Telemarketing appointment setting is a great way to work through cold calls.
By Ryan Apodac, Operations Manager/Trainer
Telemarketing can be a game-changer for any sales team. Appointment setting allows your sales experts to focus their time more efficiently with customers and clients who have already expressed some level of interest. Of course, they likely already have a book of business to work through, but what comes next? Where will they get the new leads? Telemarketing appointment setting is a great way to work through cold calls, and setup your experts with viable contacts to work. Once your internal contact list has been worked through, it’s important to find the next best lead source. Let’s take a look at the top 3 best practices in structuring a test with a new list source.
1. Find Your Best SIC and NAICS Codes for Telemarketing Appointment Setting Success
Ultimately, one of the first deciding factors in selecting a new lead source for Telemarketing appointment setting is the quantity of leads from the new source. While bigger lead counts don’t equal better leads, it’s important to know what sources can provide the most leads. A best practice here is to establish the SIC (Standard Industry Classification) codes or NAICS codes that are applicable to your type of business and utilizing the same SIC and NAICS codes across all lead sources when sourcing leads to compare apples to apples. This is the best way to fairly evaluate lead quantities from different sources.
2. Test New Lists With Mid-Level Telemarketing Appointment Setting Agents
Your gut instinct may be to put your top producers in the fresh leads to test the new leads, but that isn’t always the best plan. Your top producers will typically be able to make the most out of even the weakest leads and skew the overall results. Conversely, it can also negatively impact your evaluation by utilizing your lower producers to test a new lead source and leave your top producers in the proven leads to do what they do best. To truly test a new lead source, you should focus on your mid-line performers to give you the most accurate results.
3. Test Only One New Variable at a Time
Keeping as many variables consistent to your existing lead source is of utmost importance to fairly evaluate the new source. Don’t try new scripting or rebuttals etc., as then it’s nearly impossible to see if the new list source is viable. Was it truly the leads that were good/bad, or was it the change in scripting/rebuttals that gave those results? While consistency is important, the one variable to adjust is the times at which you test. Some time zones have a sweet spot for contact, so adjusting your time dialing in each time zone will give you the best over-all evaluation of the viability of the lead source. Time of year can also play a part in results here too and should always be considered when testing a new lead source.
While there are never any guarantees to the viability of leads in a new list, keeping these things in mind will give you the data you need to evaluate. Telemarketing for appointment setting can certainly accentuate your existing book of business. Successful telemarketing for appointment setting starts with testing the leads.
Ryan Apodac is an Operations Manager/Trainer for Telepromm, a leading outsourced telemarketing organization. With a background of more than a decade in sales, Ryan is passionate about developing and delivering training that ultimately results in improved performance for client programs. Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or 516-656-5127.
