26/02/2009 by Stephen Law.

Is it best to spend your marketing budget on Telemarketing or Internet Marketing?  This is a question faced by many entrepreneurs and marketing managers.  I will explore the differences between the two routes to market and help you to make that decision.

Ten years ago, a lot of business people became very excited about the Internet.  The Internet was hailed as the new medium for promoting a business and so-called technical gurus were lining up, telling everyone it was the end of other forms of marketing such as Telemarketing and Direct Mail.  Shareholders became so excited, that we ended up with the dot.com (now often referred to as the dot.CON!) boom.  The problem was that people started believing “techie talk” instead of applying “marketing knowledge”.   From a techie’s perspective the Internet provided all the answers, but a true marketer understands terms like “market saturation”and the real gurus of marketing could see that this was just another route to market.

So why didn’t the Internet replace Telemarketing and all other forms of marketing?  The simple answer is that the Internet cannot directly replace certain human interactions and if everyone has a website then a website is no longer something special.  To give an analogy, the Audi TT was one of the most exciting cars of the same decade as the Internet boom.  But would buying a 10 year old Audi TT produce the same thrill in your neighbourhood, as buying one of the orginal models hot off the production line?  Of course it wouldn’t, because there is now a plethora of Audi TT’s and Audi TT look alikes out there.  Professional Telemarketing was bringing in new business 10 years ago and is bringing in new business today.  Yet a good website 10 years ago was a big fish in a small pond.  Today a good website is simply a tiny fish in a giant ocean full of thousands, maybe millions of similar fish!

I’m not suggesting for one moment that a website should not form part of your marketing strategy.  What I’m saying is that the thrill of having the only website selling a particular product or service has gone.  Gone are the days of being able to produce a good website and finding customers flocking to your door.  Yet Telemarketing has been around since the telephone was invented.  The key issue here is that Internet Marketing now requires all the skills and focus required to succeed; all the skills and focus that Telemarketing Professionals have been using for decades.  The problem with Internet Marketing is that no one truly understands what is going on, wheras Telemarketing is a tried and tested method of gaining new business.

I recently spoke to a CEO of a major Association in the UK.  We had a long conversation about Internet Marketing V Telemarketing.  He told me that over the last 12 months, he interviewed the top brains from a number of Internet Marketing agencies and university professors.  The most striking point was that none of them could agree, upon the best way to bring in new business via the Internet.  Some argued that links were the most important aspect.  Others stated that search engine optimisation was the key.  Yet in tests, none of these experts were able to improve his website performance and some even made it worse.  In comparison, the Association still managed to steadily increase business by simply picking up the telephone and talking to people.  So what is the difference between Internet Marketing and Telemarketing?

I still remember the first time I went to a website, where a person popped up on the screen and started talking to me.  It was fun, it was creative and it was exciting.  That was ten years ago, but now it’s just downright annoying!  I quickly close a browser that annoys me, along with millions of other Internet users.  The point here is that website designers are seeking personal interaction, but a video of someone talking is not interaction at all.  This reminds me of those appalling offshore call centres who pretend they have been trained in Telemarketing.  They are like robots asking the same questions and not listening to a word that you say - that’s not interaction.  True Telemarketing works because people interact with one another and have a conversation.  Telemarketing offers the ability to ask questions directly and ineract with the answers provided.  In comparison the Internet is cold and inhuman.  For many people, the Internet is about as stimulating as talking to a telephone system that asks you to dial 1 for Accounts, dial 2 for Human Resources, and on and on and on - until you are bored to sleep.

True Telemarketing is about researching who you want to do business with.  Then you build a database of prospective buyers.  You form a suitable pitch.  You call the prospects and interact with them,. You narrow down those with a need and those who do not have a need.  You ask pertinent questions.  You treat the potential buyer like a human being, throw in a little humour and charm, and you compare personal experiences.  It’s no surprise that appointments and sales pop out the other end of the system.  Show me an Internet site that can communicate in this way, and I’ll admit that the days of Telemarketing are over.  The techonology for Internet Marketing to interact in the same way as a human being simply isn’t there yet and is unlikely to be available for decades.

Internet Marketing should be an essential part of your marketing mix.  A good website is necessary as your shop window and as a means of advertising your offering.  Probably the most important aspect of a good website, is good content and easy navigation.  If your prospective customer is interested and can find their way around a site easily - then you are more likely to do business with them.  Just don’t be fooled in to thinking that a good website is all you need.  If a market leader is spending tens of thousands of pounds a year on Internet Marketing, why do you think your £10k website will be noticed?  The telephone is a universal leveller.  Hiring a Telemarketing Professional can put you on a level playing field with a multinational corporation.

Is Search Engine Optimisation important - yes!  Will pay-per-click help your marketing - yes!  All aspects of Internet Marketing, done correctly, should bring you the right results.  The problem is that those organisations with the greatest buying power are able to influence the Internet, in just the same way that other forms of advertising generally win with a bigger budget.  If you are the market leader and you have an enormous budget, then I’m not surprised that you are dominating the Internet.  If you are not the market leader, then don’t have a head-on battle with a whole regiment of giants - you’ll just get squashed!  Think smart and use a strategy that levels the playing field.  Professional Telemarketing can put you on that level playing field.

On a final note, let’s explore one darned good piece of logic, as to why Telemarketing is often more effective than Internet Marketing, when seeking new business.  Of all the calls I receive each week, 30% of interest in Professional Telemarketing comes from Internet Marketing companies.  I’m always happy to help a good Internet Marketing company with an interesting offering.  But it does tend to beg the question, if Internet Marketing is the best way to win new business, why are Internet Marketing companies asking for me to conduct Telemarketing for them?

If you are looking for new business - why not call me today on 0870 042 1263.

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19/02/2009 by Stephen Law.

In part 2, I will explain how I helped to achieve sales via telemarketing during the recession of the 1980s.  Alternatively call me on 0870 042 1263 or email me stephen@sl-freelance.co.uk.

Until the summer of 2008 many companies had been continuously expanding.  Continual growth led to a requirement for expanding work in all areas.  Purchasing departments were falling over themselves to buy in the services and products they needed as fast as possible to maintain the momentum.  The situation was pretty darned similar in the early 1980s with the rise of the Yuppy.  Likewise the party abruptly came to an end.  But it would be a mistake to think that every company ceased traing at the end of the 1980s.  So why did some fail and others succeed?  What lessons of telemarketing success can we learn from the companies who succeeded during previous economic downturns?

Everyone whipped themselves up in to a frenzy over the value of their property until 2008.  It was a question of perception taking over from reality.  The bricks and mortar simply didn’t add up to a house being worth so much.  Likewise, when everyone started to lose confidence in the banks, the perception of the market went in the opposite direction.  The key point to bear in mind, is to differentiate between what is real and what is simply rumour.  Whilst knee-jerk reactions are common place in stock trading, the perception of doom and gloom right now in the market does not necessarily reflect the ability to find new business via telemarketing.

Let’s start with some basics.  Mankind’s basic instinct is for a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, drink to quench our thirst and for warmth when its cold.  The stock market has no bearing whatsoever on mankind’s instincts.   So are we all going to stop eating because there is a recession? Of course we won’t stop eating, but we may cut back on some of the non-essentials in life.  That’s the key point - that a lot of marketing people are failing to understand right now.  The buyers have not stopped buying, they are simply being more cautious about what they buy and when they buy it.  So what form of telemarketing approach should be applied to a cautious buyer?

Going back to my time in the 1980’s, the question of cautious buyers was on every salesman’s lips.  So how did I instigate a telemarketing campaign that worked during a recession?  The first point is to completely ignore all those around you who are gripped by panic.  Any NLP practicioner worth their salt will tell you, that you can program your brain for failure or program your brain for success.  Clear your mind of all the nonsense and you will see that buyers are still buying in virtually every market.  Stop knee-jerk reacting and looking for a quick fix, and try to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer.  Telemarketing for success involves finding what your buyers want and meeting that requirement.

So what does a cautious buyer want?  Well firstly, they want someone to buy from  who understands their caution.  Marketing logic tells us that you will never sell to everyone immediately, so you apply the same rules today that you used yesterday.  It’s all about looking for low-hanging fruit (those looking to buy shortly who have a budget) and building a pipeline (a list of those who may buy later).  More than ever, consultative telemarketing will help you to find and win new business.  In this economic climate, a cautious buyer does not want to be pressurised, they want to know that you understand their timetables.  Don’t waste your time trying to push someone too hard if they are very cautious. Gently build that relationship and diarise your callbacks and swiftly move on to the next prospect.

For telemarketing success in a recession you need to tidy up and expand your prospect database.  Don’t thrash the same people over and over again like a Mumbai Call Centre, you will simply alienate your prospects.  Add more prospects to your database and build, build, build your pipeline.  Work hard in telemarketing to find out what people want and when they want it . Be very methodical about tracking progress and follow through at the right times.

More than anything, you should take a Business Development approach to your telemarketing.   Remember to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer.  In a recession, buyers are thinking about saving money rather than spending money.  You need to examine your offering, examine your pitch and see if this needs to change.  Think carefully whether you are giving the right sales message to a cost conscious and cautious buyer?  The right telemarketing pitch will work in a recession.

I’ll go back to the 1980s again and give you an example.  The telecoms company I was working for had been selling their systems on the enhanced features.  Until the recession, buyers wanted more for their money and the additional features were very attractive.  In a recession, the buyers did not want to spend one penny unless they had to.  So I came up with a telemarketing pitch that was aimed at a cautious buyer.  After looking at the market, I noticed that the competitors were also selling on lease or rental.  I did a few sums and realised that it was possible for a prospect to buy our telecom systems in the same way but be spending far less.  The telemarketing pitch changed from selling the features first to talking about the savings first.  Within six months, the company I was working for went from the brink of bankruptcy to a roaring success.  Happy customers were swapping their old telecom systems for new ones and improving their bottom line! Telemarketing was the key to this success during a recession.

To recap, the products didn’t change, it was the mindset and the approach that changed.  Telemarketing sold in to sectors such as Fnance and Legal practices that were supposedly the hardest hit by the recession.  Please don’t think it was easy - it was darned hard work.  I’m not offering any solutions here for lazy people who bumbled through the good times.  Successful telemarketing is not easy, it’s hard work - but positive results can be achieve in good times and bad times. Look at the examples I have given and interpret this to fit your business model.

If you wish to gain more business in the recession, but don’t know where to start, then why not give me a call on 0870 042 1263?

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