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Results on 17-18 April, 2006, in
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Is There a Governor on Your Telemarketing Program?
by
Craig Bailey
In this article, we
complete the discussion of "governors" – limiting factors – on
Telemarketing programs. In our
previous issue, we explored governors in the areas of Product/Market
and People/Structure. We finish here looking at the categories of Process
and Technology.
Process
Limiting factor: Measuring what you don't want
We've all heard the phrase: "You get what you measure." The bottom-line
metrics for a Telemarketing Program include:
· Number of
qualified leads generated
· Sales Accept
/ reject ratio
· Revenue
contribution
· Profiling and
nurturing effectiveness
Measuring things such as number of dials per day and talk time are NOT
conducive to generating the kinds of behaviors you'd want to experience.
Limiting factor: Leads passed into the dark abyss
One of the most frustrating and demoralizing scenarios for a Telemarketing
rep is to invest a great deal of time and energy in developing a
relationship with a prospect, handing the lead off to Sales and not
knowing what happened. Did I route the lead to the appropriate contact?
Did the opportunity close? Did I provide the information necessary to
facilitate closing the deal? How much revenue was generated? In a
nutshell, how did I contribute to the company's success? And, in what ways
could I improve on a go-forward basis?
To address this, you need to have in place a closed loop lead management
process which is bolstered by technology (a subject we will address later
in this article). Key aspects of a lead management process include:
-
Clear, objective definition of what a hot, warm or
cold lead is.
-
Routing rules – who (what organization) to send the
lead to and under what circumstances.
-
Feedback loop where the receiving party confirms
receipt, provides closure (lost opportunity, converted to pipeline
and/or customer, revenue generated, etc.) and indicates what worked and
opportunities for improvement.
Technology
Limiting factor: Technology that causes reps to perform unnatural
acts
Technology is covered last in this article for good reason. Until ALL of
the above items are addressed, you should not think about technology. That
is, technology is an enabler to facilitate streamlining of your business
practices. Too often we see technology thrown into the business before the
above items are worked out. This results in Telemarketing reps:
-
Writing down notes on paper (forms or a blank sheet)
during the call. Then, when the call is over updating "their" system.
-
Using multiple systems to manage their leads.
To
be clear, we are not suggesting that you need to spend millions of dollars
on a new CRM system. In fact, you've probably already invested in one that
isn't providing the bang for the buck you desire. What we are suggesting
is that you clearly nail down your business practices and THEN AND ONLY
THEN will you have the basis to define clear requirements for automation.
Limiting factor: Lack of central repository integrated with rest of
the organization
Building on the above, not only do you want reps to leverage technology
that facilitates the defined process, but you also want them connected
with the rest of the organization. Has this ever happened to one of your
Telemarketing reps…They call on a prospect in their database and after a
few minutes of dialog they learn that your company has already provided a
proposal that is on its third round of revision (pencil sharpening) and
the prospect is visiting your HQ office tomorrow? It takes an expert
Telemarketing rep to recover from that one without blowing the entire
deal. This scenario should NEVER happen, and can easily be prevented.
In Closing
Is your firm happy with the revenue it is achieving? Does your Sales team
consistently exceed quota? If you answered yes to either of these
questions, then you should ensure that a governor remains on your
Telemarketing program. For most companies this is simply not the case.
If you suspect there are governing factors on your Telemarketing Program,
give us a call. We'd be happy to discuss our Assessment methodology which
provides our customers a pragmatic road-map to create a finely tuned lead
generation machine. In fact, our assessments typically result in providing
this extremely valuable input within 10-15 days of "go." So, what are you
waiting for? |
Contents
+ Telemarketing Governor
+ Recommended Reading
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Read Full Article in CRM Today
The complete article
Is there a Governor on your Telemarketing Program? by Craig Bailey has
been published in CRM Today magazine. Go ahead and check it out!
Recommended Reading
Building on
the importance of a closed loop lead management process, discussed in this
issue's lead article Is there a Governor on your Telemarketing Program,
we recommend CRM Magazine article
When a Lead Isn't a Lead and What to Do About It by Dan McDade. The
article presents a lead management framework that stresses lead quality
rather than quantity, thereby allowing sales to focus its efforts on
high-value prospects.
About Customer Centricity, Inc.
We strengthen overall company performance through
better service delivery and management.
We boost efficiencies in front-line customer service and technical support
teams, order processing, fulfillment, field service, logistics and other
key operations functions.
In short, we align the resources of your organization to exceed your
customers' expectations in the most effective and efficient manner
possible.
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