Planning: Company needs to consider its budget, its objectives for the volume/quality of data they want and their in-house resources, in terms of manpower, skills and equipment compared to the cost of using an outside agency.
Telemarketing rarely stands on its own: Organization needs to establish how it integrates with its other sales and marketing activities.
Accurate data: As with all direct marketing methods, accurate data is the essential foundation for success. Naturally, successful targeting rests on speaking to the right decision makers and getting data that includes this information may cost more but the outcomes are consistently more profitable.
A good script: An effective telemarketing script is actually not a script at all but a guide for the discussion that steers the listener in the direction you want him/her to go. It must be tailored to the target audience, must grab the attention of the listener within a few seconds of the conversation, and must be highly interactive; long presentations of information can be frustrating for the listener who is then less likely to focus on the issue being presented. The guide/script should be refined in the early stages of a campaign according to quality of responses received.
Skilled telemarketers: No matter how well targeted the call is nor how well thought out the script, a wooden and inflexible caller will not deliver the goods. To achieve the desired outcomes the telemarketer must have a good knowledge of the company and product/service they represent, be able to talk intelligently around the structure of the script without getting side tracked, absorb all the negative responses, and talk persuasively to people at all levels.
