Telephone sales
As a telephone sales a form of is direct sales referred to in which the acquisition , the consultancy and the contract in stages or entirely by phone be made. The sale can be carried out by employed salespeople or by a call center as a service provider.
aims
- Generation of new business contacts to interested parties or potential customers (so-called leads )
- Target group- specific segmentation and sales-oriented needs analysis
- Preliminary discussion (pre-qualification) and appointments for field service visits
- Offer follow-up ( follow-up ), prospect and (regular) customer care
rating
From a cost perspective, telephone sales have established themselves alongside the laborious field sales force or the maintenance of shops and the sending of printed matter . It achieves significantly higher order rates than an average sales letter .
The economic benefit of telephone sales is based on the one hand on a relatively higher efficiency and on the other hand on comparatively low costs compared to other forms of sales. Telephone calls generate more attention than other advertising media through targeted personal addressing of the called party . Since the called person reacts immediately on the phone, the address can be qualified accordingly for later actions, e.g. For example, addresses that basically have no need for the product or service offered can be sorted out or identified accordingly. Telephone sales are also time-saving and cost-saving for providers and those called, since no change of location is necessary for advice or a sales call. At the same time, the possibility of interactive communication is an effective element in sales and service , as questions or problems of the (potential) customer can be dealt with directly and individually, and the sales force can be relieved of unproductive activities through supporting telephone marketing (internal sales ) Concentrate promising prospect visits on site. Different campaigns can be compared with each other and opportunities for improvement can be identified.
However, if it is not automated, professional and long-term successful telephone marketing also causes considerable effort beyond the pure telecommunications and personnel costs. Particularly in markets with products that require explanation, a high need for advice requires extensive qualification of the telephone salesperson, which can be ensured through regular training and quality management in the call center. There are narrow limits to outsourcing and relocating these activities to low-wage countries, because language problems or incompetence of the telephone salesperson are quickly noticed and not appreciated by those called. Modern CRM or call center software offers a range of automated aids to increase efficiency and save costs.
Legal
Telephone sales in Germany are regulated by the Federal Data Protection Act ( BDSG ), the Act against Unfair Competition ( UWG ) and the Telemedia Act ( TMG ). Incoming calls ( inbound ) are legally completely unproblematic. For outgoing calls ( outbound ) must be between private individuals ( B2C ) and business ( B2B distinguish). While promotional calls without consent are generally prohibited from private individuals, such as slamming , companies can also advertise to other companies if there is presumed consent in accordance with Section 7 (2) No. 2 UWG, i.e. a factual interest of the company called is assumed can. Modern CRM solutions take this legal framework into account through various instruments for legally compliant management. On the one hand, there is the option of freely transmitting an outgoing call number per campaign level in combination with the carrier's “Clip no Screening” feature, but above all by integrating an opt-in procedure.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bernd Stolte: Practical Guide to Telephone Marketing
- ↑ Telemarketing. IHK, accessed on June 19, 2015 .
