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[S571]Small Business And Consumer Services

by Robert Schumacher, Rob

Most people do not automatically return (at least not soon) to any business that treats them indifferently or delivers inconsistent quality or service.

The big boxes can buy a customer back with their constant barrage of price-oriented pre-printed circulars. Small businesses, on the other hand, cannot afford to squander their precious ad dollars on price-oriented ads.

Your small business may never get a second chance to make a first impression. Trite but painfully true.

Consistency and service lead the list of what consumers today crave . . . and are willing to pay to get.

A friend says, Go eat at Club 25. We got a terrific steak there Tuesday night and enjoyed the experience. You go to Club 25 on Friday night. The steak is like shoe leather and the waiter is rude. Do you go back? Nope. No consistency.

Tuscany, Ltd. is an upscale Italian restaurant with a reputation for to-die-for food along with impeccable service. The owner always seems to be hovering about and making small talk with patrons. The last thing you ever remember about eating at Tuscany is the price you paid.

It does not matter if you have a party of six or just you and your spouse - if you eat there twice a week or once every other month - the food, the service, the ambience are consistently great.

Delivering consistency in any business never just happens. You have to work at it. When you spot something that is not consistent with the unique selling position of your company, change it or get rid of it.

Every small business owner must practice M.B.W.A. -management by walking around. Offer praise when it is deserved, advice when it is needed . . . make adjustments, tweak, diddle . . . do whatever you need to do to insure that you deliver consistency and service every time to every customer who crosses your threshold.

Never, ever think that you can run your business on automatic pilot. Treating a customer as a mere number equates to severe customer turnover which in turn equates to advertising that rarely produces results unless you cut your prices beyond resistible.

That formula has headed-for-disaster written all over it.

Your Unique Selling Position has to be
-Clearly identified
-Understood by employees and customers
-Implemented by everyone in your organization
-Stated often and delivered upon every time

In his best selling book, The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber says: While the business must look orderly, it is not sufficient; the business must also act orderly. It must do things in a predictable, uniform way.

I would add to this statement: consistent with their stated unique selling position. As important as consistency is, you must be certain that the consistency in your business is coordinated with what you say you want it to be and what your customers perceive it to be.

Telemarketing calls are very often viewed with annoyance and treated as spam calls to say the least. With estimated US revenue of $15 Billion per year, the industry plays a key role in garnering customers for various companies by generating new buyers or persuading existing customers to make subsequent purchases. Hence, telemarketing calls provide immense opportunity for businesses to effectively market their product and push up sales and revenues.

Defining telemarketing

Telemarketing is a form of direct marketing wherein salespersons use phone calls to establish relationship with prospective customers, informing them about new products and services and persuading them to make purchases. With the help of customer service agents and automated phone call systems in place, telemarketing companies indulge in making an optimum number of calls to customers aiming at closing a sales deal or fixing an appointment to take the discussion forward. While hiring telemarketing services it is important for businesses to be clear about the kind of image they want to propagate among the customers.

Customer acquisition and lead generation

Call center representatives are primarily responsible for generating leads and acquiring customers for businesses while relieving your company sales agents from these activities to concentrate on tasks that are more important. Because of advancement in technologies telemarketing calls can now be made either from offices or even from homes by agents who are efficiently trained by call centers. Outsourcing these processes proves to be very cost-efficient for companies, as they do not have to worry about recruiting and maintaining an entire army of agents to take care of their telemarketing needs. Telemarketing companies manage the entire operation under their own aegis with their own batch of trained professionals. The services that they offer include surveys and research, data collection, appointment setting, hiring and recruitment, cross-selling or follow-up mails and so on.

Acquiring the right telemarketing services

Setting up an in-house telemarketing facility can turn out to be an overwhelmingly costly affair for a business but hiring the wrong telemarketing company or services can end in an equally miserable failure. Telemarketing companies offer varying levels of services and it is indispensable for companies to clearly chalk out and put across their telemarketing needs before hiring the services.

Businesses should ensure, in the first place, that the telemarketing company being hired has a very good understanding of the industry they would be dealing with as every industry demands a specific set of targeting tactics. Secondly, the success rate of the telemarketing agency in various areas should be properly assessed. Again, pay proper attention to the way a given telemarketer manages to comply with regional and international rules and regulations, such as, keeping the Do Not Call lists at bay. It is mandatory for companies to avoid such dangerous waters.

Telemarketing companies should also have a very good record of customer services with low call abandonment rates. A proper study of the performance statistics of call centers can help assess the effectiveness of their campaigns and drives.

Making telemarketing calls is not for the faint hearted. Receiving cold responses from potential clients can be intimidating for representatives. The fear gets so ingrained that some agents may try to while away precious time going through the customer lists rather than making actual calls to clients. Reputed telemarketing companies with experienced representatives see to it that their callers are beyond any such calls jitters, making result-oriented calls to important clients and generating leads in the most effective manner.

Hence, a number of things have to be kept in mind while zeroing in on a telemarketing company and choosing the services. A right choice can give a real boost to business by expanding clientele and generating appropriate leads.

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About Author

Both Robert Schumacher & Daljeet Sidhu are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Robert Schumacher has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Business Plan and Brain. Bob Schumacher books and articles give entrepreneurs a clear coffee-shop English perspective on how to steer their business or profession into the top 20% who achieve 80% of the business and profits. Visit. Robert Schumacher's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.

Daljeet Sidhu has sinced written about articles on various topics from Guide Guitar, Careers and Job Hunting and Certified Public Accountants. Daljeet Sidhu is Co-founder at TradeSeam. Read our advice. Compare. Daljeet Sidhu's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.