True or False? Three Myths About Telemarketing Companies

Since the dawn of time and well into distant future, businesses have always needed and will continue to need qualified leads to sell and survive. Losing a portion of one's clients over a given period is inevitable. A well-managed company aims to reduce this rate, known as the attrition rate. However, relying solely on retaining existing clients is naive, if not ignorant, as it is very rare for clients to remain loyal to the same company forever. Recruiting new prospects must be an ongoing effort to counteract this loss, and prospecting companies are an undeniable aid across various sectors. Yet, they carry the reputation of being intrusive, offering precarious jobs, and their approach is considered outdated! In this article, we will analyze the three main clichés associated with telemarketing companies to gain a more objective view of their true value.

Cliche n°1: Telemarketing companies are intrusive

Behind this stereotype lies a reality: companies that are lax about the sales practices of their employees are numerous (especially in B2C prospecting). And it's simply intolerable! Their telemarketing trample on the most fundamental values of the profession… They distort the profession through lies, increasingly outrageous exaggerations, or the omission of important facts… To clean up the profession and protect consumers from fraudulent practices, several laws and measures have emerged. These include prohibitions on soliciting on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, as well as restrictions for a telemarketing company to contact the same prospect more than four times a month by phone. If a prospect refuses this approach, the company cannot contact them again for a period of sixty days from the date of refusal. Violations of these rules are subject to a fine of €75,000 for an individual telemarketer and €375,000 for a company (legal entity). Is it enough? I don’t think so, but it’s a start. But what will put an end to abusive solicitation is the NPN (New Numbering Plan) from Arcep. It’s a real weapon to tackle abusive telemarketing practices. The NPN will prohibit telemarketing companies using automated systems from displaying geographic numbers. The good news is that ARCEP has provided an exemption to this rule for NPA (Authenticated Multi-Purpose Numbers). NPAs are numbers in the major sectors 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, and 09 (see graphic).These numbers are accessible only to telecom operators recognized by ARCEP who guarantee the authentication of the caller from their network. On the other hand, buyers are increasingly numerous and driven by the need to be informed and reassured by professionals, given the complexity of products and services and the confusion generated by the abundance of information on the Internet. Fortunately, there are reputable and effective prospecting companies (one does not preclude the other) that invariably meet this need. Their telemarketers act as a beacon, guiding prospects through change. Here is How to Choose a Call Center: The 10 Commandments You Can’t Afford to Ignore.

Cliche n°2: Telemarketing companies offer unstable jobs:

Perceived by some professionals, job seekers, and recent graduates... as an unstable, difficult, and stressful job. Like in most industries, there are telemarketing companies where work rationalization is intense, and employees are merely agents who suffer because the jobs are deskilled, even precarious. On the other hand, there are companies where employees are sales professionals, not just agents, working in stimulating conditions. They develop their knowledge and acquire new skills. The reality is this: Like the sales profession, that of a telemarketer is one of the most comprehensive jobs. Beyond interpersonal skills, they must possess a broader set of competencies, such as:

• mental agility and quick decision-making;
• enthusiasm;
• expertise;
• the ability to get straight to the point and not waste the prospects' time;
• gather information;
• the ability to synthesize this information;
• psychology and the ability to listen attentively;
• the ability to support and guide prospects;
• quick thinking;
• resilience;
• and above all else, passion. They must be passionate and committed.

Do you know of any other professions that require as many qualities to succeed? This explains the rarity of qualified candidates and the need to invest in ongoing training and coaching.

Cliche n°3: Telemarketing is an outdated sales approach

Outdated, obsolete, even ineffective! What is the origin of this perception? Social media, e-commerce, various growth hacking techniques (two words on every marketer’s lips because they are known to be quick and cost-effective!), and the advent of GDPR have had to make way for Growth Marketing. Not to mention the various artificial intelligences that are taking over the media and actively and discreetly working in various fields. In short, these marketing techniques primarily using the web have led some marketers to view telemarketing as has been. he reality is quite different: no platform, algorithm, or technology will replace telemarketing. Why? Two objective reasons:

Telemarketing is a channel that is highly responsive (the only one with this degree of responsiveness):

Because telemarketing is a highly responsive prospecting channel (the only one with this degree of responsiveness): Telemarketers speak directly to your prospects and deliver your message straight into their ears. This is crucial because the main reasons for rejection are collected and analyzed. The phone thus allows for very rapid adjustments to the current approach if it is not meeting its objectives.

Telemarketing is a measurable channel:

Telemarketing allows for easy calculation of the ROI of a campaign. Unlike other channels such as print, direct mail, or social media, telemarketing quickly gathers an unexpected amount of information through direct conversation, enabling the company to better understand its market, its personas, and to adapt and/or improve its products and services. However, new technologies and telemarketing make a powerful combination! At Leads Provider, this combination has allowed us to achieve explosive growth for our clients.

Conclusion :

In conclusion, astute business leaders know well that a company's growth is not a random occurrence but an organized process consisting of a long series of actions. Prospecting is part of this process and is at the forefront. It is the genesis of sales, with commercial skill being merely the culmination. In other words, and to put it in less poetic but no less insightful terms, telemarketing is not dead.