Outsourcing Telemarketing to the Philippines: 5 Things to Consider

Outsourcing telemarketing to the Philippines makes sense for a lot of CEOs. Over 500,000 Filipino agents are on the phones every day, making both inbound and outbound calls. If you are considering outsourcing phone support to the Philippines be sure to consider these five things to make sure that you’ll get the best bang for your buck.

1. Where is the telemarketing company located?

The location of the outsourced telemarketing company matters. Telemarketing companies in the USA are costly, and their prices might not be justified. There are massive cost differences between the US and other countries. This has forced many telemarketing companies to outsource telemarketing operations to the Philippines or other offshore countries to radically reduce costs. Even within the Philippines, having a provider in a big city such as Manila, versus a small provincial town can have a major impact on costs and quality. However, before hiring an outsourced telemarketing service, you must ask yourself if your customers would be fine with agents offshore. Your customers may also notice that their call center agents have a heavy accent, which may damage your brand. That is why many call center companies in India are relocating their offices to the Philippines, a country with native English speakers that have neutral accents and great people skills.

2. Who buys the leads?

Are you doing an outbound lead-gen campaign? Where are you getting your lists of people to call? Are you supposed to pay them for leads or the entire campaign, or is the telemarketing company supplying the leads? Several telemarketing outsourcing companies and lead generation companies guarantee that they will be able to generate a certain number of leads per day, week or month. Be careful with the quality of leads. Some of these leads will be of very poor quality and out of your targeted market. If you are buying leads be sure that they are quality.

3. Is the campaign customized for you?

Your partner must be able to customize your telemarketing campaign to your specific business needs. These needs would include your product, target market, budget, and other specifications. Your script also has to be super tight, and continually refined and improved. If the telemarketing outsourcing agency tries to fit you with a one size fits all campaign, and they are unwilling to be flexible with you, you should consider another provider.

4. What CRM / IT is the telemarketing company using?

To conduct an effective telemarketing campaign, the telemarketer must have the proper systems in place including CRM, auto-dialing systems, proper headsets, etc. Without the proper tools, the campaign will not be successful. Be sure the CRM you choose has the following features:

• One-click calls from inside CRM
• Automatic lead distribution and telemarketing agent management
• Client information visible during a phone call
• Create new lead during a phone call
• Create new lead for each missed call
• Easy call scheduling
• Invoicing and email marketing

5. Are they generating exclusive leads?

Make sure that the leads that your telemarketing service is giving you are 100% exclusive to your campaign. Do you need to fight with other companies to generate real business from these leads, or are these leads exclusive to you? When determining when a lead is good or not, you first must define what a good lead looks like? What criteria or profile does the lead need to have to be of value to you? What size, industry, or behaviour makes your leads good or bad? These are all things to consider.