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Chapter 43—Telemarketing

Telemarketing (also called telephone business development,
cold calling, and inside sales by some companies) has been
a common B2B tactic for many years. Some consider it to be
part of the sales portfolio, but I consider it marketing because
it generates leads and awareness.

The purpose of telemarketing is to open the door to new
prospects. For some companies, telemarketing delivers strong
ROI. For many though, it isn’t the best way to spend the marketing
budget. The difference depends on the nature of your offer, your
target market, the effort put into developing the list, and the way
the calls are performed. If you offer a new technology or service
that doesn’t already exist in the market, telemarketing can be
an effective way to educate the market about your company or
solution—after all, buyers aren’t going to search for you online if
they don’t know you have a possible solution to their pains.

Here are four questions to help identify if telemarketing might
work well for your business:

1. Can you identify your targets?

- Do you know which companies have a need for your
product or service? Do you know which individuals or
group of individuals would be the buyer?

2. Can you get through to the target buyer?

- Will they answer their own phones? If they have
gate-keepers or never answer their phones, it will be
difficult to deliver your message to them.

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© 2012 Lisa Shepherd