So here we are again, waving the ‘cost-saving’ flag, but it’s one of the most common objections our sales team face, and it is often the stumbling block when companies think of outsourcing their telemarketing activity.
Many companies automatically think that keeping all activity in-house is much cheaper as they don’t see that big invoice leave their system with ‘Telemarketing’ written on it. Something we feel important to highlight is the hidden costs of keeping your telemarketing in-house. They are often forgotten about by companies and seldom reported on, making it difficult to track the ROI of a campaign.
Staffing
Firstly, who is going to call? You may hire a telemarketing agent, dedicated to making calls on your sales teams behalf. One thing to remember: they may be great at what they do, but you are counting on one person’s experience. Unfortunately, staff take holidays, are off sick and an unexpected absence can have a huge impact on your campaign. Unlike outsourcing, you can’t simply turn the tap off and stop paying out.
Maybe you should let your sales team do the calling? This will solve the problem of illness or holiday, but how much of your skilled sales team’s time should be used to make cold calls? The question you need to ask is; ‘How much of my sales team’s time is disposable?’
Equipment
Unless you are still in the dark ages, staff need equipment. Whether that be gadgets such as phones, laptops and swanky software, or desks, chairs and physical office space, all of this costs money. Over the year, you can spend thousands on this sort of investment, but again, it is seldom tracked.
Hassle
From time to time, we all get the tricky campaigns which take a lot of man hours, support lines, effort and money to solve. Many companies outsource for this reason as in-house support can be very costly. Does your sales team really have time to sort out issues with campaigns?
You get what you pay for
No campaign should be taken lightly, however by outsourcing, you can offload some of the hassle of a telemarketing campaign. A professional agency will already have the infrastructure in place and will be able to switch your campaign on and off like a tap. In this instance, you are only paying for what you use, rather than for staff when they are lying on the beach!
By outsourcing, you are able to take advantage of the experience of a team of telemarketers, who will more than likely have run similar campaigns in the past. The cost you see is the cost you pay…no hidden extras.
