Frequently Asked Questions

The purpose of our FAQ’s is to provide information on the disciplines of business development and on what services GSA offer.

Q:  What is Telemarketing?

Telemarketing is an effective medium for door opening whether this is to promote:

New or added value services to current customers.

• A special offer to encourage lapsed customers to come back.
• An incentive or trial to good prospects that didn’t convert to business.
• A package for introducers and partners who could refer business to you.
• Contact with quality contacts on Outlook that you haven’t spoken to in a while.

It isn’t just about ‘cold calling’. Telemarketing or telesales as it is also known is one of a number of direct marketing routes to market. It is the most direct approach. It works best when it is integrated into other activities such as direct mail, email marketing, events and so on. However, it is also effective when used on its own.

Aside from online ecommerce, most transactions happen face to face. Without qualified sales meetings and new business appointments this cannot happen. Therefore, telemarketing lead generation still has an important role to play in sales campaigns.

Telemarketing is a proactive medium. No waiting for the phone to ring, a response to a mailer or advertisement or hoping someone will walk into your office.

 

Q. Why does cold calling have a bad name?

Cold calling sometimes gets a bad name and it is assumed this means haranguing people like has happened in the past with double-glazing. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth especially when it comes to b2b telemarketing. If you are a reputable company promoting appropriate services to a marketplace that uses those services, it is highly unlikely that the phone will be slammed down on you. Telemarketing can provide an effective way to build rapport as part of your new business marketing activities.

The key elements to ensure that cold calling doesn’t fall into the trap of being considered annoying are:

• A clearly defined target audience. Target marketing is extremely important. Select a market for your goods and services that understands what you offer and could have use for them.
• Develop a strong reason for your prospects to engage with you. Calls that have no basis or value leave the recipient wondering why you’re wasting their time.
• Screen your list using the CTPS or TPS opt-out registers. This will prevent you from calling people that have expressly asked not to be contacted. For more information visit the Corporate opt-out register
• Make sure you have good people making the calls who are mature, confident, assertive and who have an excellent telephone manner.
• Brief your team well before they call

 

Q:         Who are the clients of GSA Business Development?

At GSA, we undertake senior level telemarketing campaigns. We are not a call centre. Our team is made up of senior people used to calling decision-makers.

Our work includes appointment generation for PR and advertising agencies as well as for associations, federations, financial services and many more. Please view examples of our work and view our testimonials.

 

Q:         Do you make face to face appointments for us?

Our work generally means we make face to face appointments for our clients to meet with decision-makers that can purchase their products or services. Our role is to undertake lead generation so that your time is effective i.e. in front of senior decision-makers rather than on the phone. We have also undertaken campaigns where the objective is to:

• Generate attendees at seminars
• Set up Webex demonstrations
• Sell memberships
• Undertake customer satisfaction research
• Carry out market research
• Set up meetings at exhibitions
• Follow up event leads

 

Q:         What type of companies and decision makers can you get me in front of?

We make appointments with Managing Directors, Finance Directors, Marketing Directors, Compliance directors as well as owners and more. Whoever your decision-maker is, we can help you generate new business.

Our work has included telemarketing appointments with many blue-chip companies including Virgin, Tesco, Body Shop, BP and many others.  Visit our testimonials page to see what our clients are saying.

 

Q:         Who does my telemarketing?

Our team are senior people who have had excellent professional careers. They are used to making sales calls and will represent your business and protect and enhance your reputation.

 

Q:         What makes a compelling proposition?

A good sales proposition is all important.

Why would someone want to speak to you if you are the fifth call received today and your message is the same or inferior to the others? Ask yourself the following questions as if you were the prospect:

1. What’s in it for me?
2. Why should I listen to this person?
3. Why should I see them?
4. Why should I see them now as opposed to some time in the future?

These are important questions and you should try to identify a strong reason to see you not something that everyone else can claim.

 

Q:         Can I get a trial period?

Yes. GSA can undertake a trial period at low cost. Contact us for more details.

 

Q:         How are you paid?

Following a trial period, we work either on a fixed fee basis or a hybrid (lower daily rate and bonus for appointments) or on an appointment only basis.

 

Q:         I have my own sales people, do you offer training

GSA provides in depth training for its telemarketing team and also offers telesales training for clients’ in-house telemarketers. Ask us about our telemarketing workshops and top telemarketing tips.

 

Q:         I want to recruit a telemarketer, can you help?

We are able to help undertake telemarketer recruitment and telemarketing training if you feel that you would like to recruit and develop your outbound calling internally.

 

Q:         I’ve haven’t used an agency before, can you help me put together a compelling campaign

We undertake a new business development strategy workshop with all clients before commencement. We also run these and marketing workshops for clients outside of a telemarketing campaign. 

 

Q:         How do you monitor the success of my campaign?

We track every call made and provide reports so that clients can see details of every call.

 

Q:         I do/don’t have my own database of clients

This no problem as GSA regularly conducts list sourcing for clients. We can identify a target market and secure a good list. We also build lists for clients using the web, phone and other measures.

 

Q:         Can you use our own CRM system

We use Sage CRM and some clients wish to use this as their CRM database. For a low monthly fee, clients can house all of their customer and prospect data in one place to make marketing to them much easier and more effective.

 

Q:         Why should I outsource my telemarketing?

Often new business is everyone’s responsibility and no one takes responsibility. Managing in-house staff is often costly and time-consuming. Regularly, companies fail to provide the tools, the data, the systems, the briefing and the environment to make telemarketing work. Training isn’t provided and sales staff can be transient thereby incurring companies extra recruitment cost on top of the salary and NI.

By using an outsourced telemarketing agency, you are passing the responsibility to a company whose job it is to do telemarketing day in and day out. You reduce risks and often enhance success. If you don’t believe us, take a look at our testimonials and give us a call.

Visit our articles page and blog for hot tips and our business development white papers or ask us about our telemarketing mentor programme.

To discuss your requirements, click here to send us an email or call us on 0845 658 8192

 

 

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