Thought Leader Thursday – Melissa Rich

Posted by Wildfire Marketing Group

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge with us today Melissa. You’ve been running a successful telemarketing company, Rich Enterprises, for over ten years now, helping to generate leads for your clients while they focus on running their business. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started in this industry?

I have always been in sales and in a variety of industries. I worked as a telemarketing representative for two years and was able to learn the telemarketing side of business. I eventually decided to establish my own company so that I could run the business differently. I wanted to begin with a strong team approach where every marketer’s opinion is valued and the marketer can really take charge of the account and use their personality to enhance the campaign.

When we first started, we focused on business to government (B2G) campaigns and then transitioned to business to business (B2B) campaigns since the demand was much stronger for those services.

Most people have mixed emotions about telemarketing and are afraid to utilize it for marketing their business because of some of the questionable ethics that have become associated with it over the years. In your opinion, what are some of the differences between ethical and unethical telemarketing techniques?

It can definitely be a “rough and tumble” industry and most of the reputation and bad press comes primary from the business to consumer companies. We have all received those annoying calls at dinnertime with a telemarketer that is clearly reading verbatim from a script. But for the most part, the business to business (B2B) campaigns are not like that. Quite simply, you cannot have success if your team sounds like “telemarketers” and simply read the script.

Unethical telemarketing includes repeated contacts with someone that is truly not interested and using manipulative and coercive tactics for an immediate sale. Those unethical tactics simply would not work for our market. Our B2B audience is much savvier. The skills to reach decisions makers and present to business owners or managers are much more refined. The initial sales calls cannot sound like a 30 second infomercial, but rather has to be about assessing their initial interest level and potential needs in a conversational manner.

I firmly believe that business ethics cannot be legislated or learned. Ethics are ingrained in you. If you want long term business success, the ethics will either make or break your business and reputation.

Even though they have little, if any time available to dedicate to sales calls, most business owners are afraid to outsource it because they are concerned about how their company may be represented. What can you say that would ease their minds?

With the bad press that the industry receives, I can certainly understand their concerns. However, if outsourcing is done correctly, it will sound as though the calls are coming directly from their office (not from an outside telemarketing firm).

Business owners should only select an outsourcing company with a strong history and longevity, extremely qualified staff, and procedures that ensure the program is going as planned. Avoid using companies that have questionable reputations and companies that take shortcuts from the onset. Make certain that the outsourcing company has a solid plan for your program.

Any successful program begins with a true understanding of the client’s needs. There should be a written plan regarding the campaign including what types of companies should be contacted, the scripting or the approach, and how objections will be handled.

For the cash-strapped entrepreneur who can’t afford to outsource their sales calls, what advice to you have for finding viable prospects for sales calls?

The first step involves defining your target market. You should define your prospects in terms of company size, industry, and geographical markets. Of course, you can sell to a variety of markets so you should identify each market you would like to pursue.

Next, you should customize your approach to each target market. For example, you cannot approach attorneys and auto mechanics in the same way. Even though your product or service may be used by both markets, they may use your offering differently and have different motivations for their purchasing decisions. Be aware of the differences and similarities between each market and consider how best to reach that market.

Having a unique market niche (or niches) will greatly enhance your results. You can find new prospects through existing business contacts, local business associations (like the Chamber of Commerce), or you can purchase contact lists from lead list vendors.

I think the biggest challenge for people during a sales call is the introduction, and many find themselves bumbling along in an effort to get their prospect to like them. Do you have any tips for generating interest quickly and efficiently?

The key factor in initial sales calls is an understanding of your true goals. Of course, your long term goal is to build a relationship and secure the sale, but that usually does not happen in just one sales call or visit. Your immediate goal is to create an initial interest, so that you can continue building that relationship. It takes time to know your prospects and their needs.

Practice your 15 second approach. Know the three key points that you can say in less than 15 seconds that will entice your listener to want more information. Too often, we try to cram every intricate detail into that initial conversation, but details can wait until the prospect is ready. Just supply them with enough information to peak their interest.

Everyone has a different opinion on how many times to call a prospect before giving up on them. If you call too few times you may miss an opportunity just because they were busy or out of town. If you call too many times, you can waste your time and appear desperate. Without a doubt, each situation is going to be a bit different, but do you have any general guidelines?

With most prospects, we will make 3 to 5 attempts to reach them and during that time, we will also leave a few voice mail messages. It is critical that the attempts are spread out over a 2-3 week time frame. After 3-5 attempts, we then move that contact to an exhausted status and we will try again in another month or two.

You should also ask the receptionist for a good time to reach your prospect and follow their feedback. They may have staff meeting on Monday or maybe they don’t work on Fridays, so use this information to plan the best time to reach them.

How has the economy affected the telemarketing industry and your clients?

The last six months has been very interesting. We experienced a decrease in business during the fourth quarter of 08. However, we used that time to continue with new marketing efforts and now business is a strong as ever and still growing. I believe that the economic changes should force every business to re-evaluate their marketing strategies to make their business stronger – rather than just accepting the decline in business and waiting for the economy to improve. Now is the time to implement new initiatives.

Many of our clients are more aggressive with their telemarketing campaigns. In many cases, their competition has gone out of business, so our clients are often using telemarketing programs to secure those un-serviced accounts. We do have some clients that are holding until the economy improves, but for the most part the economy has resulted in additional business for us, so that we can help our clients secure new business – even in today’s economic climate.

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