An appointment setter is essentially a telemarketer whose aim is to arrange appointments for you or your team to follow up on. They start with a database of contacts, ideally developed from your own lead generation strategies, and phone to arrange an appointment.
They serve as the middle of three stages in your sales process:
Lead generation is an important part of marketing your business, but setting business appointment is an equally important part of actually selling your product or service – especially where you have a more complicated product or service which requires a personal selling approach.
Using a telemarketer to schedule appointments leaves the sales people free to focus on closing sales. Skilled telemarketers are well trained to weed out unqualified prospects or those who are not in a position to buy. Provided they are given the right instructions, they can be used as filters – putting individual prospects into the right groups based on their readiness to buy.
Some prospects will require a sales visit. For others this would be a waste of everyone’s time. A skilled telemarketer can, instead, arrange for further information to be sent to this prospect or move them into a file for future contact.
If your existing database of prospective clients is a little thin, you may consider using a rented or purchased list of contacts. These lists can be tailor made to your industry and target customer. Make sure to buy from a reliable service that has taken the necessary legal precautions in putting together and managing its lists – a good telemarketing company can advise you.
In short, if you want to improve the productivity of your sales efforts, try using an appointment setting service for your next campaign.
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Can Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) really help your business? How does it work?
PPC advertising is a simple method of using search engines like Google to deliver qualified prospects to your website. It is cost effective, simple to use and can be started with a very small budget. This article is designed as a simple introduction to PPC advertising but if you would like more help in setting up your own PPC campaign, please check out our services page.
Pay per click advertising is an online advertising model where you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement and visits your site. It doesn’t matter how many times people see your ad or how often it is displayed – if nobody clicks on it, you pay nothing.
The most common PPC advertising example is Google Adwords. When you type something into Google it searches the web and then displays the pages it thinks are most relevant based on the terms you typed in (your keywords). For example, if you type in ‘tropical fish’ it will give you a list of pages that use the term ‘tropical fish’ in order of relevance and importance.
There are lots of thing that you can do to get your website to the top of the list for keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business – you can find a good introduction to these in our free report on Search Engines in Plain English.
However, search engine optimization takes time and you might be up against some pretty big players.
Google’s PPC advertising lets you buy your way onto the first page of the results in the form of the small text advertisements that you see along the right hand side of the screen, and under the heading ‘sponsored results’.
Opening Your Account
To start a pay per click advertising campaign you will need to set up an account. With Google, you can do that at the Adwords Sign Up Page. Once your account is opened you can create a simple text based advertisement – usually a headline plus two additional short lines, using select keywords, of course.
This is the ad that will be displayed next to your chosen search terms. You will also be able to select which countries your ad will be displayed in. In fact, if you sell to a local market only you can even select a county or city.
Choosing Your Keywords
The next step is choosing the search terms that you want your ad to appear next to. Using our tropical fish example, you might want to show up when someone searches for ‘tropical fish’ or ‘Japanese fighting fish’ or any number of terms.
Before you start typing them in, do your homework and find out the terms that people are searching for – Google has tools to help you do this.
Setting a Budget
The next step is to set a budget – both for the total amount that you are prepared to spend and the amount you are prepared to spend per click. For example, there may be 10 businesses that would all like their ads displayed next to the term ‘tropical fish’. So whose ad does Google put first in the list? Google ranks the ads by combining two factors:
You can decide how much you are prepared to ‘bid’ for your terms starting from a few cents. Based on your business, select an amount that you are willing to pay – it can always to be changed later. At this stage Google will show you your estimated position and the average number of people you will attract each day. If you’ve ‘bid’ $0.10 per click for the term ‘tropical fish’ and attract 10 clicks per day, that’s means you will have spent $1 per day on your ads. If nobody clicks you will have spent nothing. Based on these estimates you can set the maximum amount that you want to spend in any day or month. Once you have reached your budget your ads will simply stop getting displayed.
You will be charged by credit card or direct debit each month for the number of clicks you had.
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The lead generation blog is set-up primarily to provide up-to-date information on lead generation techniques, for the business owner.
And, to inform you when a new web page, article or e-zine is created (for those who are not comfortable giving out their email addresses or their ISP filtering causes them to miss an issue.)
To subscribe to my Lead Generation blog (no e-mail is required), right-click on the orange RSS button (see bottom buttons to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on the My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there.
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Once you start, you will be amazed at what RSS can do.
Enjoy and have fun!
The Top 7 Sales Blunders
Recently I read a great article about the top 7 sales blunders on about.com this article was written by “Kelley Robertson”
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Relationship Marketing
The benefits of relationship marketing – steps you can take today to help you increase your business revenue.
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Obama’s Lead Generation Strategy
There are some core principles in marketing that cannot be ignored. One of them is…
Understanding who your target market is, where they go to and how you to get their attention.
How did Obama use this on his campaign?
The details are here on “Marketing Secrets of Campaign’ 08”.
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Online lead generation voted most preferred method by small business owners.
In a new research carried out by a leading UK business online networking site, (We Can Do) small business owners choose online lead generation as their preferred method for generating inquiries and sales.
In the past, cold calling, direct mail and some other form of offline advertising will be on top of a list like this.
The research shows three fifths of small business owners generating more leads that they convert to customers as a result of online networking site and more than half planning to increase the amount of time they spend in 2009.
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Would you like more targeted traffic to your website? Contextual advertising could be the answer you’re looking for, especially if your business targets a specific niche.
It is an online advertising model where relevant ads are displayed on websites or other online media, based on the content that is on that web page. The advertising network searches the page for keywords and then delivers an advertisement that matches those keywords. For example, if you were reading a website about sports – and they use contextual advertisement – then you would only see ads related to sports.
For the advertiser it means that their ads are being displayed on pages related to their products or services. Chances are, if someone is reading that page, they may be interested in that topic – in this case, sports. That increases the chances that they will also be interested in your product or service.
No, pay per click is a model of how you pay for advertising, not how it is displayed. However, in many cases PPC is used alongside contextual ads – for example, Google Adwords and Adsense. When you type something into Google it searches the web and then displays the pages it thinks are most relevant based on the terms you typed in (your keywords). For example, if you type in ‘tropical fish’ it will give you a list of pages that use the term ‘tropical fish’ in order of relevance and importance.
On the right hand side of the results page Google also displays what it calls ‘sponsored results’ – this is Google Adwords and is a perfect example of a contextual ad. The ads that are displayed there are relevant to the keywords that you typed into Google. In this case you would expect to see advertisements related to ‘tropical fish’ – fish tanks, pet shops and the like. Each advertiser chooses the keywords that are appropriate to their advertisements and will only show up when those terms are searched for – i.e. contextual. They only pay however, when someone clicks on that ad – that is PPC.
Google Adwords combines the two – contextual advert and PPC – to great effect and has become one of the world’s largest advertising networks. Adsense is based on the same concept. Adsense allows website publishers to put small bits of code onto their website that deliver Adwords-style ads based on the text that is on the website page. So a page about boxing would have small boxing-related text ads appear on the page. When someone clicks on these ads, the revenue generated is split between Google and the website owner.
Google is certainly not the only advertising network that uses contextual ads and contextual advert does not have to use PPC.
The purpose of contextual advert is simply to make any advertising more relevant to what is on the website. That should mean that advertisers get a better response (and more targeted leads) and customers are not annoyed by irrelevant ads.
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To effectively write a white paper, you should start with a problem in mind. You should provide a solution to that problem and (ideally) demonstrate the benefits that your product or service can deliver.
They are not sales pitches. You need to be objective and professional. You wouldn’t write a whitepaper that says that your company is “super awesome.” Stick to the facts, and you will leave a more professional impression.
Before you even start, understanding your customer base will help you to determine whether white papers are a good choice for your business. Because they are usually quite formal, they might not be the best choice to target teens. But if you are running a business that caters to business professionals, it might be more in tune with what you can offer your customers.
If you have a detailed solution to your prospects’ problems, then white papers may be appropriate. But if you can answer that problem in an FAQ section or in a short article, then they are probably too formal for your needs.
White papers can be a great way to build leads and show off your expertise. They can also help customers and prospects make better use of your products and services. If you have detailed information that you want to put across then they can be a great addition to your marketing efforts.
Choosing the right tools to market your business is part of any good marketing plan.
If white papers are right for you, then make sure you understand the results you want to see and do your follow up to make sure it happens.
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If you’re like most businesses you’re probably looking for effective ways to:
Of course getting it right is what counts.
For example, you may need advice and assistance in:
You may want to outsource all your lead generation needs or simply need to get some occasional advice and support when you need it most.
Either way, we can help …
Custom lead generation programs – a full-service solution, from marketing planning and research to site promotion and reporting, we have everything you need to drive sales to your business.
Private Consultancy – One-on-one advice on any aspect of your online marketing strategy or lead generation needs.
Developing a website marketing strategy is a must for any business that wants to succeed online…and it doesn’t matter what kind of business you run. Here are a few things you should consider when you’re deciding when and how to promote your website.
1. Research
To develop a marketing strategy that is effective, you need to know a few things about your business and your customers. Research other businesses – both your direct competitors and successful businesses outside your industry – to see what’s working for them. Find the answers to these questions:
Research your customers to learn how they use the Internet. Do they get information from doing a Google search, or do they ask their Twitter followers for help? Do they look for video tutorials on YouTube? Are they participating in forums or blogs? Know where your customers are, and make sure they can find you there.
2. Methods
When you’ve finished your research you’ll need to choose the methods you want to use, and make a plan for success within those methods. Online you should consider search engines, directories, social media, and placing ads in the “content network”, meaning on other websites that are relevant to your product or service. If your research shows that your customers do their research in the search engines, for example, you’ll have to create a step-by-step plan to succeed in the search engines that will probably start with an attractive, user-friendly and search engine-friendly site design. Then you’ll have to learn how to drive traffic to your website (see my FREE eBook to learn all about this!), and you’ll need to constantly test for maximizing conversions.
Don’t forget to promote your website offline too! Print the url on all business literature, and include it in any offline advertising.
3. Media
Once you know the kinds of marketing and advertising you’ll use, you need to choose the particular media – i.e. which website or what directory? Obviously it should be relevant to your business but more importantly, it needs to be relevant to your customers. For example, if your research shows that your customers are very active on YouTube, your plan of action should start with a video marketing strategy.
Keep your goals realistic and measurable. Don’t try to conquer the whole online marketing game at once, or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. Instead, tackle the most critical media first, then move on to others one at a time. But don’t just jump on the next media that sounds good; make sure you are moving strategically, based on what you learned in your initial research.
4. Test, Test, Test
Effective marketing always requires some trial and error. Put Google Analytics on your website (it’s free!) to get data on user behavior on your site. Track the results you see, make changes and keep tracking. Over time you’ll find a mix that works for you. Make small bets when testing new ideas so that you can afford for some of them to fail.
Every business wants the perfect strategy and every marketer wants to promise results every time. Unfortunately marketing – especially online – just doesn’t work like that. However, if you plan well and ask yourself good questions before you start, you can raise the chances of succeeding.
Be willing to test ideas, track results and make changes and over time you’ll see the results you need. It just takes a little time.
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The term ‘webinar’ is short for ‘web based seminar’, and describes a seminar, meeting, lecture or workshop that is transmitted over the web. And just like their live counterparts (the traditional business seminar), they can be used to attract businesses or individuals who are interested in a particular topic.
They are a specific type of web conference. One-way web seminars with limited interaction between the presenter and the audience are sometimes referred to as webcasts.
Others are more interactive and will usually allow Q&A sessions to happen between the presenter and the audience.
In technical terms, a webinar will usually include the presenter using either over a standard phone line or VOIP (Internet telephone) to explain items that are displayed on screen.
They are also often recorded for later viewing or distribution.
Web based seminars are a great way of educating an audience. By educating your market you can do quite a few things:
In short, online workshops can do all the things that traditional business seminars can do – but for a much larger audience and over a much bigger geographic territory. And for less out-of-pocket expense to you.
In purely practical terms, a online seminars will also provide you with an opportunity to gather prospective customer details from each ‘attendee’. This information can be used for later follow up – by email, through newsletter or even over the phone. Each of these prospects will now know a lot more about you and your business and so they can lead very quickly to new business.
As a final thought, because web seminars are usually recorded, you are also left with a very useful marketing tool that you can use on your website or on websites like YouTube to help attract more visitors – and prospects – to your website.
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Can Telemarketing Services Really Increase Sales?
Telemarketing services can help improve sales and increase leads generation,but you probably don’t want to turn your business into a call center.
Inbound Marketing Calls
In most cases the telemarketing that you’ll be considering will be outbound (i.e. you contacting the customer) as opposed to inbound (them contacting you). However, if you are not prepared to handle inbound calls, you may be wasting your hard-won marketing dollars. So you should train and prepare your staff to handle inbound calls effectively and keep them up-to-date with the marketing efforts that may lead to calls.
You may choose to incorporate phone contact into your current advertising, which may include:
Using a dedicated, toll-free number can be a great way to encourage prospects to get in touch, but your staff needs to be ready and prepared to handle those calls, answer questions and effectively funnel these initial leads into your sales strategy. For example, your advertising could promote a free report that customers can claim via a phone number.
Each call therefore represents a qualified, interested prospect, motivated to lift the phone.
Outbound Telemarketing
Outbound telemarketing (you contacting the customer) can be an effective tool in either:
A follow up call after a direct mail campaign can increase the open rate and also increase the number of sales. Outbound telemarketing also gives you the opportunity to up-sell your existing customers or target them with special offers.
Outsource or In-house Telemarketing
Few business owners look forward to getting on the phone and cold calling prospects (or even calling warm leads). It’s not surprising then that an industry has grown up to handle telemarketing services for small businesses. But hiring a telemarketing company is not an inexpensive exercise.
With that in mind, a good rule of thumb is for small businesses to avoid outsourcing telemarketing services- except where the value of a new client hits at least four figures.
For most businesses however, telemarketing will be done internally.
If it’s your own list, then the purpose of your call should be two-fold. Ideally you’ll have a product or service that you would like to sell.
If you have bought or rented your list then you can add an alternative goal: get them to agree to join your mailing / contact database. This will allow you to market to them again in the future.
Of course, you never started your business to become a telemarketer so ask yourself whether or not this is the best way to spend your time. If it isn’t, and you can afford to bring in some help, do so.
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Not getting enough qualified leads through the door?
It might not be the marketing tactics that are the problem, but who you are aiming them at. Effective marketing starts with choosing the right target. Target your efforts at the wrong people/businesses, and you could be wasting time, energy and money. Find the right people/businesses to target, and you could improve your results without spending anything extra.
Most businesses have a rough idea of whom they are targeting but in most cases they also want to cast their net as widely as possible. If they have a bigger market to aim at then it stands to reason that they can attract more customers. The problem is that this is rarely the case – people respond better to marketing that speaks to them individually and casting a wide net is expensive.
Even if you identify a single market, there’s a good chance that there will be different groups within that market. For example, you might target small businesses, but small businesses can be anything from a freelance service provider to a busy restaurant to a retail shop. They are all very different and what suits one might not suit the others.
Your most likely customers are the groups within the groups. The ones that will benefit the most from what you have to offer. Ideally you will want to find groups that are small enough for you to target effectively but still big enough to be worthwhile. Each group should be clearly defined and be as similar to each other as possible.
You should be able to say clearly how your product or service will benefit them and, in the best-case scenario, you will stand a decent chance of becoming a major player in that market.
Now that you know whom you want to target, you need to find out as much about them as possible. Some businesses find it useful to create ‘customer personas’, which are detailed descriptions of typical customer types – usually referred to by name. For example, you could create a persona for a restaurant owner (‘Restaurant Rick’) and café owner (‘Café Claudia’) and a fast food outlet owner (‘Fast Food Freddie’).
Creating these detailed personas will help you visualize the customer in more detail and make decisions about what will and will not interest them and what kind of marketing they will respond to.
Now that you have your customers worked out, you need to create marketing materials for them. The problem is that the sales letter that you want to use for Fast Food Freddie won’t work for Café Claudia. People respond to things that are designed for them and ignore everything else.
If you describe the problems that Restaurant Rick faces everyday – and how you will solve them – then Rick will respond. But Claudia and Freddie don’t have the same problems, so they won’t. Every marketing message and individual piece of marketing material needs to be customized for the prospect persona you will be targeting.
Using effective target marketing strategies means paying attention to the details and knowing whom your prospective customers are. It may seem like hard work to create or customize individual marketing campaigns for every customer type but the results will speak for themselves.
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