| Preparing for a telemarketing campaign | | | | meeting with, as they are unlikely to either make |
| The preparation for any marketing campaign is | | | | the ultimate decision or influence the sales process |
| one of the most critical issues that will determine | | | | How to cleanse data? |
| its ultimate success. | | | | Once the data has been gathered - whether |
| Accurate data means you can deliver your | | | | obtained from a third-party, list broker or from |
| message to the right people in the right | | | | your own data - examine all of it, line by line. |
| companies. However, data whether bought from | | | | Discard all the companies that fail to meet the |
| a list broker or in your CRM database is not | | | | specification you visualised. Next contact every |
| necessarily "fit for the purpose" of marketing. Our | | | | company by phone up to 3 times to ensure the |
| research has shown that marketing databases | | | | data is accurate and each individual has been |
| have a typical error rate of 60%, primarily due to: | | | | correctly identified. All the time watching out for: |
| - Prospect companies that do not meet your | | | | " Duplicate entries of the same company not |
| prospect qualification criteria | | | | picked up by software and make them into one |
| - Incorrect contact details (Phone number or | | | | record. Watch out for common data entry issues |
| address) | | | | that create duplicates. You will often find |
| - Key decision making contacts having left the | | | | - Limited / ltd / LTD/ Ltd |
| company | | | | - Acronyms with or without spaces ABC ltd or A |
| - Key decision making contacts not being present | | | | B C ltd |
| - Key decision making contact details missing | | | | - Acronyms and full names BBC and British |
| (Email address, job titles) | | | | Broadcasting Corporation |
| Here are some of the ways to prepare your data | | | | - Companies that have changed name but |
| for a telemarketing campaign or any other | | | | entered under both the old and the new |
| marketing campaign. | | | | - Mergers and Acquisitions |
| Firstly, visualise who you want to win business | | | | - Incorrect phone numbers and addresses |
| from and then build a data set that will accurately | | | | - Spelling errors of companies, people and titles |
| represent the prospect companies that you wish | | | | - Companies that are no longer trading or |
| to market your business to. Once achieved, | | | | insolvent |
| visualise who in these companies you want the | | | | - Old contacts that no longer work for the |
| sales team to be meeting to increase chances of | | | | companies |
| a sale. When you are visualising this think about: | | | | While you should ask for the names of as many |
| - Define a specification of the vertical(s) / type(s) | | | | new contacts as possible and their contact details |
| of business you wish to target | | | | (direct line, email address, postal address.) |
| - Define who you do not wish to do business with | | | | Finally, it's time to get started on the campaign |
| - Create a list of all the companies similar to or | | | | Having cleansed the data you are ready to start |
| competitors of your current and past clients | | | | the telemarketing campaign. However never |
| - Understand what characteristics you need a | | | | forget that all the work that you complete in the |
| prospect company to have so that it is more | | | | preparation is only a starting point and accounts |
| likely than not to be a profitable client | | | | for approximately 80% of the total information |
| - Understand the job title and, or responsibility, of | | | | you can gather. The remaining 20% can be found |
| people within a company that would make the | | | | out every time you call a company. Confirming |
| buying decision for your product | | | | contacts are still with the company, finding missing |
| - Which individuals have you proved to be the | | | | contacts names, adding direct dials and email |
| most effective to arrange a sales meeting in the | | | | addresses are all essential maintenance of a data |
| past | | | | set that enables you to be as effective as |
| - Understand the job title and, or responsibility of | | | | possible when you call. |
| people that you do not want to arrange a sales | | | | |