A secret weapon for dialing up marketing success

In this episode of Gloves Off, Account Services Director, Krista Conard, explains the key role live communication plays in your marketing plan.

This may surprise you, but phones can be used to (gasp!) talk to other people. No, really, it’s true.

Yes, that’s a tad facetious, but you no doubt get the point. The phone’s original purpose has seemingly been eclipsed by its countless other uses: taking pictures, making videos, sending texts, watching movies, playing games, getting directions, checking weather, and on and on.

Still, the fact remains, the phone’s primary feature—that is, enabling live conversations with other humans—should not be overlooked. Especially when it comes to your marketing.

We’re talking about connections

In today’s digital world, one-way communication abounds. It’s easy to send an email or post to social media. It’s also easy for the recipient to simply ignore those messages. A live conversation, however, is an engaging and effective way to elevate your marketing communication efforts.

With a live conversation you get to hear the tone of the individual, read their mood, and adjust as needed.

For instance:

• If we catch someone at a bad time, we can ask to call back when it’s more convenient
• If they’re open to listening, we can make the conversation memorable by asking questions, showing empathy, and building rapport
• If they sense we’re trying to help them solve a problem rather than sell them something, we can establish a connection that can be a start to a long-lasting customer relationship

But how do you take telemarketing to the next level?

Scrap the scripts

When it comes to telemarketing, building rapport and trust is key. A warm body calling prospects and robotically reading a script won’t cut it.

You need professional, educated individuals who understand business and know the products and services they’re representing.

The right telemarketers communicate with a purpose. They strive to connect. They ask probing questions to gain an understanding of a prospect’s pain points to establish a meaningful conversation. Creating this personal engagement is the surest way to:

• Identify and verify that you’re speaking to the right people
• Learn about unknowns such as what’s working, what’s not, and figuring out where the gaps are
• Vet prospects and determine when to hand them off to sales

When should you add telemarketing to your arsenal?

That all depends on the campaign you’re running. For example, if you’re launching an ABM campaign—you want to create a tailored list upfront and reach out to start the engagement and start building that relationship with those contacts. The companies will be your top targets—and you can pull a combination of both purchased and installed contacts to reach out to.

If you launch an integrated engagement campaign, you’ll want to reach out post-launch to those that have expressed genuine interest and have a higher lead score—you can qualify them as well as determine if they are high-value targets that you want to continue nurturing.

You can also use telemarketing to build relationships over time—if you have high-level contacts that warrant ongoing conversations and nurturing.

All told, you can use telemarketing before, during, and after a campaign to enhance its overall outcome. And if you’re not sure, well, we can help you make that call.