Telemarketing Campaigns - Combined Results & Performance Metrics To Date For All Outbound Telephone Sales Efforts
In in this article I review the results of the telemarketing campaigns that I and the contractors that work for me have been working on for my clients. After almost two years of data there is some very interesting information. In this article I also share some of the things I have learned from doing the calling as well as things I have learned from going through the process of compiling and reviewing this information.
The Raw Data
Time Period = July 2010 to Mar 2012
Call Made =6,733
Prospects Contacted =4,111
Calls Per Contact = 1.64
Meetings/Quotes = 122
Sales Closes = 23
Closing Rate (% Of Meetings/Quotes That Were Closed) = 18.9%
Sales Closes As A % Of All Calls = 0.3%
Sales = $100,106.00
Average Sales Per Call = $14.87
Average Sales Per Close = $4,352.43
What I Have Learned
Asking Questions Is Key To Getting Meetings
From my calling I have seen a direct correlation with the number of questions I ask and the number of meetings I am able to book. What happens is as you ask questions the prospect feels listened too and starts to built rapport and trust with you. By asking questions you can also often get the prospect themselves to come to the realization it is in their benefit to meet with you. Once this happens getting a meeting is easy.
Avoid Providing Quotes
I have found that about 90% of the time that I provide a quote over the phone or via email after talking on the phone that the sale does not go through. Instead what I have found works the best is to provide a pricing range and push for a meeting to determine what the price is that can be provided. I think there must be something psychologically that makes people want to buy from you once you agree to a price in a meeting.
Having Caller ID Is Important
This is critical, because a business you may have left a message with may call you back and not leave a message. With call display you can see who is trying to get a hold of you. Having this information will allow you to pick up the phone or call them back and let the prospect know you called. If you don't have this feature you will need to pick up every call. This will will interrupt your day. The only other options would be to not answer the phone. The problem with this approach is that you may never find out that a prospect tried calling you back (not leaving a message when they got your voice mail). With this approach, all you are aware of is that someone tried calling you and did not leave a message. Having calling display is very helpful.
Measurement Is Key
Measuring how you are performing is key. If you don't measure you don't know if you are improving or getting worse or even what results you are getting. If you don't know what results you are getting you can't even determine if the calling is worth while. It also helps you know if you change something whether that results in better results or worse results. Before I started measuring some key metrics like calls per hour I did not make much progress. Once I started measuring things, that is when I started to see the sales results roll in.
Where To Buy Equipment
I have found that the best place to buy equipment for calling is by far Amazon. On Amazon I was able to save about 30-40% on the equipment I purchased versus going to a retail store or any other website. Some of the places I thought would have a good selection of microphones did not even have the Blue Microphone I wanted, while Amazon had multiple models I did not even know existed.
What I Did Wrong
Too Few Calls Per Prospect
The biggest thing I have realized that I did wrong was placing too few calls per prospect. Recently I learned that 80% of sales happen after the 5th contact......that means in most instances I really only had a chance at 20% of closing the sale since on average I only contact each prospect 1.64 times. As long as the prospect is a sales opportunity that is large enough to warrant the time required to make 5+ calls, I need to be making more calls than what I have been doing.
Equal Calling Focus For Each Client
To optimize my results I really need to be spending more time on the calling for the clients that get me a higher amount of revenue per call or revenue per hour. By equally distributing the calling time I am negatively impacting my results as some clients my company does calling for have revenue per call of over $33.00 and others only deliver $0.50 per call.
Not Reviewing Revenue Per Call By Client For Almost 2 Years
This is the first time reviewing this data since I started my business. It was a big eye opener to me. I had no idea some of the calling was being so effective and some of the other calling was being so ineffective. If I would have not reviewed this data I would not have known to modify my approach for some clients and increase the calling done for some of the other clients. This data was also invaluable in helping me understand which marketing messages were effective and which were not. I could then take this information and apply it to how I used the marketing message in other marketing mediums like email, direct mail and online advertising.
Focusing On Calls Per Hour Instead Of Meetings Per Hour
For the longest time I focused on trying to maximize the number of calls per hour. Only recently did I realize that really what I need to focus on is the number of meetings per hour because this metric has the strongest correlation to the revenue per call and revenue per hour. Very rarely do people purchase immediately over the phone but very often people will purchase if you are able to get a meeting with them. With each client once I am able to consistently book meetings with qualified prospects who could actually benefit from the company's product or service (that part is key), I almost always start to see the sales rolling in.
Phone Equipment
This is the microphone I use to do my calling when I am using a computer to call. It works very well and can pick up audio from different levels. One great feature about it is that it will self correct to the right level to ensure it picks up your voice. I have learned though that you can't talk too close to it or you will get a pounding noise from the air coming out of your mouth when you emphasize words. The other great thing is that it is super easy to set up. It is just plug and use, no software or drivers to install. Everything that is needed is already in windows. If you are looking for a good computer mic I would recommend this one based on how well it has worked for me.
This is the step up from the Blue Snowball Microphone. It is a high quality mic that is great for recording. If you are looking to use it for telephone calling with your computer I would say it is probably over kill. If you are looking to use the mic for calling and recording on your computer though, this probably is your best bet. It has stereo, cardioid, omnidirectional and bidirectional recording settings which is great for home recording setups. In the future I may test this versus the Blue Snowball Microphone to see how much the sound quality is better when calling through a computer. I am kind of interested to see if it would warrant me spending the extra money on this model.
Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 2 Cordless 2-line Handset
This is my dream phone if I was only going for looks, style and ergonomics. I actually just found this phone and thought it is super cool and wanted to write about it. It has to be the most stylish phone I have ever seen and the product reviews say it is extremely ergonomically friendly. There are many days I wish I had this phone as I often get a sore neck if I use my cordless phone too much. That being said maybe it is time I look into buying a blue tooth ear piece.
This is my dream phone if I worked in an office with more employees then just myself. After looking at the review, everyone I saw gave it 5 out of 5 stars. This bad boy lets you expand up to 10 cordless handsets each with its own extension, and for each extension it provides them with individual voicemail, message-waiting indication, caller ID and call waiting. I have recently experienced the benefit of having caller ID and having this capability is key for a small business phone system.
If you need phone equipment here is a listing of all the phone products Amazon carries, they have probably the best phone selection of any brick and mortar or online website and I had a very good experience with them so I would probably recommend them as the ones to buy from.
What I Am Going To Doing Going Forward
Calling Prospects More Than 1.64 Times
My target will be to get this metric up to an average of 4.0 to 5.0 which will mean some will be over 7 and newer prospects will be one. Given the average sale takes 5 contacts and 80% of sales are closed after the 5th contact I will call the same prospects more frequently before moving on to new ones.
Buy Equipment From Amazon
If I need to buy additional phone equipment for additional staff or new phone equipment to replace my existing phone equipment I will be buy it from Amazon as they have by far the best selection and best price.
More Focus On More Profitable Clients
Going forward I am going to put more focus on more profitable clients. This does not mean I will not do calling for some clients, it just means instead of the calling being evenly distributed, some clients will have the minimal amount of calling completed for them, while the top two or three performing clients will get all hours available above the minimum requirements.
Review Revenue Per Call By Client At Least Once A Year
My goal will be to review revenue per call by client once a year as I am sure the data will change each year. This will then allow me to optimize again the calling efforts to the clients that are performing the best at that time.
Focus On Meetings Per Hour
I am going to continue to focus on meetings per hour and not calls per hour. Increasing calls per hour may help meetings per hour so I may work on that but I will pay more attention to meetings per hour when reviewing my results and my contractors' results.
My name is Chris R. Keller. I work at Profitworks Small Business Services helping various B2B small businesses in Waterloo and Kitchener Ontario generate new customers. Feel free to connect with me on Google+ or if you are just interested in getting new customers for your B2B small businesses enter your email in the box provided below and click the "Send Me Free Updates" button.
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