How It Works
Choose an outsourcing agency to do your telemarketing for you and you only pay them for leads or appointments they provide. They take on all the risk. Sounds really good, right?
But if it’s such a fantastic model why isn’t it used with other traditional marketing channels like:
- Direct mail and email
- Broadcast and cable TV
- Radio
- Internet
- Newspaper and Magazine
Telemarketing is controlled by many of the same central principles as these other marketing channels. So, while the pay-for-performance model may seem like it reduces risk, in reality, it usually results in poor returns, low quality leads and increased training costs.
Pay-For-Performance B2B Lead Generation Risks
Poor Quality Leads = Poor Returns
Marketing, regardless of what type, ever produces immediate results. There’s always a trial period of testing to see what works and what doesn’t. In light of this, any telemarketing outsourcing vendor that operates under this model should invest in the initial effort to produce quality leads for its client. However, since the outsourced vendor is relying on leads to get paid and is under a certain quota to meet, they are more likely to pass unqualified leads through the funnel. This leads to poor returns for every outsourced dollar spent on this model.
High Employee Turnover = Increased Training Costs
Telemarketing representatives are often replaced as a result of unqualified leads that get passed. This in turns leads to higher than expected employee training costs. To compensate for the high turnover rate, outsourced vendors will often hire inexperienced telemarketers and appointment setters which only increase their exposure to the possibility that their offering, never mind their selling proposition, will be inadequately or adversely represented to their market.
How To Choose The Right Outsourcing Partner
Finding out whether the outsourced vendor has basic fundamentals are in place is essential to selecting a good partner. These fundamentals include having a solid, experienced management team, formal systems and technologies for executing b2b lead generation programs and time-tested, reliable methods for recruiting a good sales staff.
Look for vendors that bill for services rendered because they have invested in the human and technology processes required to produce qualified leads and increase business continuity for their clients.
Consider how the vendor you are evaluating measures up to the following criteria:
Are processes in place to ensure high quality leads and business continuity?
Find out how the vendor selects its telemarketing staff, because the quality of your lead generation program will be determined, more than any other factor, by the telemarketing reps that make the telephone calls. The experience, skills and education of these telemarketing reps will be critical to the success of your program. Any outsourcing vendor will permit you to meet the sales professionals who will be presenting your offering to the public in order to earn your business. The best outsourcing firms ensure business continuity by offering their representatives hourly compensation with incentives for achieving your desired business goals. In this way, their representative remains focused on properly representing your products and services, instead of on how he or she is going to get paid at the end of the month.
Is the vendor an established service provider?
What are the details of the vendor’s structure and organization? Make sure they have enough telemarketers on staff to handle multiple accounts; otherwise they may not be adequately staffed.
How will the vendor monitor and report on the progress of your program?
Does the vendor provide software that can give you direct access to prospect data and reports on program performance? This is a feature you should expect from your outsourcing partner. Even the best outsourcing firms will require a trial period before a path to repeatable success can be established. An automated monitoring and reporting system is essential to track activities and make ongoing adjustments.
Final Thoughts
Avoid the costly per-performance lead generation model and instead choose an outsourced vendor that possesses a seasoned team of managers, hires telesales professionals with proven skills and experience, and provides direct access to status reports to measure the success of your outsourced marketing efforts.
If your looking to outsource b2b lead generation, technology telemarketing, or b2b appointment setting then go with Good Leads, a business development company that produces quality leads that are guaranteed.
