Advice on how to set up a multi-national European home based telesales network

3 replies
All,

I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can give me on how to set up a multi-national home based telesales operation in Europe. Also, if someone here really knows how to do this and has the time we might also discuss a consulting project to help us get this set up.

Quick summary of the situation:
1. I have a contract with a Chinese company that needs to quickly contact a large number of European companies and identify those that are willing to enter serious discussions about entering into a business arrangement with them.

2. We have several thousand leads with phone numbers and can easily acquire more. Key requirement now is to qualify them.

3. Leads are in major European economies - UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, a few in Portugal, etc. so we need to operate in at least five to six languages.

4. Although we have some infrastructure in Europe we do not have offices in all of these countries.

We have already determined the following:
1. We want to contact leads via telesales.

2. We need native or close to native speakers for each language. (And, yes, we will spend the money to have scripts, e-mails, etc. translated to each language.)

3. We need about 7 - 10 telesales people - 2 - 3 for countries like France, Italy, Germany, probably 1 for Spain, maybe 2 for UK, a part timer for Portugal.

4. As far as we can tell, telesales staff will need to work from home - there is no company that will rent us a turnkey setup across so many languages with so few telesales staff. (If we're wrong on that please tell us!)

Based on this, my current understanding is that I need some kind of cloud based telesales system that includes a dialer that can dial European countries at reasonable cost integrated with a CRM system that is able to track our entire business process and monitor calling and lead qualification so we can pay our telesales staff based on both time and qualifications.

I would also like to get advice on the telesales compensation plan, methods of recruiting telesales staff in Europe (oDesk and eLance? Craig's List? Something else?), and designing our scripts, e-mails, and sales process.

Thanks
Mike
#advice #based #european #home #home based #multinational #network #set #telesales
  • Profile picture of the author lollobrigida
    You should spend a little time researching the legal pros and cons regarding telesales in each targeted country. In Germany for example it is not allowed to cold call companies and you risk legal issues.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9957543].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author mfriedman14
      Thanks for the advice.

      Our understanding of German law on this is that the exclusion is for consumers but that it is much more flexible for businesses.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9957657].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Chris Gylseth
    Seems like you have taken the time to investigate the opportunity, and are willing to put your own money on the table to make this happen. That is a good first step. Based on what you see in this opportunity, is there room for growth, meaning that you could eventually end up with larger teams in each country?

    Have you considered hiring on local telesales companies instead of building your own? There are pro's and con's to both. It's easier to control the delivery if it's your own, but it also requires more management. We've done both, and I'd be happy to discuss more if you want.

    I do believe in the flexibility of a home based business setup, but you'll either have to have a centralized training location or some kind of online curriculum for them to follow for training purposes.

    My partners and I have years of experience setting up call centers, and are in the process of doing so again for our own services. If you want to discuss setup, software options, recruiting, training, or anything else, send me a PM with the best time and method of contacting you.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9959189].message }}

Trending Topics