The major advantage of third party b2b telemarketing companies is their ability to use dozens of to get your message out quickly. Unless you have a fully-staffed internal b2b telemarketing division, outside firms will make thousands of calls in a relatively short time frame compared to what you can do in-house. However, b2b telemarketing firms tend to be expensive and lack selling skills; they are limited in engaging in dialog about technical products or services and are better suited for information gathering, appointment setting and "yes or no" types of campaigns. And unless you supply the telemarketing list, telemarketing firms have a history of using poor quality b2b telemarketing lists.

There are advantages to using an in-house person for your efforts. People staffed by your organization can be trained in sophisticated selling techniques, so that they will be familiar with the technical aspects of your product and can engage in more extensive dialog with potential clients and pass on hot leads to your sales staff instantly. Also, when the telemarketing efforts are done internally, you control telemarketing list buys, and can be more diligent on which lists to use.

But, as we mentioned earlier, small businesses rarely have enough people on staffs that can telemarket on an ongoing basis. A cost-effective alternative may be to hire college students, retirees or part-timers and train them on a specific telemarketing project. And here's a training tip for you... if your telemarketers are going to be reading from a script, have them practice sounding like they are improvising. Knowing that the person on the other end of the phone is reading is a sure turn-off and can hurt your response rate.

Next, the b2b telemarketing company quickly recruits some people to do the actual cold-calling whose qualifications include something like showing up for the interview and smiling a lot. Or they ask a temp agency nearby to send over some people who have been through a similarly rigorous screening process. Next, they dust off an ex-client's script, change a few words, give it to the newly hired business-to-business telemarketing reps and say, "Start calling."

Hire a top-notch B2B telemarketing company. Look for a company with a proven track record of calling into the same industries and the same titles as you will want them to be calling on your behalf. Thoroughly check references and insist that the B2B telemarketing company assign experienced callers to your project. Then both you and the firm must invest time and effort in creating call guidelines (rather than a verbatim script) and training callers on the unique aspects of your business and your prospects. Finally, give the callers a well-targeted list of prospects to call, and have them start dialing.