Do you want a thriving NFP database and positive supporter relationship? To build this positive connection, it is important to make sure you’re working with a quality telemarketer. The below questions are designed to help you identify a healthy and successful telemarketing company.

A sign of a good company is happy employees. It means they feel the company cares for them and they are representing something that they are proud of. This leads to retention of quality employees and, even more importantly, a telemarketing company that is doing well. In turn, this leads to a better outcome for you and better representation of your brand.

Here are some questions to ask your prospective telemarketing company:

• What kind of training do your employees get and how often?
• Do employees only get initial training, or do they get continuing education to improve their job performance?
• What is your corporate culture like? What is the company’s vision and how do you implement it?
• What is your staff retention rate? Remeber culture eats strategy from breakfast
• Are you based in Australia and are all calls made from Australia? (Check that ALL calls are made from Australia and not just some of them.)
• What is your incentive structure and how are staff rewarded?

Remember: A telemarketing company with a strong, steady team is going to produce better results for you.

Quality is fimportant. Ensure that your callers are Australian and that the calls are actually coming from Australia. This will go a long way in helping you achieve your desired results. We want to make sure you’re building a healthy rapport with your database and connecting them with those of a similar demographic in the same country will be invaluable support.

Get in touch with a Thomas Direct team member today to discuss the right direction for your NFP and book your complimentary 10 hour telemarketing campaign.

Do you want to see the best possible results for your telefundraising lottery campaign?

Often, when you talk to a telemarketing company they’ll throw numbers at you about the results you can expect from your campaign. You need to be careful here and take those numbers with a pinch of salt.

The challenge you have is that it’s almost impossible to predict results on a campaign before starting. Of course, there are industry standards which can act as a guide, but watch out for numbers that sound too good to be true. Every campaign is different, every segment of data is different and every script is different. There are lots of variables that have to be taken into consideration.

The only way to get any idea is to run a small test campaign with a well-briefed telemarketing team. In our experience, the test needs to be run for at least 20 hours. You also need to take into consideration what segment of data we put through the test.

Data segmentation is the process of taking your data and segmenting it so that you can use it more effectively within marketing. Segmentation of your data is vital to the success of your campaign. Segmentation basically means putting your database into similar groups. Some examples of segments could include:

• people who purchased lottery tickets by phone
• people who purchased lottery tickets by email
• people who haven’t donated for two years
• people who have never donated, and so much more

As you can imagine, some segments will perform much better than others. But by segmenting your data you can adjust the strategy for each campaign and prepare the team accordingly, as well as adjust your expected results and monitor against that target.

When testing your campaign to see potential results, it’s important that you think carefully about which segment to test first. (Please let us know if you’d like help in planning how to segment your data.)

The other thing to note about the numbers is to be careful not to overanalyze. The numbers are important – really important! But we need to be careful and get the balance right on how far we go with analysing the numbers.

As the saying goes, “analysis paralysis”. Everything is a metric, everything is a stat, and the collection and proper interpretation of those stats are paramount.

We just need to be careful too, as numbers can be twisted to look better or mean things that they were not intended to mean.
The key things you need to remember and think carefully about are as follows:

• Don’t just believe all the numbers that get thrown at you straight away.
• Recognise that every charity is different.
• Recognise that even every segment of data is different.
• The best way to find out if the numbers are true is to run a small test to determine performance. This may mean running a small trial campaign to test the validity of the numbers being presented to you.

Reach out to a Thomas Direct team member today to discuss the right direction for your NFP and book your complimentary 10 hour telemarketing campaign.

Do you want the best return for your investment?

At the end of the day, your telemarketing campaign needs to provide a good return on investment. You need to make sure it raises the funds you need over and above your costs.

Getting the right pricing structure in place that is fair to all parties is vital to the success of your campaigns. It’s important that you pay for what your telefundraiser partner does and not what they say they can do. Always ask for a price which includes all fees and costs.

Establish upfront that there won’t be any extra costs like meetings, phone call costs, postage, stationery and printing added on later. Cost-per-call or cost-per-minute contracts can encourage the telemarketers to simply dial as many people as they can without taking the time to listen and engage with your supporters.

The key things you need to remember and think carefully about are as follows:

• Getting the right pricing structure is vital to the success of the campaign.
• What and how you’re paying for the service is critical for both a return on your investment and to keep the team working on the campaign appropriately motivated.
• Be aware of commission structures that encourage people to “stretch the truth” to get the sale or donation.
• Make sure you are working directly with the key people.
• Check you don’t have any penalty clauses in your contract that makes you pay when the telemarketing campaign hasn’t performed to expectation and you need to cancel the campaign early.
• Always have a written agreement in place.

Get in touch with a Thomas Direct team member today to discuss the right direction for your NFP and book your complimentary 10 hour telemarketing campaign.

Do you want an expert team of experienced charity telemarketers to run your campaign?

Telemarketing for lotteries, raffles and donations is a very different skillset and process. There are a lot of telemarketing companies out there, but most are focused on the hard-sell business-to-consumer or business-to-business campaigns.

You know the type; I’m sure you get the calls too – mobile phones, electric, gas, solar power, gym membership and so much more. These are hard-sell campaigns. There’s no focus on relationship building; it’s just about getting through the list as quickly as possible to give the sales pitch, find the quick sales and move on.

Telefundraising for charities is completely different. That’s why it’s important that you select a telemarketing company that is an expert in this area, where they have teams who are experienced at running these types of campaigns.

The key things you need to remember and think carefully about are as follows:

• There are a lot of telemarketing companies out there, but many are focused on “hard selling”.
• Charity work takes a different skillset than traditional selling.
• It’s important to select a company that has extensive experience with not-for-profit organisations.

Get in touch with a Thomas Direct team member today to discuss the right direction for your NFP and book your complimentary 10 hour telemarketing campaign.

Do you want a partnership with a telemarketing company that represents your NFP?

As a charity, your image or brand and the relationship you have with your supporters is everything. Without that, supporters drop off and funds decrease. This is why it’s essential that you select a telemarketing company that will represent your charity properly.

For example, in Australia, the average age of a not-for-profit supporter is 56 years old. Do you want a 21-year-old university student located off shore using scripted “pressure sales” to sell your raffle tickets or request donations? Or would you rather have a mature, Australian-based specialist who has extensive industry experience to deliver your message in a way that is relatable and authentic?

The key things you need to remember and think carefully about are as follows:

• Your reputation and relationship with your supporters is the most important thing you have, so the telemarketing company needs to maintain that relationship and align with your brand’s ethics.
• You need to understand exactly who will be talking to your supporters. Are they going to be able to continue and improve the relationship you have with your supporters? Are they going to treat your charity and brand as their own?
• Your approach to soliciting a lottery ticket sale or donation is integral to your company. You don’t want to use a telemarketing company that uses “pressure selling”, as this approach can alienate some supporters.
• Consider how the telemarketing team is treated. Do they have a high staff turnover? How are their staff paid on a salary plus commission?

TIP: If the team is paid a commission, this can lead to people being pushy to get the sale or donation, putting your supporters’ goodwill at risk.

Get in touch with a Thomas Direct team member today to discuss the right direction for your NFP and book your complimentary 10 hour telemarketing campaign.