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Hiring telemarketers?

by Jays80
19 replies
Offliners,

I am looking to hire telemarketers for B2B calling.

How do i locate & qualify them?

Any inputs about hiring process?



thanks,
Jay
#hiring #telemarketers
  • Profile picture of the author wayne60618
    Are you talking about a service or do you want to hire employees. John Durham is probably a good person to ask, if your thinking about bringing on employees. If you're thinking about hiring a firm, I have done this a few times with some bad experiences and some not so bad.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan Shaw
    I have found success by posting ads on craigslist for "appointment setters" , you only pay for each appointment and offer a commission per sale!

    No upfront money. However, the downside is finding someone that wants to work like this. I went through a few interviews and I had one work for me for two months part-time who landed me some appointments. One of which is tomorrow!
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  • Profile picture of the author russells
    I've had some success with oDesk.com and posting job ads on Cragslist.

    Hope that helps.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jays80
      Russells,

      How do you constantly monitor them, if they are not on performance basis?

      i know odesk provides a solution , However most of providers i got through odesk has been sub par in quality.

      Odesk people are keen on billing you!!!

      thanks,
      Jay


      Originally Posted by russells View Post

      I've had some success with oDesk.com and posting job ads on Cragslist.

      Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author MWGrubb58
    As others have said, Craigslist is a real winner for this!
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    • Profile picture of the author Jays80
      thanks,

      will try it out.

      Originally Posted by MWGrubb58 View Post

      As others have said, Craigslist is a real winner for this!
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    • Profile picture of the author TE2
      I have extensive experience using call centers. I have also direct hired commission only telemarketers.

      Based on my experiences, I will only use call centers going forward.

      Why?

      The call centers I use are well established and they deal with the performance and turnover issues - they get results.

      The direct hires required way too much hand holding and performed poorly - we did not get the desired results.

      When you make your decision which to use, consider the above and also this:

      - Call centers are going to get paid for every call they make regardless of their success rate. You can, however, find companies willing to work with you on how they are compensated.

      - Direct hires that are commission only appear to cost you nothing unless they achieve success. There is a hidden cost in that your time is taken up managing them as well as the stress level that comes with it.

      I know it appears that I am anti direct hire but I am not. I have a call center that is fully staffed from 9-7 with overflow and after hours handled by a large outside call center. That works great but our in-house call center employees are paid by the hour. They have a different set of performance metrics.

      So decide what you want and give it a shot.

      Regards,

      John
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      • Profile picture of the author Jays80
        John,


        Thanks for inputs. can you please elaborate on following sentence?
        the sentence in bold



        Originally Posted by TE2 View Post

        When you make your decision which to use, consider the above and also this:

        - Call centers are going to get paid for every call they make regardless of their success rate. You can, however, find companies willing to work with you on how they are compensated.
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        • Profile picture of the author wayne60618
          I can't speak for John, but more than likely he was referring to working a deal with the telemarketing firm that best suits you. Some will want an hourly rate, some will be OK with performance based compensation and be paid for appointments. some might work under a combination of both. There are pluses and minuses. If it's pay be appointment, set out your criteria for what constitutes a legitimate appointment as some will schedule garbage appointments that were not really agreed to by the prospect.
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          • Profile picture of the author TE2
            Originally Posted by wayne60618 View Post

            I can't speak for John, but more than likely he was referring to working a deal with the telemarketing firm that best suits you. Some will want an hourly rate, some will be OK with performance based compensation and be paid for appointments. some might work under a combination of both. There are pluses and minuses. If it's pay be appointment, set out your criteria for what constitutes a legitimate appointment as some will schedule garbage appointments that were not really agreed to by the prospect.
            You are 100% on target!
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        • Profile picture of the author TE2
          Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

          ...You can't monitor what they are actually saying to prospects on the phone. I would never hire a telemarketing force that I could not actually provide a place for them to work where I could record their calls and monitor exactly what they are saying.
          Hey Rus,

          I allege that you are hiring the wrong companies then. The companies that I outsource to record each and every call and I get complete call metrics. I get the same data from them as I do from my in-house systems. I have reviewed call recordings when needed and they showed whether the customer was the problem or the call center was the issue. Same with metrics. They tell a story.

          Originally Posted by Amfire View Post

          ... can you please elaborate on following sentence? the sentence in bold
          Some companies will charge by the minute, some will charge for performance, and some will offer both. I have always negotiated the rates and terms - they all want my business.

          The latest one I talked to (a couple months ago for a new project) was to do performance based outbound calls to give away free listings on a new site. Their deal was a fixed dollar amount per call to contact my supplied list of leads. They would try to contact the prospect up to 5 times. If they reached them and got them to take the free listing - they get paid. If they hit 5 contact attempts and still no contact or listing - they get paid.

          I hired 3 people to do the commission only version of the above and they did not perform. They whined and moaned and gave every excuse in the book on why they did not hit the desired daily listings and why they should still be paid. Luckily I had complete call center metrics to show how hard they worked (actually it showed how hard they did NOT work).

          Bottom-line is that the callers want to get paid whether they are in-house or outsourced. That's fair.

          Whichever way you decide to go, you better have a converting offer and you also should have your ROI model complete so you know what you have to achieve.

          The best thing you can do is to make the first 100 calls yourself and work out all the bugs with your offer, script, tools, etc... then and only then should you pass it off to someone else - in-house or not.

          I wish you good luck and success with your project.

          John
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          • Profile picture of the author Jays80
            john,

            Thanks for input. may i ask how do you locate such firms?
            assuming telemarketer needs to call US/Canada market.



            Originally Posted by TE2 View Post

            Hey Rus,

            I allege that you are hiring the wrong companies then. The companies that I outsource to record each and every call and I get complete call metrics. I get the same data from them as I do from my in-house systems. I have reviewed call recordings when needed and they showed whether the customer was the problem or the call center was the issue. Same with metrics. They tell a story.



            Some companies will charge by the minute, some will charge for performance, and some will offer both. I have always negotiated the rates and terms - they all want my business.

            The latest one I talked to (a couple months ago for a new project) was to do performance based outbound calls to give away free listings on a new site. Their deal was a fixed dollar amount per call to contact my supplied list of leads. They would try to contact the prospect up to 5 times. If they reached them and got them to take the free listing - they get paid. If they hit 5 contact attempts and still no contact or listing - they get paid.

            I hired 3 people to do the commission only version of the above and they did not perform. They whined and moaned and gave every excuse in the book on why they did not hit the desired daily listings and why they should still be paid. Luckily I had complete call center metrics to show how hard they worked (actually it showed how hard they did NOT work).

            Bottom-line is that the callers want to get paid whether they are in-house or outsourced. That's fair.

            Whichever way you decide to go, you better have a converting offer and you also should have your ROI model complete so you know what you have to achieve.

            The best thing you can do is to make the first 100 calls yourself and work out all the bugs with your offer, script, tools, etc... then and only then should you pass it off to someone else - in-house or not.

            I wish you good luck and success with your project.

            John
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            • Profile picture of the author TE2
              Originally Posted by Amfire View Post

              john,

              Thanks for input. may i ask how do you locate such firms?
              assuming telemarketer needs to call US/Canada market.
              Well, I like to to do business locally so i can personally visit my outsourced call center when needed.

              Being able to stand in someones office and be face-to-face is powerful in certain situations.

              Assuming you are in the USA or Canada, just google the location you want to have the call center located - examples: "Dallas Call Center", "Milwaukee Sale Order Processing Center", "Boston Customer Service Center", etc...

              "Call Center" is the primary term to search for but you can use the modifiers that follow to refine your search: "Sales Order Processing", "Customer Service", "Technical Support", "Help Desk", "Customer Care" and "Business Process Outsourcing", as well as variations/combination of them.

              Regards,

              John
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              • Profile picture of the author Jays80
                John,

                I am not in USA/Canada.

                thanks for inputs. To start with i have got some advertisements posted in CL and couple other freelancing sites.

                thanks,
                Jay



                Originally Posted by TE2 View Post


                Assuming you are in the USA or Canada, just google the location you want to have the call center located - examples: "Dallas Call Center", "Milwaukee Sale Order Processing Center", "Boston Customer Service Center", etc...
                ...................

                John
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  • Profile picture of the author bhappy3402
    Advertising the position on Craigslist is good, also Elance, Odesk, maybe Monster.com, and you may might be able to network with someone using fiverr. There's alot of people looking for jobs, I hope this helps at least somewhat. Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Debt Rx
    The problem with hiring telemarketers is the same problem you run into with lead providers - over promise and under deliver. Stay away from offshore call centers. I think your best bet is to hire local and develop them organically. Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author wayne60618
    If you decide to hire a service, parcel out the payments to be sure that you are getting what you pay for. A lump sum payment in advance can be a really bad idea.

    I have been burned by "American" telemarketers who swore up and down that they only use people from the states...Their telemarketers were not even competent in english and when I called to confirm appointments people had no idea what it was about. They could only tell me that they got a call from someone in India and they had no idea what they were saying.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    I've had a lot of experience with telemarketing and telemarketers. Your going to run into major problems if you have off site marketers.

    You can't monitor what they are actually saying to prospects on the phone. I would never hire a telemarketing force that I could not actually provide a place for them to work where I could record their calls and monitor exactly what they are saying.

    Telemarketers in general will say "ANYTHING" to get the appointment so they can stand a chance to get paid.

    As a business owner if your going to telemarket you should have a solid ability to do it yourself before hiring any one else to do it for you. You will gain much insight and you'll come to realize that most business owner are literally swamped with the, "We guarantee first page of Google" phone calls all week!

    Truthfully, if you want to set yourself apart stop doing what every one else is doing and go meet business owners face to face.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bronwyn and Keith
      Hi Rus

      Beautifully put.

      Given that offline has "so many" possible streams to assist small business you can be a bit "lateral" with you telemarketing as long as it is a genuine benefit for the business.

      Test a few different approaches in terms of scripting too as not all business owners fall into the one category of need.

      Regards

      Bronwyn and Keith
      Originally Posted by Rus Sells View Post

      I've had a lot of experience with telemarketing and telemarketers. Your going to run into major problems if you have off site marketers.

      You can't monitor what they are actually saying to prospects on the phone. I would never hire a telemarketing force that I could not actually provide a place for them to work where I could record their calls and monitor exactly what they are saying.

      Telemarketers in general will say "ANYTHING" to get the appointment so they can stand a chance to get paid.

      As a business owner if your going to telemarket you should have a solid ability to do it yourself before hiring any one else to do it for you. You will gain much insight and you'll come to realize that most business owner are literally swamped with the, "We guarantee first page of Google" phone calls all week!

      Truthfully, if you want to set yourself apart stop doing what every one else is doing and go meet business owners face to face.
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