            "I'm here today to tell you that telemarketing is absolutely THE BEST form of marketing which can be applied to selling virtually ANYTHING imaginable, from investment houses to tampons."

            So how does a reader now know what can and can't
            be sold via telemarketing to give some clarity?

            Best,
            Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
            Originally Posted by PanteraIM View Post

            Seems a lot of you are attacking the absolute stance I took with my post, and for that I apologize. It was meant to be taken as hyperbole and not a statement of fact.
            It's okay Pantera. It was not an attack.

            Dan
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        • Profile picture of the author donza
          Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

          OK, take Fruitworld, they retail fruit and vegetables.

          What about Peaches and Cream, retailers of adult sex toys, R18 DVD's?

          I'm all ears how you can be profitable retailing those things
          via telesales.

          Best,
          Ewen
          I don't think telemarketing would be the best way to sell those companies' products but I'm going to play the devil's advocate and suggest how they might use telemarketing.

          A fruit and vegetable retailer could have a fresh fruit delivery service that specailises in providing "first grade organic fruit" to companies. Telemarketing could be used to sell that service.

          I know parties selling x-rated toys are popular. A sex toy company could cold call female consumers and ask if they would be interested n hosting a party so the host can make some extra cash and have a fun time as well.

          Like I say I don't think telemarketing is the best way of selling these established retailers' products. But if they were just starting out and had no money for marketing cold calling could be a viable option.

          Cheers Don

          BTW that's a very impressive list of clients Ewen. How did you get them, cold calling
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Originally Posted by donza View Post


            BTW that's a very impressive list of clients Ewen. How did you get them, cold calling
            You must be from NZ to know those companies Don...

            am I right?

            Best,
            Ewen
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      • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
        Originally Posted by PanteraIM View Post

        Your post is facile.
        Actually it is not.

        You have stated that Telemarketing obliterates other forms of Marketing.

        It doesn't and you have not proven it. Your argument lacks depth. ie It is facile.

        If it was in the context of the last line in my post then that is different.

        The overwhelming majority of people who own a car in the world have not bought it in the manner you state.

        Heathrow airport is not full of people going on holiday because of a phone call.

        The fact that a very small % have does not make it the primary marketing method.

        Not sure what you are failing to see here.

        Perhaps you are making an assumption that I dislike Telemarketing?

        Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author SashaLee
    Hi there,

    @OP I think the problem is you take the stance that telemarketing is a one-stop shop and marketers could abandon all other forms of marketing if they just used telemarketing.

    Bad advice.

    All the best,

    Sasha.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
      I think the headline: "Inbound Marketing Initiatives Obliterate All Other Forms of Marketing."

      Why does it make sense to spend a day cold calling, when you can make 2 calls and get directly to your target market for free? Bob Ross M3?

      Why does it make sense to cold call to fight the gatekeeper when LinkedIn offers unfettered access?

      Why does it make sense to cold call when you can just do voice mail drops, 10,000 at a time for $300 or so? That's going to get you 40 inbound calls for $7.50 each... Consider the time it takes to organize and deploy such a campaign.

      What sort of value do you place on your time? What's your hourly goal?

      I think anyone who relies on cold calling as a PRIMARY means to generate leads is mistaken...

      Cold calling absolutely does work. But it works best when you have something to talk about. Ex; "Hey Bob, Dennis at Denny's Tire said I should give you a buzz..."

      Which of the following daily routines would yield the most profit in your objective opinion:

      Routine #1
      1. 10 Handwritten notes personally addressed and mailed out using all the things that our fellow direct mailing Warriors have taught us.
      2. 30 Linked In messages
      3. 1 Quality LinkedIn post to 3 different groups.
      4. 1,000 Message voicemail drop.
      5. Finding 2 M3 partners


      Routine 2
      1. 50% cold calling.
      2. 50% cold call follow-up.

      With all that being said, there is value to be derived from cold calling if the intent and approach is rooted in sound math, logic, and strategy.
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  • Profile picture of the author KMalo
    Anybody who opens a post/thread with a statement of: "xyz is the absolute best way to do abc" is always going to be up against it.

    Ask an seo agency the best way to acquire customers, answer = seo

    Ask an sms marketer the best way to acquire customers, answer = sms

    Do you see where this is going?

    All types of marketing can be successful when done correctly and it is a foolish person who relies solely on one method of customer acquisition.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonwebb
    personally, Direct mail has worked wonders for me and the people I worked with.

    a direct mail piece ( I am talking about a sales letter) that is well written is just so much more efficient (and more prestigious) then marketing through Cold Calling.

    I do think cold calling is very effective though and not to be disregarded completely

    - Jonathan Webb
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      One of the great things about cold calling is that is is possible to sell nearly anything this way. Does that mean it's always going to be the best way? I don't know.

      Almost anything can be sold with a great and compelling direct mail letter. Is one way better than another?

      Are we talking about gaining initial sales to grow your customer base?
      Are you talking about calling targeted "high probability" lists that have proven that they have bought something like what is being sold, in the past.

      What about selling by referral? What about only calling leads gathered online?

      Everyone has their favored method. Me? I'm convinced that public speaking builds a devoted client base faster than just about anything else. But so what?
      It isn't for everyone.

      Cold calling, direct mail, speaking, SEO are just media.

      Here are two things I know. I get calls nearly every day to sell me local online marketing services. Sometimes robo calls, and occasionally very talented salespeople call. Sometimes I get impressed. For the guy that impresses me? Cold calling is the most profitable thing he can do. Anything else would be a waste of talent.

      But for most of us, it's drudgery, and most people are terrible at it.

      Dan Kennedy fills auditoriums with 1,000 people ore more...several times a year. He charges $1,200 a seat or more.
      I'm on his list...probably all of them. I get between 8 and 16 direct mail letters designed as a sequence to fill one event.

      Bill Glazer (of Glazer Kennedy) told me that they will mail out 16 direct mail letters to their list, and then turn the list over to a boiler room. Two thirds of the sales are made by one phone call verses a third of the sales by direct mail. When I head that, it got my attention.

      Ryan Deiss will fill a room with 2,000 people at an event, mostly through online marketing and social media (including a lot of re-marketing).

      So what's the best? The thing that you will actually do.
      A few here are fantastic copywriters. Why on earth would they do cold calling?
      A few here are fantastic salespeople. Why would the let a letter do something they could do better themselves?
      A few are very personable affable types. Networking and referrals are what they concentrate on.

      In my retail store...nothing pays more per hour than me calling my customer list getting them back into the store to buy. Nothing comes close. Not my internet presence, not direct mail...nothing.

      But would I just call out of the phone book? No.

      So....there is no best way. It's whatever you like. Whatever you are willing to actually do.

      By the way, when I was selling in people's homes, nothing came close to following other salespeople (that sold something else) and just sold people who were used to buying from an in home salesperson...and seeing heir referrals that had also already bought from that salesperson.

      So is that the best way? For me, at the time...Yes. But it took talents that were unteachable, so I never did teach it to any of my reps.

      But...I just can't see any reason to argue about this. We are not competitors, we are colleagues. Group hug.
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      • Profile picture of the author bawls
        Human Referral is the best form...
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Ease of scaling seems to be the key advantage for telemarketing
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    The great thing about making calls is that at basically no cost you can have live conversations with business owners and get decisions today. As long as you are willing to stick to it.

    The bad thing about making prospecting calls is that nearly everyone has completely incorrect expectations about it, and goes in with a mental setup virtually guaranteeing that they're going to get beaten up.

    Any marketing method can be scaled up. We can send more letters and postcards. We can post more videos. We can put up more bandit signs. In fact, prospecting may be more challenging to scale up than others because it's not directly duplicatable: you can't clone yourself to make more dials and make the calls the exact way you do.

    Fact is, most people have been and will continue to be scared of it.

    Regardless of what you do and how you start the conversation, though, on most occasions you are going to have to talk with someone in order to move them from being a prospect to being a client. If you don't know how to sell, what are you going to do?
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  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    It absolutely works...does it obliterate all other forms? No. This from someone who sells cold calling and does it daily, however it's not for every market, or every business, and you must know what you're doing, and how to develop it and keep it going to be profitable. In addition, it should not be the only thing you are banking on.

    I think overall the OP's post is on, but it should have some other key points in it to make it accurate.
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    • Profile picture of the author hobgoblin
      Well if anything the post was a great pep talk to get movin!! Love it.
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  • Profile picture of the author gregorydrake1
    Being from the call center world I will tell you that telemarketing is great for niches that have impulse buyers. It is not great for every niche. But one thing that no one has mentioned, when you use the phone you can charge higher prices than through any other method of marketing.

    Like one project I worked on for a stock trader, we took credit cards over the phone for $5k to $15k on a one or two call close.

    One of my current business partners was a closer for a work from home offer in a call room in Arizona, they charged up to $30k on the phone selling make money websites.

    As for the opinion of best, I can't say telemarketing will be the best, but I can say that there is no other medium of sales where you can close people for as much money as you can on the phone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew H
    The OP has written a post that talks about the benefits of telemarketing. He then has a link to his forum in his signature -> and guess what, that forum is for telemarketers!

    A Honda car dealer is going to tell you that a Honda is good. A telemarketer is going to tell you that telemarketing is good.

    I run a very successful web development business and never once have I lowered myself to cold calling. Cold calling is a dying trend, spend your time on more effective and less annoying marketing strategies.

    As a side note, this forum really needs a subsection for telemarketers so they can remove all this telemarketing spam from the offline section.
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    • Profile picture of the author J R Salem
      While I have used telemarketers in my own business, let me give you two scenarios and you tell me which is more effective:

      1) Call up a ton of businesses that have never heard of you and pitch your services.

      2) Utilize many forms of paid traffic, and put your product in front of people that are actively searching for your product or a related product.

      In my opinion, #2 wins all day.

      The problem with traditional marketing like cold calling, radio, TV, yellow pages, etc is that you are bringing your product to the masses and hoping someone bites.

      The great thing about the internet is you can pay for traffic that is only from people looking for your exact product or service!

      Someone types in, "Local SEO firm" or "Affordable Web Design," and there you are, right in front of them...

      Obviously that's the first step - properly positioning yourself once they find you is what makes paid traffic most effective.

      In closing, yes, telemarketing can work. But to consider it the most effective form of lead gen is being a bit narrow-minded, as there are many other forms of advertising that are just as if not more effective.
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      • It all depends on the market.

        Yes, it CAN be the best form of lead generation.

        Or, it CAN be just one method for an all encompassing prospecting plan.

        Or, it CAN be something you don't use while still having an effective lead generation campaign.

        It's all about YOUR market, YOUR niche, YOUR product and YOUR goals.

        Keep in mind your market, niche, product and goals should all be aligned with something that provides value and true benefits for your potential customers.

        If not...it doesn't matter what you do!
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Andrew H View Post

      I run a very successful web development business and never once have I lowered myself to cold calling. Cold calling is a dying trend, spend your time on more effective and less annoying marketing strategies.

      As a side note, this forum really needs a subsection for telemarketers so they can remove all this telemarketing spam from the offline section.
      Andrew;
      "never once have I lowered myself to cold calling"?

      It's a good thing too, because you would be terrible at it. Is cold calling a dying trend? Maybe. Is it annoying? Almost always, unless the telemarketer has skills. And they almost always do not.

      I want to be clear. The reason you hate the idea of cold calling is because you've never done it and experienced making a sale this way.
      Great cold calling is (in my opinion) right up there in advanced sales skills.

      "Lowered myself to cold call"...Man,there is something about the way you said that that just makes you sound ...well.....not cool.

      "As a side note, this forum really needs a subsection for telemarketers so they can remove all this telemarketing spam from the offline section"

      The subsection idea isn't bad. Telemarketing deserves it's own section, it's that important. But did you notice that lots of people are reading this thread? Offline marketers don't seem to agree with you, about it being spam.

      I have noticed something. Virtually every post by someone putting down telemarketing, is written by someone who has never done it successfully.
      And not having that skill, is not a virtue.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
      Originally Posted by Andrew H View Post

      The OP has written a post that talks about the benefits of telemarketing. He then has a link to his forum in his signature -> and guess what, that forum is for telemarketers!

      A Honda car dealer is going to tell you that a Honda is good. A telemarketer is going to tell you that telemarketing is good.

      I run a very successful web development business and never once have I lowered myself to cold calling. Cold calling is a dying trend, spend your time on more effective and less annoying marketing strategies.

      As a side note, this forum really needs a subsection for telemarketers so they can remove all this telemarketing spam from the offline section.
      Yes, it's totally dead, I recommend you never do it to sell your product, you will fail miserably. (That's a mix of sarcasm and truth). With your attitude and level of knowledge of it, you would fail. If you don't do it, that leaves the rest of us plenty of clients to reach that you never will - so that works for me.

      I wonder, if it's dead and no one is interested in it, and no one can thrive off of it, or make a living, or increase their business - how is it that so many of us here do it successfully and talk about it at length so much that you feel we need our own space to discuss such "spam."

      Sounds like you're bitter and you need to be taught how to market, or you can just bypass these informational discussions if you don't like them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Turner
    Look, telemarketing must work 'cause people keep doing it yep... and spamming people must work 'cause my spambox (and yours probably) is full...
    I run a small busines and I am soooooooooooooooooooooo fed up with telemarketers... they waste my time everyday
    telemarketing is the spam of the phone world - ask any small business owner - they all hate it....
    so telemarketing may work ... but do you really want to add to phone spam?
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by Danny Turner View Post

      Look, telemarketing must work 'cause people keep doing it yep... and spamming people must work 'cause my spambox (and yours probably) is full...
      I run a small busines and I am soooooooooooooooooooooo fed up with telemarketers... they waste my time everyday
      telemarketing is the spam of the phone world - ask any small business owner - they all hate it....
      so telemarketing may work ... but do you really want to add to phone spam?
      Danny, there is a place for it, I use it and it has landed several retail brands
      that are the largest in the country.

      They phone me now to place orders.

      What you and your associates have described is the callers
      who have taken the wrong approach.

      Best,
      Ewen
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