Telemarketing is simply marketing accomplished over a telephone. Often times, organizations utilize telemarketers to perform this task on behalf of the organization and can greatly benefit one’s business.

These services generally fall into two categories: business-to-business and business-to-consumer. Within these two categories are a variety of sub-categories, or services, which telemarketing companies can provide to you, their client. Services can include lead generation, which is the gathering of pertinent information including the names, telephone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses of targeted individuals as well as what time of day is best to contact that person; sales, which is the persuasion of the person to use your product or service; outbound, which is proactive marketing involving contacting both preexisting and potential consumers of your product or service; and, inbound, which is reactive reception of incoming inquiries.

When choosing a telemarketing company to outsource, it is important that you balance the need to save money with the importance of having a high-quality provider. To help you with your decision, this section features a review of the top 10 telemarketing companies, discussed in no particular order. To connect with other telemarketing companies, visit Resource Nation’s telemarketing business center.

• Tele Center, Inc. – Tele Center is a one-stop shop for obtaining telemarketing services. As opposed to providing the services themselves, they offer access to a network of hundreds of qualified telemarketing companies so you can be matched with the best possible telemarketers available in your industry.
• Talk 2 Rep, Inc. – Talk 2 Rep provides both inbound and outbound telemarketing services with superior quality and professionalism. They work with businesses and government agencies. They focus on call quality and customer satisfaction while acquiring you new customers and collecting and managing data efficiently and effectively.
• West Corporation – West Corporation is a full service telemarketing company and is one of the nation’s leading service providers. They offer customized and cost-effective telemarketing services. They provide communicating services, conferencing services, and receivable management services.
• Intelemark – Intelemark provides superior sales lead generation and business-to-business appointment setting as well as other quality telemarketing services. They are renowned for their B2B appointment setting with a proven track record of success with companies of varying sizes, industries, and marketing objectives.
• Intelesure Teleservices – Intelesure has a proven track record of success with prestigious clients and businesses, such as State Farm Insurance and the California Association of Realtors. They initially started as a call center solution, but have quickly grown to offer a wide variety of telemarketing services, including superior call center services, web services, and direct mail and print services.
• TMone – TMone is one of the leading business process outsourcing (BPO) telemarketing companies. They are experts in their industry and offer services primarily to brand-focused companies in the communications, financial services, software, and utility sectors.
• Tele Resources, Inc. – Tele Resources provides outbound telemarketing services. Services in which Tele Resource specializes include lead generation, appointment setting, market research, and telesales in various industries. Their dedication and success to their clients has proven that agents working in an outbound telemarketing environment can be more effective than agents working in blended telemarketing environments.
• AnswerNet or Telemarketing.com – AnswerNet services include both inbound and outbound telemarketing, both automated and live services, and both business-to-business and business-to-consumer telemarketing services. They work a wide array of marketing campaigns to ensure you are satisfied. They participate in sales, lead generation and lead qualification, appointment scheduling, surveys, seminar registrations, and quality market research.
• Contact America – Contact America focuses on meeting and exceeding client expectations and is committed to delivering high-quality telemarketing services. They are one of the best telemarketing companies in the industry. They offer both inbound and outbound services.
• Business Beanstalk – Business Beanstalk offers both inbound and outbound telemarketing services and appointment setting services. This company is recognized worldwide as offering top-quality services and providing a full range of services suited to your organizations needs allowing you to successfully grow your company.

Business owners that sell retail products are counting down the days to Black Friday, also known as the busiest shopping day of the year. On the day after Thanksgiving, eager shoppers brave long lines to get the best deals at their favorite stores. This year, increase the number of customers purchasing your goods by using telemarketing services to notify current clients and potential shoppers about all of the great deals your business has to offer during the Christmas season. No matter what type of industry your business falls under, people are interested in hearing more about your holiday specials.

Telemarketing can be done within your office, from an outsourced call center, or from home. Typically, it’s best to have a live person make the calls, but some companies use a recorded message to reach potential customers. Recorded calls don’t allow for real-time feedback which can be important. Telemarketing agencies recommend making at least two calls to your customers during the Christmas season. In the first call, introduce your company to the potential customer and determine their needs in relation to the goods you are offering. In the second call, motivate the customer to make a purchase.

There are four subcategories that telemarketing companies use to reach out to customers.

· Lead generation is used to gather information about your potential customers.

· Sales uses persuasion to sell your goods or services

· Outbound call centers use a proactive marketing approach where your current and potential customers are contacted directly.

· Inbound calls occur when customers contact the business directly to learn more about your company. These calls are generated by advertising and the efforts of your sales representatives.

Before you start working with a telemarketer to get more sales leads during Christmas, you will want to write a script that the telemarketers must abide by. Include information about your company and products and what is in it for the recipient. If you are offering a special promotion over the holidays, mention that and mention that others are interested. This call to action will also encourage customers to start their holiday shopping with your company. Make sure telemarketers have a firm understanding of the concept of your business and have various routes to take if they experience a rebuttal from the client about the call or service.

In order to get a healthy list of potential customers, you can acquire information from their past purchase history, credit limit, competition entry forms, previous requests for information and application forms. If your budget allows for it, you can also purchase names of like-minded individuals from a broker’s database.

Be aware of the nation’s telemarketing regulations and follow the guidelines. During the holidays, people can be more sensitive. The few consumer privacy laws intact that must be abided by are the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 and various Do Not Call lists. Consumers can opt to include their home or business phone number on these lists and telemarketers are restricted from calling them about services. Also, many states have their own lists in addition to the national Do Not Call List so research the rules about recording calls, Sunday and holiday calls in your state.

Last, make sure the telemarketing company is professional and is effective with their services. Shop around at different vendors and don’t be afraid to ask about mock trials to gauge their communication services.

If you are a small business looking to get out information about your products and services this holiday season, visit our online telemarketing business service center.