Here is an age old topic telemarketing companies struggle with and how they go about their business.

Are you using script reading sales-types, or professional-level executive callers? In today’s day and age, 99% of executives notice and will spot out the difference. What kind of telemarketing do YOU want to represent your company?

Think about it for yourself just a moment here. When the phone rings and you don’t immediately identify that number on your caller ID screen you generally will think to yourself ‘Who is that calling?’ .. ‘Is it a SALES call?’ .. Your mind is already preparing itself to be pitched and you pick up the phone with your standard greeting only to be hit with.

“Hello, My name is XXX and I’m calling on behalf of company YYY. We have a very special offering right now and would love for you to be a part of it. The ZZZ product is 50% better than …….”

WAIT WAIT WAIT JUST A SECOND HERE! Do these people ever come up for air? I’ve had phone calls like this where I’m keeping them on speakerphone just to time how long they will talk before taking a breath and letting me speak on the other end. Guess what? I ALWAYS SAY NO. I’m not going to give information to a telemarketer approaching me this way. It says nothing to me about them bringing a value-add to what we all know they are just trying to sell me.

Executive-level callers make an enormous difference in getting results. They call to have a conversation and not just to pitch you on an item. You might not be a fit for the product/service, or  host of other reasons that right now may not be an optimal time. That telemarketer? They hang up <click> and the auto-dialer takes them to their next inevitable rejection. Executive-level calls stay on the line, and converse. That’s what true telemarketing means to us at OMAI USA. It’s about hang meaningful conversations that drive your brand to more revenue, larger market share, and our nuanced approach has proven itself for going on 20 years now.

I could not tell you how many times one of our associates did not get a lead from a call attempt on the spot, but it turned into a referral for another company they know needs the solution, future business because they appreciated the tactful approach, or re-direction to the proper people internally that no bought list could have provided.

That’s the difference between a professional in marketing and telemarketing.

The word telemarketer has been watered down over the past decade with technology. Companies can set up call centers faster and cheaper than ever before and it shows in the final product, their outbound calls. No longer to people think of telemarketers as sales men and women building contacts. It has unfortunately become this nasty phone creature looking to bother you, read you a terrible script, waste your time, and ultimately try to get your personal information. We’ve been fighting that battle for 20 years now with tremendous results.

One of the big misconceptions people get with telemarketing and professional-level telemarketing is the goal. Do you want to contact 1000 people are just blurt out a 1 line message and more on? Then that call center is best for you. Chances are you’re going to get zero business out of it and waste everyones time. You don’t react to those calls right? Why on earth would your target audience. In professional-level telemarketing the goal is to have successful interactions with decision-makers. 1000 calls is never going to happen on the same size/budget campaign as the call center people, it’s just not realistic. Getting a list back of 1000 calls where 95% of them were little more than “call attempt” is useless. On the other hand getting a list back of 200 calls where 60-100 of them had conversations with people of influence in the companies reached? Golden. That’s true market intel that will benefit your company and internal sales staff. It’s also the biggest difference in our marketing approach compared to the call centers.

We measure success by building intelligent connections for your company that can be leveraged today, tomorrow, and in the future. High quality, expertly trained, executive-level callers who are having true dialogues with a target audience that matters and understands your value prop. It’s what OMAI USA has done for 20 years and will continue to do over the next 20. Building brands, building business.

The first quarter of every year is critical in reaching executives, showcasing your offerings,  overcoming competitive messages, and building early pipeline.

Budgets are now in place.  MDF or 3^rd party funds have been allocated.   Strategy meetings are either complete or taking place. If you have a message to decision-makers as to why they should select your product, offering, service or solution, now is the time.

OMAI looks at a 12-month year as a series of ‘decision-cycles’, where a bell-curve can be created tracking propensity to listen and evaluate, propensity to select, and propensity to purchase. They all start to converge during calendar Q1.

In a poor or struggling economy, decision-makers and influencers must use enhanced levels of justification in selecting vendors and solutions. Whether the firm is privately held or public, increased scrutiny comes from the CFO’s office, the President’s, and often line managers who have strict budgets that must be allocated according to priority and ROI.

OMAI combines these various and often competing factors in crafting messages that executives relate to:   They appeal to ROI, to risk reduction, to revenue generation, to staff productivity, to competitive positioning, and to respect for budgets and the natural restrictions that accompany a down economic cycle.

Even traditional media adjusts to the times and circumstances of a dynamic marketplace and economy. OMAI, with its non-scripted executive dialogs, can accomplish this real-time. A powerful advantage that can convert to augmenting business volumes immediately.

2012 is well into Q1 now and Vendors are having their sales and marketing teams hammer their hopefully well developed lists to generate new business and reawaken existing clients for 2012. Software firms, hardware sales, professional services; you name it and they’re out selling it. And if you are someone who is the recipient of these marketing calls, you are receiving it.. in a big way! Your phone is ringing off the hook from sales and marketing people of all skill levels. Rookies and seasoned marketing pros alike are vying for your time, for just a brief moment so they can give you their pitch and determine if there is any level of interest at all.

Now when that phone rings, or that call is transferred through from your admin there is a brief moment from a psychological standpoint; of wonderment. What awaits on the other end of that ringing phone? Or you are so up to your neck in Q1 work of your own you have just that rushed 30 seconds to hear a quick elevator pitch and either blurt out a ‘Not Interested!” or quickly say “Send me more details.” Either way that person on the other end of the phone is coming in cold with absolutely no idea how you the target exec is going to react to their message. Will they have success the call? Only if the target + messaging is a fit.

Flip that standard ho hum marketing script and be engaging and knowledgeable

Flip the phone around and you have the sales or marketing rep on the other end of the line. They have just navigated your complicated phone system, or possibly are staring at a screen that auto-dialed you with your name/title up in big bold letters with the top of the script loaded into the monitor. Most calls will begin the same with some sort of general salutation, personalized if their list has the contact information available. Using your marketing skill to divert any lapse of data is always critical, lead people to the knowledge you seek for conversation flow. Don’t just drop questions like bombs from the moment you get on the phone, that’s sloppy marketing.

This is where all similarities END. Poof! Now you are into the call itself and it’s where you as a caller need to separate yourself from the pack of marketing professionals out there. Are you working in a telemarketing cubicle in a boiler room with a cowbell being rung every time a light RFI type lead or better is obtained? If so you probably don’t care much beyond getting stats to pad your weekly numbers hoping to be the person winning the TGIF’s Gift Certificate. You will be identified by the target executive and either passed down the chain quickly, or discounted altogether as a waste of his/her time. Are you blindly reading through a marketing script just to get your work done? That’s not marketing either and is helping nobody in the process.

How will your marketing separate you from others?

Separation is key. But how do you as the caller separate yourself from that marketing pack that is constantly calling target executives day in and day out? It’s pretty simple, stop selling and start helping the people you call. Not everyone is going to be a fit for your client or marketing list each call; understanding that is the first key to success, not wasting your own time on non-targets. But when you do find that executive who is a perfect match for what you are trying to sell, help them understand the benefits to their organization more than trying to make a fast lead / appointment conversion will be savvy marketing and pay divedends. Taking that extra moment once you hear a sense of interest from a prospect will make a world of difference in the final result. Barreling in with the usual sales and marketing jargon and catchphrases just puts you back down into the pack. They’ve heard it all before, and if your best “line” is just that… a line.. Why should the target exec care why you have to say?

Understand their business, and in turn understand your offering. Be it a hardware device, software tool, professional service, it does not matter what the item is. What only matters is that you understand it well enough to be able to articulate to someone in under 60-90 seconds how that offering can be a benefit to their bottom line. It’s a rough economy out there for both corporate and individuals still and every business needs to make smart choices that benefit them. Effective marketing strategy will make a difference. The days of lavish spending on technology without a proven track record are over for the majority of companies out there. People put their name, their job, on the line when they start the chain of communication with a new Vendor. What will make them want to say YES! to you in such a short window of opportunity during that first cold call?

Hit them at their PAIN point. If they show initial interest in your pitch they most likely have some sort of pain in their organization that your offering could at least be a point of conversation in the process of them addressing it. Ask meaningful questions. Not the usual “Can I have for email?” that’s not the point of the call. You want to establish that: A) You have a product / service / offering that is of elevated value to the 100s other calls they have received in the past 14-30 days and that B) They truly have a NEED for who you are calling on behalf of. Because if they don’t need what you are marketing in the first place, why are we wasting their time and your clients money?

Your next marketing call will be a success

Think about this on your next cold call. What are you offering the person on the other end of the phone? What is your value proposition to them as much as what is it for your client? How can you help the target exec you are calling?

If your sales and marketing calls come from a true desire to help establish and build business relationships of value, instead of empty leads just to pad your numbers, you will find that when you do make that connection it will be that much deeper. Your clients will thank you in the end for that extra effort marketing on their behalf.

It’s our 20th Anniversary here at OMAI USA and we’re constantly looking to expand our markets reach and let people know about the great services and offerings we provide our current clients, and what we can do to help your business grow.

We are advertising on CBS 880 radio during the News updates and the well established Sunday night 60 Minutes radio program. If you’re in the Tri-State area tune your dial to 880 and let us know what you think of our new radio ad, we welcome the feedback.

Click here to listen to our radio as on CBS 880.

The timing couldn’t be better as we are about to kick off phase 2 of our website updates which will include a much more robust Social Media presence with full Facebook / LinkedIn / and Twitter integration. We have just recently completed our iOS 5.0 compatibility process as well. If you are an iPad or any other iType of user, OMAIUSA.com now fits, looks, and runs fantastic on all of your mobile devices!

Sales Credibility is #1

The decision-makers and influencers you are calling receive quite possibly 50 inbound calls each week – perhaps more.  That’s in addition to emails and direct mail.  With all forms of media approaching you articulating their message about technology or other topics, how can an executive possibly decide whom to speak with? Do they display immediate credibility?

Is it the sound of the caller’s voice?   The message itself?   If it is scripted or peer-to-peer dialog?  The level of confidence expressed?  The form of a question or declarative statement to stir interest?

Credibility from the first word.

Your time is valuable. You are pressured from multiple angles.  You must multi-task. Your goals are ambitious and any wasted time diverts you from your mission. But these calls may bring in a solution or suggestion that can be the ultimate panacea you need to achieve and exceed the goals set for you and by you.

The caller you will select is the one with the right message and with credibility. As in your personal life, you will prefer to deal with a peer, an intellectual equal, a professional who has been ‘around the block’ and appreciates your situation and set of challenges. Someone who does not want to waste your time, but wants you invest a ‘time-slice’ to learn about the offering, discuss if it may be a fit, and set an action plan to learn more.

You will select a caller who can field a question without sugarcoating the answer. Someone who speaks, not reads scripts.  Someone who has confidence but not arrogance.  In short, a professional with credibility.

Credibility = trust.  Credibility = someone worth the time.

Someone who will not mislead you to get a sale.  Someone who speaks from experience, not guesswork. Someone you can quote at a management meeting and secure respect and concurrence.

If your voice conveys this credibility, in a crowded field you will be selected for a conversation, an appointment, a meeting, and hopefully a decision.  Credibility must be backed by preparation, fact, anticipation of questions, gravitas of response. Credibility comes with both intellect and experience. It is a tone of voice.  It is content of writing.  It is something everyone in business seeks to be known for. Credibility matters.

Qualified Lead Opportunities for your Business

It’s a question we are asked every day by clients and marketing partners. What exactly do you consider a qualified lead opportunity? Every company is going to have their own spin on it, maybe even add in some interesting phrases and words to bait you with in how their process for determining a qualified lead varies from the rest.

The truth is, Qualified Leads have to be… Qualified!

We use the BANT qualification process at Outsource Marketing for all Demand Generation campaigns to determine if a potential lead opportunity can turn into a Qualified Lead Opportunity.

• Budget – Does the prospect have the budget to purchase your clients product or service?
• Authority – Is this person the decision maker with authority to purchase the product or service?
• Need – What are the needs or conditions that have to exist BEFORE the product or service would valuable to a potential customer, and will this offering help?
• Timing – Does the timing of this purchase or service agreement fall within the timeline of the prospects planning and goals?

Once the BANT is defined for a given prospect, we can then dig deeper and find out if the product or service we are offering is a good fit. Depending on the site and corporate structure we have a variety of steps that we nurture opportunities from a simple RFI (Request for Information) into a Qualified Lead.

Qualified Lead Follow-Up

It’s one of the toughest parts of the relationship between any Marketing company and their clients. The follow-up process. You would be shocked to know just how many times a qualified lead can slip through the cracks because they were sent to a client and then not properly follow up on. It’s a crucial part of the process and if that transition is not smooth the qualified lead cools off and they might look elsewhere or have another offer come to the table before someone has contacted them. Every qualified lead is different and needs to be handled based upon the prospects wants and needs. Keeping track of this and making sure the follow-up is done properly is of the utmost importance.

A quality lead, is a qualified lead.

Are you looking to build your Marketing Partners to increase your bottom line?

Of course you are. Every business wants to expand / build the Channels and Marketing Partners required to grow your business, distribute your brand and messaging, and increase your sales & revenue! That’s how we all increase our bottom line and keep on trucking in the 2011 business economy. There’s many ways you can leverage your existing and not yet formed business relationships.

Using Marketing Partners for Unlimited Potential

That’s a win-win goal for any business. Build an army of Marketing Partners that want to sell and distribute your product and services. It’s like having a sales army on autopilot helping you build your business. Especially if you’re working in a hot technology sector like Mobile or Cloud Computing. People are busting at the seems for these offerings, and Marketing Partners want to work with you to enhance their portfolio of offerings to their clients.

 Marketing Partners help drive business

Having this sales army promoting and selling your products and services is what channel / marketing partners are all about. They want to spread the word about what their companies do. Your products are part of that initiative. The end result is positive brand promotion by companies who want to sell and promote your business, because in reality it also helps their bottom line in making the sales and building their own business to client relationships. If your brand offers a hot mobile inventory tracking system for instance, and your marketing partners are hitting the retail and warehouse space you are bound to help build that partners name recognition by having them sell your products. That’s the concept of what’s driving the marketing partners to want to do business in the first place. You sell more products, and their list of services and products increases.

If you’re not already using Marketing Partners with your business you should consider it now.

Magazine Design for your business.

Magazines are publications that are usually printed either weekly, monthly, or sometimes quarterly. They contain articles, stories, photographs, advertisements, and other useful information. Usually magazines are designed with a page size that is smaller than that of a newspaper. However, sometimes a client will ask for a custom sized magazine that is oversized. In the corporate world, Magazine Design can be used in a slightly different way and be a great tool to use as a corporate brochure that goes to the next level. Focusing on your business and industry will provide a deliverable that is unlike anything someone will find at their local bookstore. And now with web content delivery being so simple you can even have it hosted up on your own website in either a viewer format, or a downloadable magazine design which drastically reduces the costs by removing the traditional print aspect. You can also have the best of both worlds and do both! Release the print version to your current and potential clients, and then a few weeks later re-release it to your email contacts and website visitors on your own website.

Like most design jobs, you will need to inform your graphic designer of your corporate identity including company colors, fonts, etc. Next you will need to start gathering articles for your magazine design. It’s not always as easy as it sounds and you want to make sure the articles, guides, or tips that you put into each publication are up to snuff and something your target audience is going to want to read, and continue to read for future issues.

Now you will need to determine the purpose of your magazine design. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself.

• Are you looking for a magazine design geared towards advertising or marketing a product/service?
• Do you want to educate or inform your readers of something?
• Is this magazine for entertainment / social purposes only?
• What mood or tone do you want the magazine to give?
• Who is your target audience?
• Are you looking to design something modern, formal, conventional, sleek or professional looking?

We suggest that you collect and study trade magazines from other businesses and industries. Determine which elements you like and dislike throughout the samples. This will help you with ideas and direction for you own layout.

Now it’s time to start gathering the text for your magazine design. Decide on the necessary information, and arrange the components of your magazine design in order of importance. Sometimes it is easier to do a mock up of the magazine design first to see how your text will layout. Remember, keep it simple.  Include only what is necessary to get your point across. Once the content is provided to your designer, they will have a better feel for the amount of panels that will be needed per page, and the overall size of the publication.

Choosing images for your magazine design is another important step.

Usually the client will provide original images to the designer or stock imagery is purchased. If you are choosing stock imagery the designer can usually help you find good quality images.  One thing to remember with images is resolution.  All imagery should be high resolution which is at least 300 dpi. If you use low resolution images, your results will be soft, blurry, pixilated photos.

Now that text and images have been provided you are ready to decide on the magazine design. There are many options available for magazine design. There are standard layouts as well as unique designs which may include die-cuts or unusual folding. Decide how you plan to distribute your magazine. Will you be handing out copies or mailing them out? Size, paper, color, trimming, folding, special cuts and mailing will greatly affect the overall cost of your magazine design. Discuss budget with your designer this will help determine your magazine design and mailing options. Your designer can get quotes from various printers so you can see your options.

Once a final layout is decided the designer can begin putting everything together for the client. Usually a designer will send the client a few drafts before everything is finalized and ready for print. Remember to proofread all the text before printing your magazine design.

Finally it’s time to go to print. The designer will send all your files to the printer. Within a few days you will receive a proof. A proof is your final chance to make any edits to you brochure. Once you give the ok to the proof you are going to print. Now you just  have to wait for the final prints from your magazine design to be delivered or PDF to be online.

Tradeshow Graphics for your business:

When done correctly, a tradeshow is one of the best local marketing tools around. Participation in a tradeshow will enable you to stay on top of the latest industry trends, gain competitor insights, make key industry contacts, and further solidify relationships with current customers. The key is to make sure the shows audience aligns well with your product or service. Of course you need to drive the proper attendance to your booth, and follow up with the interested parties. It’s a perfect combination with our Marketing Programs.

In order to have a successful tradeshow experience, a few steps should be taken prior to your show.

• Contact your existing customers
• Send pre-show mailers, call up prospects to drive traffic to your booth
• Promote the show dates on your website
• Add dates and information to company newsletters
• Send e-mail blasts to your existing customers and prospects
• Announce the launching of a new product/service at the show

Now you are ready to start preparing for your tradeshow. The first step is to contact the organizers of the trade show. Ask them to provide you with the following information:

• What  type of visitors does the tradeshow attract?
• What is the layout area you will have to display your business?
• What is the size of the tradeshow display tables?
• Will there be wall space for your company sign?
• Will there be electrical outlets available? If yes, how many?
• Is anything provided when you sign up for a table ie: tablecloths?

Now you’re ready to start putting together your tradeshow display. Keep these four key elements in mind: know your target audience, have a solid product/service, a knowledgeable salesperson and well designed graphics. Find a designer that understands your companies’ goals and how to design for a tradeshow. Well designed graphics are the perfect way to impress your audience and get your message across. This includes the design of banners, brochures and other promotional materials. Think of unique ideas which will attract visitors to your area.

Below is a list of the elements you should bring to your tradeshow:

• Signage. Make sure that your companies name and logo are prominently displayed. It is a good idea to have a raised element with your logo. You want the visitors to see your name from a distance. The logo should be bold and the name of your company should be large.
• Brochures. Bring product and company literature. Some companies have pocket sized brochures designed specifically for a tradeshow.
• Tablecloth. If a tablecloth is not provided, make sure to get one that goes with your company colors. If it’s within your budget, you can purchase a tablecloth with your logo printed on it.
• Tabletop Displays. There are many different sizes and styles of tabletop displays available. They are designed to sit on top of the table. Most can easily collapse into a small carrying case. They have graphic panels that attach with fasteners, magnets or Velcro.
• Pop-up Displays. These displays are lightweight, easy to transport and can be set up by one person in minutes. The graphics are printed on the fabric. These pop-ups are a great choice if your graphics need rich color saturation and vivid images.
• Presentation Board. If you have the space, you can take presentation board and make bullet points to show how clients can benefit by using your services. Make it stand out with pictures and your logo.
• Giveaways. Company branded paraphernalia will give your visitors something to remember you by. One of the reasons people love going to a tradeshow is all of the freebies that vendors give out.
• Have a “register to win” bowl on your table. This will help you obtain contact information for your visitors.
• Develop a powerpoint presentation which can be displayed on a laptop at your table or on a raised monitor.

Some additional tips for a successful tradeshow experience:

• People love giveaways. However you don’t want to encourage attendees to grab a goodie and leave. Don’t put all of your items out at once.
• Make sure your tradeshow display table is laid out in levels. All larger items should be at the rear and shorter items in the front.
• Don’t overcrowd your area. Have a few products along with literature about your company and business cards.
• Always have someone waiting and available at your booth. Do not leave your booth unattended.

Now you are ready for a successful tradeshow experience.

Time Management is an essential fundamental of life.

It’s one of those things that we need to make our lives work well for us. Without Time Management, it is difficult to get anything done, or have time to enjoy anything in life.  There are also no guarantees in life so spending your time each day in a way that you enjoy and see benefit from allows you to know that time was well spent.  It’s pretty much impossible to know what will happen tomorrow, we can only plan to a certain extent. Enhancing your Time Management skills will allow you to take more control of the day, your business, and your life.

Planning is one of the most essential elements in time management yet at times, the ability to change helps you stay on course for your goals. Appointments move, people cancel or no-show, cars get bumped on the freeway, etc. This is why prioritizing the things you need to accomplish each day is important, and making sure you can complete what you can in a manageable time frame.  By allowing yourself the time to finish one task it now paves the way to completing the next task. You can begin by taking notes and making lists so you can sort through your tasks to be completed. Organization and Time Management go hand and hand. Without one you simply cannot have the other.

Dealing with E-mails at Work for Time Management

If your job requires you to do a lot of your days business through e-mail and the Internet, then you know exactly how excessive e-mails can get.  Hearing that ding of a new e-mail every minute can stress you out and feel like you’re always checking for the next message. Make sure to prioritize your incoming e-mails. There are certain messages you receive, such as customer contacts, contracts, and other important communication that you need to retain, and a convenient way to get this stuff done is through e-mail.  But we all know what happens, you get in trouble once the spam comes sailing into your inbox, sometimes enticing you and your valuable time away from the tasks at hand.  They can be time management killers! This can be avoided to a degree by not using your work e-mail address for personal communications or Web surfing.  Be sure to organize your e-mail inbox using folders, in order to prioritize your various types of messages, and for quick reference.  Using folders for each individual client is another great way to increase your time management and keep things organized electronically. When you have 50 e-mails in your inbox it’s not so daunting. But when you have 5,000 e-mails folders can be a lifesaver! And don’t forget to back up any information you want to keep for the long term, and delete messages you no longer need.  Keeping your e-mail clean will always help you with time management since you won’t be fumbling through all of those extra messages.

Taking Notes for effective Time Management

Taking notes is a fundamental part of making time management work.  But the notes should be short and direct, and not require too much of their own organization!  Having good notes helps us to stay organized and on task, especially if you attend a lot of meetings.  You can stay ahead of the game if you take notes before and after the meeting, and you will always be able to convey your ideas to co-workers. If you use modern technology like Blackberry’s, iPhones, iPads, etc. there are plenty of great apps out there that will allow you to take notes quickly and organize them in an easy to retrieve way. Posting on Social Media sites will also help with time management since you can write it once and have it seen by many.

The fundamentals of time management help prepare you for the demands of work, as well as every other aspect of your personal life.

Brochure Design

Brochures are used by business in every industry to promote different brands, services or products. The advantage of a brochure over other marketing pieces is the printable area. The size of a brochure allows you to include more information and pictures to get the word out about your business.

Prior to the design of the brochure, essential information will need to be discussed with your graphic designer.  If you already have an established corporate identity, you must inform your designer of your company colors, fonts, type treatments etc.

Now you will need to determine the purpose of your brochure. Here are a few questions you should askyourself.

• Are you looking for a brochure to advertise or market a product/service?
• Do you want to educate or inform your readers of something?
• Is this brochure for entertainment purposes only?
• What mood or tone do you want the brochures to give?
• Who is your target audience?
• Are you looking to design something modern, formal, conventional, sleek or professional looking?

We suggest that you collect and study brochures from other businesses. Determine which elements you like and dislike throughout the brochure samples. This will help you with ideas and direction for you own layout.

Now it’s time to start gathering the text for your brochure. Decide on the necessary information, and arrange the components of your brochure in order of importance. Sometimes it is easier to do a mock up of a brochure to see how your text will layout. Remember, keep it simple.  Include only what is necessary to get your point across. Once the text is provided to your designer, they will have a better feel for the amount of panels that will be needed.

Choosing images for your brochure is another important step. Usually the client will provide original images to the designer or stock imagery is purchased. If you are choosing stock imagery the designer can usually help you find good quality images.  One thing to remember with images is resolution.  All imagery should be high resolution which is at least 300 dpi. If you use low resolution images, your results will be soft, blurry, pixilated photos.

Now that text and images have been provided you are ready to decide on the brochure layout. There are many options available for brochure design. There are standard layouts as well as unique designs which may include die-cuts or unusual folding. Decide how you plan to distribute your brochure. Will you be handing out the brochures or mailing the brochures? Size, paper, color, trimming, folding, special cuts and mailing will greatly affect the overall cost of your brochure. Discuss budget with your designer this will help determine your design and mailing options. Your designer can get quotes from various printers so you can see your options.

Once a final layout is decided the designer can begin putting everything together for the client. Usually a designer will send the client a few drafts before everything is finalized and ready for print. Remember to proofread all the text before printing.

Finally it’s time to go to print. The designer will send all your files to the printer. Within a few days you will receive a proof. A proof is your final chance to make any edits to you brochure. Once you give the ok to the proof you are going to print. Now you just  have to wait for the final printed brochures to be delivered.

What is your Exit Strategy with prospects?

It’s a question I ask every day here at TSE on conference calls with new clients, and something that oddly enough seems to be a topic that has not been addressed as much as it probably should be. “What is your exit strategy for the Not Interested calls?” And just about every time, the call goes quiet for a moment. Exit Strategy? Ummm.

We’re all interested in building positive customer relationships, and branding ourselves to those who are interested to get that initial pulse. Yet, the ones who say NO today could be a YES down the road if a proper exit strategy is in place. Why give up this perfect opportunity to position yourself to be first in line when the time is right for that not interested party.

First you need to establish what your Exit Strategy is going to be.

Take some time and think it through. A few variables will present themselves for your exit strategy based on the type of campaign you are running and each one needs to be handled differently. Of course the Do Not Calls, and emphatic “NOT INTERESTED <click>” prospects will be marked as such by your telemarketing firm and you’ll move on to the next record. There’s a difference between positioning yourself and being insensitive to what the person on the other end of the line is saying to you.

For all of those prospects who may not be interested now but were receptive to your call, there is a lot of room there to be friendly and dig a little deeper. If for any other reason to better understand why they’re not interested so if your product or service is never going to be a fit for them you don’t waste your time and theirs with follow-up calls on future campaigns.

Exit Strategy questions can guide your follow-up patterns.

Just because someone is Not Interested, it does not mean they will not speak to you for a moment and answer a few questions. That’s what having an exit strategy is all about. Rolling with the punches like a pro and finding out details others will not attempt. We find this all the time when running Survey and Event campaigns. Sure they don’t want to know more about Product X today, but they’ll tell you why or what they are using instead most of the time. By having your exit strategy prepared in advance, you can build your calls value based on the flow of conversation to help you determine if and when a follow-up might happen.

• Find out what or who they are using instead.
• Determine why they don’t need or want your offering. Not ready? Compliance issues? Too costly?
• Ask them what their future timeline for purchasing might be, and offer to follow up at that time.
• Cross-sell another product or service if you offer it and they mention a need for something else.

Those are just a few simple ways to use an exit strategy to take a Not Interested prospect and extract some additional information making that dial that much more valuable. If you are already on the phone having a conversation there is no benefit in going the “smile and dial” route of just getting off the line quickly with someone who isn’t buying in the next 30 seconds. Build that relationship from the first call no matter what their answer is by having your exit strategy in place and you’ll be amazed at what better results your follow-up campaigns provide you.

Before your next telemarketing campaign, design an Exit Strategy.

OMAI’s Virtual Call Center enables higher-volume calling to decision-makers.

Achieve the highest quality leads, appointments, attendees at events, market intelligence. Help drive client revenue, pipeline, market-share, profitability, staff ROI/time management.

Leverage the powerful skill-sets, experience,  and track record of OMAI’s senior team on each project. Adhere to the highest levels of professionalism and ethics in dialoging with each prospect executive.

http://www.omaiusa.com/services/goals-and-services/

The Senior Sales Executives at Outsource Marketing offer one-hour mentoring sessions via teleconference with inside salesreps at technology and consulting firms.

OMAI USA now offers Creative Services including: Trade Show Graphics, SEO Optimization, Blog Design and implementation, Web 2.0, and more.

The quality, size, content and relevance of calling lists are essential factors in determining if OMAI marketing campaigns are to be successful and have positive ROIs for your business.

During the Strategic Consult/Branding OMAI conducts prior to the start of each campaign, there is heavy emphasis on how to secure the most appropriate lists and what their respective content should be.

Head over the to Calling Lists page for the 3 options on list procurement.