What is a Telemarketing Company?

Telemarketing. Teleservices. Telesales. Inside Sales. These are just a handful of words that are used interchangeably when trying to decipher what a telemarketing company is and what a telemarketing company does. To distill it down a bit, a telemarketing company is contracted by and works on behalf of its’ clients. This could be to sell services, products, or handle incoming customer service calls. With the evolution of technology, the role of a telemarketing company has expanded to encompass all components of social media, email and text messaging, both sending and receiving. Often times this is referred to as omnichannel.

what is a telemarketing company

A little about Telemarketing Companies...

How does a telemarketing company charge for the services they offer?

There are many variables involved in the composition of the cost that a telemarketing company may charge including the type of work that will be done, the skill level required of the agents, location of the center, the length of the contract, complexity of the program and volume of calls. Pricing can vary between B2B/B2C outbound telemarketing and inbound telemarketing services. It is also common for a telemarketing call center to charge fees for program set up and training.

A telemarketing company will typically price according to these categories:

  • Hourly
  • Pay for performance
  • Hourly plus pay for performance

How does a client determine which telemarketing company to hire?

Each and every telemarketing company is different however they can share a lot of similarities which can make the evaluation and selection process challenging. Here are the core attributes to evaluate when selecting a telemarketing call center:

  1. Skill set: Evaluate to make sure the call center partner aligns with the skill set needed to accomplish your goals.
  2. Technology: It’s critical to ensure the right technology solution is used and can be customized as needed.
  3. The Front Line: Speak with the front-line agents that may be staffed on your program. You will get a sense of their level of professionalism and passion for who they work for and what they do.
  4. Responsiveness: It’s important to have a partner that is a true partner. Rather than waiting for days for a response or receiving a “yes” to every request or comment, a true partner will respond and evaluate potential risks as well as successes.
  5. Comparison: You don’t want to be a little fish in a big pond or the other way around. Compare your project to the size of other projects and clients at the telemarketing call center to make sure it aligns and makes sense.



Telemarketing call center location: onshore vs. offshore

When evaluating a telemarketing company, location is something that should not be taken lightly. When referring to location, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of onshore in the U.S. vs offshore is important and will help guide your decision.

Onshore

Advantages

Shared language & culture: using an onshore telemarketing company eliminates challenges when it comes to potential culture and communication issues.

Increased efficiency: an onshore telemarketing company can maximize operational efficiency as this is what they do day in and day out. They have established processes and procedures that help contribute to their high productivity.

Control and visibility: working with an onshore partner facilitates easier avenues to engage and communicate regularly. There is more visibility into the operation and its’ success as in person site visits are easier to do.

Regulated: a telemarketing company in the U.S. is heavily regulated and has tight processes and procedures governing and securing the data of their clients.

Disadvantages

Cost: it just costs more in the U.S. to hire and retain employees.

Offshore

Advantages

Cost: this tends to be the main draw to an offshore model. Due to the differences in economies, the cost of using a telemarketing company offshore can be substantially less than in the U.S.

Bilingual: it’s not uncommon to have representatives offshore speak a few different languages.

Disadvantages

Communication barriers: customers have the perception at times that they are not understood and become frustrated due to challenges in communication as it relates to potential language barriers.

Increased call handle times: due to the communication challenges, it’s common to see call handle times increase as the calls are longer.

Security: data and security protocols are not as regulated as they would be in the U.S.

Heavily scripted: an offshore telemarketing company may rely on scripts and adhere to this 100% without variation, regardless of it solving an issue or addressing a question that may be asked.

Telemarketing regulation considerations

A telemarketing company must to ensure each of their clients’ programs are compliant with ever-changing telemarketing rules and regulations. Whether the telemarketing operation is onshore, offshore, internal or outsourced, the responsibility for ensuring compliance with the telemarketing laws, regulations and statutes is a tough job. Telemarketing compliance very tedious is that the laws are different State by State and on the National level. The penalties associated with non-compliance are very consequential.

As a known premier telemarketing company in the industry the compliance experts at Quality Contact Solutions will ensure you achieve your compliance goals. An important part of telemarketing services is being complaint with all related telemarketing laws and regulations.

Choose Quality Contact Solutions as your telemarketing company

With 12+ years of telemarketing experience, we know what factors contribute to success for our clients. We also know that our success is tied to you. We customize a solution to address your organizational goals while working alongside of your team to clearly identify what success is defined as in your company. Our highly experienced team are experts in communicating both simple and complex products and services with high level decision makers. We love what we do and we’re good at it. We are the telemarketing company for you.

Not sure if you’re getting the best results from your telemarketing vendor?  Give our sales team a call today: 866-963-2889 to learn how your organization can benefit from a team of dedicated telemarketing professionals.