If you work for a mid-sized or large company, chances are you have an internal call center. An internal tele team’s main focus is typically to supply the sales department with the resources they need to achieve their sales goals for the year. At least part of this is achieved through outbound or “proactive” B2B lead generation. As an inside sales rep for TeleNet Marketing, one of the common responses or objections I hear from decision-makers is that they “have an existing inside sales team” and they are “pleased with their performance.” This may be true in some cases, but B2B marketing research has shown that almost 80% of marketers have ranked their proactive efforts as being “only slightly effective.” I’m sure there are a myriad of reasons as to why most marketers are not satisfied with their proactive efforts (probably too many reasons to mention in this article). However, having the right tele-vendor to augment your internal call center will most likely cure some of the issues.
Here are 3 benefits of having a blended call center strategy, in which marketers effectively leverage both an internal and outsourced tele team.
- Dedicated Focus: Wouldn’t it be great if you had a handful of reps that had a dedicated focus within your call center? Perhaps their only responsibilities are to respond to tradeshow attendees, follow up on white paper downloads or even provide some much needed data hygiene. These types of tactical services can be vital to your marketing efforts. Most internal call centers do not have the bandwidth to support this type of focus. However, with the right tele-vendor, this is entirely possible. Here at TeleNet many of our long-term relationships started out by having us on deck for tasks such as these.
- Scalability: One of the biggest benefits of having a blended call center strategy is scalability. Augmenting your internal call center with an external partner like TeleNet can give you the scalability you need to control workload increases and budget changes without having to add or remove your head count. In other words, it reduces churn.
- Fixed Vs. Variable Expense: Expenses incurred by any business can be broken down into two categories: fixed and variable. Fixed expenses tend to remain the same regardless of the output of production. Variable expenses, however, can change in proportion with the output of production. While many of TeleNet’s clients are long-term, ongoing relationships, we also provide support “as needed” in a variable expense capacity. We can take the handoff, deliver quality results, then step back and wait until we’re needed again.
As you can see, there are some pretty major advantages for internal call center augmentation. The key however, is finding the right vendor for the job. It is vital that you select a tele-partner that offers a range of highly customizable services and isn’t just a “campaign in a box” type of company. If you are still reading this article and wish to delve deeper into what a campaign might look like for your company, then call TeleNet Marketing Solutions today at (706)353-1940.