Telesales companies are being forced to work with dwindling call lists - not because the demand for products and services has gone down but because a strict legislative environment, Do-Not-Call lists, and disappearing land lines are squeezing the life out of telesales initiatives. Even the goods that telesales representatives can market and their approach in marketing them are being scrutinized.

There is good news for the telesales industry, though, in the form of text messaging and mobile phone marketing. Just as many industries have done in the past, the telesales industry too needs to broaden its scope and redefine its meaning. Or it will see the same fate as the railroad industry that was the leading transportation industry at a time and now lags behind airways and automobiles. Telecommunications includes various modes of communications and telesales services need to catch on with current trends to stay in the market. Telesales no longer means just a traditional phone call. It also means mobile marketing and text messaging.

How does text messaging boost telesales?

Telesales efforts can be effectively supplemented by mobile marketing and text messaging. Here's how:

Ride on a growing market: There are always two choices - stick with a dying technique and lose out or latch on to a growing system and thrive with it.
Traditional calling on fixed lines is becoming outdated as more and more people go mobile. Telesales representatives would have to shift their focus to the mobile market.

No restrictions like call times: Telesales is policed by regulations that lay down time limits within which a call can be made to a customer. This can prove restrictive as telesales representatives strive to catch people at the right time and also willing to take a marketing call. With mobile phones, availability is not an issue. Text messaging is a passive marketing approach.

The message is stored in the phone's memory and can be retrieved by the mobile owner at a convenient time.

Immediate response potential: Many mobile phones today are web-enabled. Customers can take immediate steps in response to a marketing message.

Use the message as a coupon: Just as sales coupons are designed to bring about an immediate action from customers, text messages too can include an urgent call for action and a reason for quick follow-through.

Proximity marketing: In sales, nothing is more effective than catching a prospect's attention at the right time and the right place. Proximity marketing is a strategy that enables businesses to send alerts about products and services when people are in a position to act on the information. With Bluetooth and GPS, telesales services can tailor contacts to the recipient's location.

With the decline in traditional telesales, there is an even greater need to outsource to telesales services that have broadened their scope and are adopting new trends to spread marketing messages. They have the tools and technology to manage text messaging effectively and take text and mobile marketing to the next level. It is the right time for telesales companies to diversify their services. If they don't, they will have no place in the market.

Source: Daljeet Sidhu