The truth about telemarketing prices

Telemarketing is as old as the introduction of the first phones.  Started up in the USA around 1950 based around advertising in magazines and publications it has quickly spread to all areas of business.

The concept of telemarketing is 'to market a product/service over the phone'. 

The image many of us have of a telemarketing person, is a young person (student or senior school person) cold calling houses in the evening or selling double glazing.

Despite this being partly true, it is the tip of the iceberg.

People of all ages do telemarketing, both in making 'cold calls' but also in handling calls.

If you call up your bank for some help, or call up your utilities provider, chances are this would be handled by a telemarketing company.  Telemarketing is a big part of our lives these days, from helplines, banking, retail, mobile phones and really any larger company that has a freephone/0845 number.

The truth is that telemarketing does cost.  Telemarketing companies need to employ staff, need to train then, need to incentivise them, give them holiday, sick leave and promotions.  As such, the cost filters back to the customer.  As with any product or service (hotels, trains, cars) the main cost is the cost of the staff/business which does need to be appreciated.

Different telemarketing companies charge differently, and it is always advised to shop around and compare telemarketing prices in order to get the best deal.

Prices typically are based on a day rate which can fluctuate from around £150 to up to £600.  This would be based on a few factors:

• The seniority of the person doing the calling

Generally the more senior a person is, the more they will cost.  If you want an ex sales manager or highly experienced telemarketeer then this will cost more, as opposed to a young person or newish person doing your calling.  It depends on what you are looking for, if your campaign is quite simple - then a junior caller could do it.  If your campaign is high level or you are targeting senior level people - then having a more experienced telemarketeer is advisable.

• The size of the telemarketing agency

The larger the telemarketing company, the more they will charge (generally) as they have more of an infrastructure, more managers, more directors, more company cars, more holidays to pay for etc. Again, if you are looking for volume calling, then a larger telemarketing company is more suited, if you just want 1 person to do calling 1 day per week, then a smaller telemarketing agency is suited.

It is good to shop around and compare telemarketing prices - they do vary and to avoid getting stung, comparing is a good thing (we do it for car insurance, clothes, food, so why not telemarketing).

Why is telemarketing expensive?

Telemarketing has long been known to be an effective marketing tool.

If you engage a telemarketing company, you can have a very targeted marketing campaign focusing on clients in a specific geographical area, a specific industry sector, or any other variable you can think of.

The problem is, telemarketing is not cheap.

Why is this, why is it that telemarketing is expensive?

Simple, there are a few reasons if you care to read on just a little further:

• Telemarketing takes time

Even if you have a list of (say 3,000) prospects, it will take time to contact each one, find the right person to talk to, pin them down in-between meetings  or being out of the office and then do a phone demonstration (or chat to them) and get a yes or no.

Sometimes it can take 7-8 attempts to reach a prospect (which for most people that are not used to telemarketing means frustration and time) which may just result in a 'no'.  Even more frustration as that is a lot of time - wasted.

• Finding the right person to do the telemarketing

If you are a telemarketing company, and you have a member of staff, you will have needed to find them.  Finding someone that will sit at a computer, making call after call after call to get results (for a customer) is not easy.  Most people (normal people) would get board and throw the towel in.  Many people do telemarketing as a stop gap or single parents as a bit of part time work.

Finding the right person to do telemarketing is not easy- so after a telemarketing company has spent time interviewing, trialling, firing - they then get someone good. 

They need to pay them, incentivise them and keep them motivated all the time.

If you consider the staff salary, plus bonuses, plus the cost of the telemarketing company - this is why they charge what they charge.

As with any form of marketing - if you want results, you do need to spend the money first.  You need to consider tasking the company, getting them to contact the prospects, chase them and collect results.

Results for telemarketing?

Bearing in mind the sales pipeline:

• Prospecting
• Initial contact
• Follow up
• Discussion
• Close

Results will take a minimum of 3 months to show (based on 1-2 days telemarketing per week) as you need to allow the telemarketing company to work their way through the sales pipeline above.

Many people expect that telemarketing company will work on a commission only basis however working on the concept above (finding staff, having the staff crunch the data) telemarketing companies need to charge.

Telemarketing prices do vary from telemarketing agency to telemarketing agency so it is always advised to look around and compare prices.

There are lots and lots of telemarketing companies in the UK (well over 600 actually) so there are lots to choose from.

Do you want a telemarketing company that knows you r industry?
Do you want a small bespoke telemarketing company?
Do you want a large call center?
Do you want inbound or outbound telemarketing?
Do you want a senior level telemarketer?

These are all questions that you need to have in mind before getting quotes and finding the right telemarketing company - that is not too expensive.