Telemarketing Campaign experiences

Put it this way... if you telemarket you will get business, if you dont... Good luck trying other methods...they are hit and miss at best from what I have witnessed, although I have never wasted much time trying it any other way, based on watching other peoples rate of incoming sales who dont telemarket...

If your price is dirt cheap and your service is valuable, I can say that a warrior forum special offer works too. There are few advertising venues as responsive as the WF, but it would be aweful hard to compete with some of the other service oriented wso offers, as far as web design...

That being said, on telemarketing:

For a healthy return I would make 100 calls per day so that over the course of a month you can figure out what "YOUR" closing ratio is... If you are on the west coast its a bit more hardcore, I would add another 50 calls per day.

You will have different closing ratios based on your pitch or tone, or your offer structure... I would say that 4 interested prospects out of 100 is good...2 out of of 100 means you need to tweak your pitch or tone... 5 and up out of 100 means you are good and you are onto a good pitch.

Anything less than 2 out of 100 means you are gonna have to really work on your pitch and tone... people buy into stuff that "sounds" like a good idea. So you will have to work on how you SOUND if you are getting less than 2-4 out of 100 interested prospects.

Now if you "close" 3 prospects per week out of 500 calls and out of 20 interested prospects, at a rate of $500 per site, then you have made $1500 on the front end every week, for telemarketing less than a call center TM does in ONE SINGLE DAY , for only $400 per week.

Good deal huh? What if a call center paid you $1500 per week just to make one days worth of calls?

You have to count the rewards more than the effort. Whatever it takes to get them is certainly alot more worth while than working by the hour.

Now, what happens if you dont telemarket?

Anybodies guess from month to month. After watching 2000 people ( Mostly warriors) try it over the last year, I think my opinion here is qualified:

It works if you work it, but if you dont and you want to try other less reliable, or predicatable, or quantifiable paths, you will have spiratic sales, nothing that you can scale with.

Doesnt matter how many numbers to a sale, as much as it matters "What" the numbers are. Once you have identified that you can scale it and duplicate it predictably.

Hope this helps.

I think these numbers are a bit high, but the general point is true. In my experience, making 500 calls to small business owners, expect to speak to 50 decision makers (10% contact ratio). So a 100 dials means you speak to 10 people.

In my experience, you aren't going to find 20 people interested and qualified in those 50 decision makers (unless you have some magic ultra targeted list). However, a good rule of thumb, is that you WILL find 5 to 7 interested (10 to 15% of those you contact are both interested and qualified) Not everyone is a great closer in the beginning, so lets say you close 25% to 30% of those interested and qualified giving you 1-2 customers per week. Overtime you will get better and your closing percentages will increase. Once you figure out your ratios, you can then predict growth and the activities and resources necessary to support this growth.

The sad fact is that contact ratios continue to go down. Research by insidesales.com supports this, but cold calling flat out works.

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John acts like he has done this before

John,

You have been very helpful to a lot of people, including me, but please don't act like you are the last word in all matters related to cold calling. Insidesales.com is a very reputable source that has done research. Much more than you or I have. In fact, you damage your credibility by denying the undeniable. But then you have a product to sell and a space you are trying to own, so it doesn't surprise me.

You quote your experiences. I also quote my experiences. But InsideSales.com does RESEARCH and the fact of the matter is that contact ratios are going down. This fact is indisputable and many sources prove this. There was a time when I could count on a 20% contact rate, but those days are long gone.

Oh, and I don't think that you are going to get 2-3 interested people in 100 dials. If you are calling SMBs, you are lucky to get 10 contacts per hour with decision makers. Do you believe 30% of those 10 contacts are interested? That denies all the research that exists around cold calling. Connectandsell.com reports a less than 5% contact rate in 2010 and they pump out hundreds of thousands of dials. 4.5% to be exact.

I applaud your efforts to open people's eyes to telemarketing and you are dead on. It works. There is plenty of opportunity. I do it everyday. However, taking the approach of positioning yourself as the ONLY person with experience calling and saying COMPLETELY STUPID things like " There is BIG opportunity in telemarketing, and the industry may be going down according to DUKE, who says that ALOT..." is classless. At no point did I say the industry is "going down". Search my posts, quote it, and post in this thread if I am lying. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT BECAUSE AT NO POINT DID I SAY THE INDUSTRY IS GOING DOWN...but I will be eagerly waiting your response.

The fact of the matter is that CONTACT RATES are going down. Research that and you will see that is correct as well.

My entire fortunes have been built cold calling. I know my contact rate. I know the contact rate for my entire office (a daily report easily tells me this) as well. I also know my historical rates and I know they have been declining. That fact is undeniable, but it doesn't mean cold calling doesn't work. It just means you may need to work a little harder. Dial a little longer Since you managed a call center, you have to know this. Here is a hint, I have built call centers for fortune 100 companies in my consulting days and I know this is true. Again, undeniable.

As for why people are begging for appointment services, that answer is simple. Cold Calling is hard work and the vast majority of people are afraid of rejection. Human nature. As a result, there will always be a market for those that can get you in front of decision makers. There will also be a market for A$$clowns that sell the "No More Cold Calling' crap and all that jazz. They prey on people's fear of calling and it works.

Also, there are simply some people whose time is too valuable to prospect. This is why larger companies have Business Development reps that tee up appointments for their Sales Teams. Simple economics. BD Reps are cheaper than client facing relationship managers. From a small business perspective or a one man shop, if you are good at delivery and running appointments and the economics dictate, why not outsource the appointment setting process?

I will be waiting for your proof of my statement that the industry is "going down". Let's hear it. And save the self righteous crap for someone that buys it. Notice every single one of my statements was preceded by me making the statement "In my experience...". The person asked people's experiences and I gave mine. You gave yours like it was and is the ONLY viewpoint. Again, your self righteous drivel is starting to get boring.

Show me some proof that cold call ratios are increasing or staying the same. Show me some proof that you can close 3 out of 100 dials. Show me some proof that 500 dials is going to get 20 interested people. Give me industry wide metrics from a reputable source that proves it. I will be waiting.

Just to be clear what DukeNasty said was "The sad fact is that contact ratios continue to go down. Research by insidesales.com supports this, but cold calling flat out works"

He did not say that "the industry may be going down" nor have I ever gotten that from any of his posts. (I would know, I normally disagree with him so I read what he says). He said CONTACT RATIOS. He is right on. The contacts we were making a year ago off of comparable lists and this years lists are way down. The reason? Everything from saturated markets (ie. this time last year WSO/text marketing and SEO's were NOT big for TM, and now we have 4 of them we are calling for!) , to lists that are sold and resold, and recirculated, to people being unavailable and working less hours. Reasons vary, but Duke is correct. The way to combat that is to dial more.

Actually, the best way to find out your "numbers" is to make calls for 2 weeks, and then crunch your numbers. It will vary after that, but it'll give you a good representation. I never quote how many appt/leads we can get for someone. Your list, your target group, your hours you want me to call, your business/product, what you want me to do (appt setting vs info gathering). It all dictates your results. It also can't be an accurate estimate after one week of calling a new list. Hence the 2 weeks.

As for DukeNasty's reply to John...right on. Yes, you have ideas, yes you have experience, we all do. We all do things differently, and often have some of the same practices. I mentioned it to someone in a PM last week, but the way you (John) have been replying lately it seems like you've been hacked or just said screw it to your professional demeanor on here.

I'm going to finish this by saying I will not be responding to any nonsense from anyone anymore. It's pointless and I agree to disagree from here on out. So, no need to quote me and disagree. There, that should help.

Have some experience with B2B telemarketing outfit in UK. Get motivated people dialling the right data and it works. You just need to be sure what your end game is on any campaign. An appointment, commitment for more information, attend an event etc....

Telemerketing (Cold Calling) As many have mentioned is a numbers game. However just like everything you can have good numbers, bad numbers, excellent numbers or awful numbers.

It all depends on your Opening Lines, having a Positive Attitude but most important, DON'T FORGET TO ASK FOR THE SALE!!!

Many people fail because a lack of one of those.

Create power questions or power statements so when people answer the phone they don't reject you right away.
If you have a positive attitude and the proper focus you will surprise the prospect and they will more likely don;t end the call
Never forget to get to the point if you called to ask for an appointment no matter what happens on the call just ask for it.

John vs. Mwind in a 1 week contest to see who is the real phone pro!!!!


Time to add a little excitement and put this argument to bed! Just so you know, my $$$$ is on John

In my experience it was alright, I got a few clients for a short time. But I do believe that it is slowly dying. Too many people are calling small businesses every day, trying to sell the same thing, and they are tired of it. So I would say if you are desperate for clients and want to hit as many people as possible telemarketing is fine. But don't be surprised if you make 500 calls and only get 1 person to bite.

From my experience referrals are a way more reliable way of getting clients and closing the deal. But that is just me.

I have just started cold calling for SMS marketing and have had great success getting appointments. 6 calls, three appointments. I like that average. My appointments with pubs start Tuesday! And I had a fear of cold calling.

John,

I asked you to provide some evidence of how I indicated the industry "was going down". Weren't you going to cut and paste the statement or statements indicating where I said that? I never saw that proof.

I also asked you to provide information from a reputable source that contradicts the statement that I made indicating contact rates are going down. Again, I have not seen that proof. Since you seem to be lacking in the proof department, I thought I would poke around to see what I could come up with since we have access to that clandestine tool known as Google.

Here you go. Shoot holes in this data. Prove all of them wrong.

What are typical call to contact ratios for inside salespeople?

Here is a good one for you. Ever heard of a company called Marketo? You know, one of the fastest growing marketing automation companies in the world? Well, they report connect rates of 8% or less. Oh, and they reference InsideSales.com as well. Why? Because InsideSales.com has an industry leading tool that integrates with Salesforce.com. Much, more more than the simple "dialer" you refer to.

http://www.marketo.com/library/smart...e-sales-20.pdf

As I said earlier. You can't deny the undeniable. Contact rates are coming down as I mentioned earlier. You argued that I am wrong, yet you provide no proof other than your "experience". Like I said, your credibility has been compromised.

Per my original post. Cold calling works. More people should do it. Those that can't stomach the pain or do not have the time, but have the budget to outsource, should hire those that provide appointment setting because the good ole 800 pound phone still works to get you in front of decision makers.

I am done. Your pouting and tireless "let's battle" rhetoric is childish. I have built a pretty comfortable life for myself (very comfortable actually) by dialing and smiling and have trained tons in my office to do the same. Nothing to prove here...I will leave that to you. But, like I said...No product to sell here. No WSO to push. No forum memberships to sell. Wait...isn't that the exact opposite of you?

Well let me end this thread with a happy ending. Met my first client this morning for SMS text marketing. Good presentation I thought; power point pesentation on my IPad. Got the account! This is a large " bar & grill" and the fellow also owns another bar and two liquor stores that he wants to do the text marketing for as well. His first opt in is going to be a text2win campaign for a free pizza every week for a year. the contest will be open for a month and then we will come up with another opt in strategy. Pretty cool.
I have an appointment with another pub owner tomorrow. Two for two? I sure hope so.
I like my kind of story, not warrior bashing. MK