Mobile Phones Reinvent Telemarketing And Help Revamp Services

Telemarketing services are being forced to operate with dwindling phone lists. It is not because the need for products and services has dwindled but because a strict legislative environment, Do-Not-Call registries, and disappearing land lines are sapping the telesales campaigns. Even the services and products that telemarketers can market and their tactics are being watched closely.

There is good news though. Text messaging and mobile phone marketing is an upcoming trend that can be exploited by the telemarketing industry. Similar to what multiple industries have done in the past, telesales industry too will have to broaden its vision and find new meaning. Else it is bound to future similar to the railroads that were once the leader of transportation industry but now moves very small amount of cargo and people as compared to airways and automobiles. Telecommunications comprise of multiple modes of communications and it is imperative that telemarketing stays abreast with with prevailing trends to stay relevant. Telemarketing no longer means just a conventional sales call. It also means text messaging and mobile marketing.

The following is how telemarketing endeavors can be effectively supplemented by text messaging and mobile marketing:

* Ride on a growing market: There are always two alternatives - cling to a dying tactic and lose out or latch on to a emerging system and succeed with it. Conventional calling on fixed lines is fast becoming obsolete as more and more people adopt mobile phones. Telemarketers would have to change their focus to the mobile market.

* No restrictions on contact time: Telemarketing is regulated by legislation that lay down time within which customers can be called. This is very limiting and makes it hard to catch people at the appropriate time and also happy to accept a marketing call. With mobile phones, availability of prospect ceases to be a challenge. Text messaging is a passive marketing method. The text message is saved in the phone's memory and can be fetched by the prospect when it is convenient.

* Immediate response possible: Most mobile phones today have internet accessibility. Customers can immediately respond to a marketing message.

* Use the message as a coupon: Just like paper coupons are intended to produce a quick action from customers, text messages too can include an urgent call for action and a good reason for timely response to it.

* Proximity marketing: In sales, it is best to get a customers attention at the right place and the right time. Proximity marketing is a tactic that permits businesses to send message alerts about products or services when people are well placed to take action on the information. With Bluetooth and GPS, businesses can tailor contact time and message to the recipient's location.

With the decline in conventional telemarketing, it is important to outsource telesales to service providers that have broadened their scope and are embracing new tools to spread marketing and advertising messages. They have the tools and the technology to manage text messaging proficiently and take text and mobile marketing to the next level. This is an opportune time for telesales services to diversify their services. If they fail to do so, they will have no place in the market.