Marketing is a process which requires continual adaption and innovation. In the drive to stay current, though, there can be too much focus on leading-edge techniques at the expense of more established methods. The optimal marketing approach is one which balances both old and new ways.

Take telemarketing, for example. There is nothing new about telemarketing calls, and even refinements of telemarketing, such as auto-dialing and robo-calls, are ultimately just incremental variations on the original principle. Against the backdrop of Internet marketing techniques, telemarketing sales might seem as dated as a transistor radio compared to an MP3 player. However, telemarketing calls can still add value — not as an alternative to more modern techniques, but as a complement to them.

Blending Telemarketing Sales into the Marketing Mix

Despite the temptation to be drawn to the newest marketing techniques, marketing executives need to view each technique, old and new, on it own merits. The question isn’t simply one of which is the most effective marketing technique. What really matters is whether each technique can add incremental sales on top of the others.

In blending telemarketing calls or any marketing technique into a marketing mix, executives should look at each component in three ways:

• Does it serve markets/purposes that other techniques don’t? It doesn’t matter even if 90% of a company’s sales come from Internet marketing. If telemarketing can provide that incremental 10% cost-effectively, then it is still additive to the marketing effort and deserves a place in the marketing mix.
• Can it support newer techniques? Again, a company may have found Internet sales to be its most effective marketing channel, but if a telemarketing campaign can drive new visitors to the web site, then telemarketing and Internet sales are complementary, not contradictory.
• Can newer techniques enhance the older method? Internet promotions can encourage web site visitors to sign up for special programs, which can include opt-ins for receiving telemarketing calls.

The Unique Roles of Telemarketing Calls

Clearly then, a telemarketing effort can exist alongside newer marketing methods. It can also be complementary to those methods, and vice versa. More specifically, there are seven distinct roles telemarketing can play within a marketing mix:

1. Telemarketing can reach a non-Internet demographic. There is still a significant segment of the population that does not regularly use the Internet.
2. Telemarketing can reinforce name recognition. Using multiple channels helps create reinforcement without mere repetition.
3. Telemarketing can provide timely feedback from consumers. Telemarketing’s immediacy and interactivity remain strengths.
4. Telemarketing calls can keep a company in touch with existing customers while providing cross-selling opportunities.
5. Telemarketing remains well suited to business-to-business interactions. Business-to-business calls are part of the commercial landscape and do not carry the stigma that calling on households can.
6. Telemarketing operations can provide a good farm team for future sales representatives. Telemarketing is a great way to try out people who are interested in sales as a career track and see if they’ve got what it takes to succeed.
7. Telemarketing provides sales evaluation opportunities. The sheer volume of telemarketing calls provides a number of evaluation metrics, such as number of calls made, successful contacts per call, and lead closing rates.

In short, the existence of newer technologies and techniques does not spell the end of telemarketing. It simply signals an evolving role for telemarketing within the marketing mix.

http://www.vendorseek.com/Telemarketing-in-Modern-Marketing.asp