Direct Marketing for Lead Generation

Lead generation is one call center area that always finds different ways of expressing itself. There are so many different ways in which you can do sales lead generation. And the vast number of these efforts is not dependent on telemarketing calls. Call centers these days are not able to make calls as freely as they used to. Direct marketing is one method where the expenses in the books of the client are a wee bit more. However, the results for direct marketing can bring in immediate results for the BPO. Direct marketing is the process of using radio and TV to generate leads. Advertisements are placed in these mass media vehicles so that the consumers can hear/see and react to them instantly. They may either be asked to call a number for details or check out a website.

The duty of the call center unit begins then. The number that is injected in the ad copy will definitely generate many calls for the inbound call center team. The BPO unit has to tackle these calls for lead generation. The challenge for the answering service team is the high volume of traffic that comes in. Callers are instantaneous in their reaction to an advertisement. As a result of this, they want to speak to a brand representative at the earliest. If the phone answering team is not alert enough, they may lose some opportunities to generate leads.

BPO Rivals Crowd Market

The BPO circuit is now flush with competition. The recession has proved the stability of the business process outsourcing sector like never before. While numerous firms and industries got hit badly enough not to recover till date, the call center sector has progressed with bold strides. Now the Indian telemarketing sector is being challenged by their neighbor Sri Lanka. The emerald country is known to have the same type of resources that has made India the superpower in the telemarketing services industry. Sri Lanka has an integrated amount of English-speaking people who can be successfully inducted in the call centers. As any investor would tell you, the ease with which you get manpower is primary to the cost-effective utilization of an industry.

Other than the manpower, Sri Lanka provides call center investors with the right infrastructure and telecommunication set-up for an industry of this stature. The BPO sector is something that the government of Sri Lanka is serious about. They want the telemarketing industry to grow because they want to earn those foreign currencies, along with providing the employment to the educated youth of the country. They realize that their main competition in the business process outsourcing sector is with India. They also know that they started late and have a lot of ground to cover. With the right direction and the big projects, they will be right up there soon!

BPO Jobs Return to American Homes!

In a bizarre turn of events, the outsourced BPO jobs that the Americans wanted back badly is returning to their homes! Yes, that’s the current scenario for the call center industry in USA. The jobs are coming back for sure, but not to the call centers. Answering service agents working from home are being hired to do the work. There are certain advantages of working from home. For example, the agent can work extra hours because they are saving up on the time of commuting. Similarly, they can work without the stress and tension associated with the BPO service work floor. They don’t have the typical peer pressure to tackle as well!

From the perspective of the hiring BPO firms, this is a fairly money-saving deal. They don’t need to set up a call center, with all the infrastructure and office space. They don’t have to pay for the electricity or for the establishment costs. And as for the work, they can always monitor the answering service done through online reports and other statistics. The biggie for the hiring call center services is that they can hire these agents at lesser pays. The state of unemployment is such that laid-off telemarketing agents are willing to work for thinner pay packets than what they used to make before they got the pink slip.

Growth Fueled by Complete Call Center Services

BPO experts predict exciting times for the industry in the recent future. Much of the euphoria is based on the hope that the use of all the call center services will be the pivot for the growth. In the previous times, it was just the voice calls that were being used for telemarketing and lead generation. Nowadays, business firms are using other non-voice methods as well. Help desk services and web marketing services are coming up thick and fast in the BPO service segment. This has prompted much of the growth in the earnings of the call centers. And it is on this growth prospect that the experts are hopeful of a considerable growth percentage in the years leading up to 2014.

The call center industry is bolstered by the emergence of BPO service in the form of better lead generation methods. Up selling and cross selling is being redefined to make way for better telemarketing growths for the clients. If the clients are happy with the call center services that they are receiving, there will be more lucrative projects for the call centers. The experts predict that there will be a 31.1% growth in the business process outsourcing revenue and the mark will touch $1.6 billion by the year 2014. With the economy slowly emerging from the throes of the recession, the growth will definitely be something that the industry can look forward to.

Politicians Akin to Telemarketing Agents!

In a bizarre turn of events, the frustration that citizens have in receiving unwanted telemarketing calls is now being turned on to the politicians. As the country heads for mid-term elections in November, US citizens are being bulldozed with robotic calls made from the outbound call center desk of the politicians. The masses are angry and the fact that even the Do Not Call list cannot protect them makes the whole process frustrating. Citizens are feeling helpless against this tirade of almost lead generation calls by the call centers manned by politicians. These telephone calls have been part of the American electoral process for decades and each time they bring the demons with them: the breach of privacy. As the citizens toil under this barrage of calls, BPO service agents can allow themselves a smile!

And why won’t they? The American telecom watchdogs have practically made it impossible for telemarketing firms to operate in the country. The shrinking telemarketing services sector needed the support of the government. Instead, political and executive laws have strangled the call center industry. While the projects continue to dry up, more people are losing their jobs at the call centers. Apathetic to the cause of privacy which they are using in this case, politicians continue to violate the same laws because the law itself allows them the right! The citizens are looking for someone who will deliver them from this evil.

Lead Generation through SEO and Social Media

The process of lead generation through online methods can be sharply divided into two prongs: search engine optimization and social media marketing. Call center units are trying to make the client’s websites more visible to the consumers online. Similarly they are trying to promote the client’s business through social media networking. BPO managers have divided the two on the basis of the function that they serve. SEO is more about sales lead generation through tangible methods that yield hard results. You get a list of generated leads and also have an idea of how much you have sold. SEO is also backed up by the telemarketing team. Consumers prefer calling the inbound call center desk for more information and clarifications.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, is for branding and PR. The BPO firms need to understand that you cannot have much of lead generation here in the conventional sense. Social media interactions by the call center agents change the perceptions that people have about the client’s brand or company. They will feel privileged to have a direct contact with the brand that they buy products from. This helps the call centers retain customers. In this age of competition, customers can be tempted to leave the client’s fold and move over to a rival. The social media interactions and other activities, including personal interactions, stop this erosion of the customer base.

Telemarketing Identity Inflates

What makes a telemarketing agent or company? Someone or some firm that sells products/services through the telephone – is what you might say. That definition is about to change. If you listen to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of USA or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), they are including advisors and advertisers as telemarketers. Call center agents cannot call registered numbers on the Do Not Call (DNC) list because they call themselves advisors or advertisers. Financial advisors, as all other sectors of counseling, will come under the telemarketing services act. In the same vein, violations of the DNC list will land the responsible BPO agents in a lot of soup.

The decisions of both the bodies stem from their commitment to protect the privacy of the citizens from telemarketing calls. Despite their best efforts, they are not able to cut the flow of call center agents tapping into the market, ignoring the DNC list completely. The CRTC admitted that financial and insurance agents have the right to communicate to their customers, but there was no such thing that they have to use the telephone. Moreover, such a right doesn’t allow them access to the customers at hours when the DNC forbids BPO agents to call. The CRTC wants the call centers to respect the request of the customers when they don’t want the telemarketing services that they have to offer.