The demise of telemarketing companies has been predicted almost since the notorious form of marketing was devised. However, despite naysayers, telesales continues to thrive and telemarketers continue to ply their trade. In fact, telemarketing companies have seen a resurgence of late. Thanks to call center out-sourcing, greater numbers of businesses are now turning to telemarketers for their answering service needs. Telesales services remain one of the best methods of direct sales and have now also begun contributing to market research and information gathering activities.

Telemarketing companies began as the cold call expert. Telesales services were hired by businesses to have their agents cold call potential customers to try and sell their products. The calls usually came at inconvenient times and telemarketers became ubiquitous as the unwanted caller. When the internet came around, it did not seem as if there was any room left for telemarketing companies as more and more businesses were using the online medium to sell their products. Telemarketing companies had to evolve in order to remain vital – and they did. Instead of simply selling a product, telemarketers changed their script so that their phone calls became more of a conversation that included their potential customer. During the phone call the agent would ask questions to get the customer’s opinion and point-of-view. The information gathered during these conversations became invaluable to businesses because they were able to take that information and use it to tailor products to meet the needs and expectations of their customers.

Another thing that changed with telemarketing services is that instead of cold calling everyone listed in the telephone directory, telesales agents would target their potential customers more specifically. Either through trigger or event marketing telemarketing companies would get lists of people who requested more information on a certain company, product or service and would then follow-up with a telephone call. The approach has led to far more successful and efficient telemarketing campaigns. Companies have also begun targeting people who have been a customer within the last 18 months and who chose to have follow-up information sent to them.

Telemarketing companies have managed to change in order to remain relevant and in doing so, they have become even more necessary than before. They are the best way in which to reach a large number of people personally. Telemarketing companies have even begun to offer b2b marketing solutions that work just as well as the customer calling options. Another reason for the continued popularity of the telemarketing campaign is that clients can gauge quickly whether it is working or not and they have the option of tweaking their script or changing their campaign in order to get a better response.

If you have been thinking about engaging the services of telemarketing companies to help boost your business’ sales and your bottom line, then just remember to always vet the telesales services before hiring them. Make sure that the agents are well trained, enthusiastic and friendly and make sure that you will be allowed to check on your campaign regularly.