Does Call Time And Call Frequency Matter In Telemarketing?

Every part of your marketing budget should be invested wisely in ways that will ultimately lead to conversions, and this is especially true in specialist fields such as life sciences.

A common misconception that is sometimes found when discussing telemarketing is the idea that there is only one homogeneous approach that is used, irrespective of the industry.

This is not only untrue, but attempting to treat a specialist industry with the same scattergun approach one would manage mass-market consumer products wastes extraordinarily valuable leads.

This also means that many of the metrics used to measure successful campaigns can have different meanings and values depending on the sector you are working in.

This is why you need to work with a marketing team that understands your specialist field, knows what to ask from customers, which aspects of your product or service to emphasise and ensures you are contributing not only to a market but to a research discourse.

However, some metrics are universal, are they not? Calling back enough times in the right intervals and having longer phone calls are positive metrics that can be effectively monitored, right?

Whilst this can be broadly true, it is also overly simplistic, as it is often less about the number of calls you make or even how long they are, but how much each minute is maximised in order to create a relationship between your customers and you.

To understand why, it is important to also explore the benefits and limitations of data-driven marketing.

Should Metrics Become Targets?

The reason why both call time and call frequency are discussed at all is because they are easily measurable statistics that are loosely correlated with conversions, which is ultimately the only statistic that universally matters in telemarketing.

This can lead to the temptation to turn a metric into a target; rather than observing that calls over 15 minutes are more likely to lead to sales or that you need to call a lead at least five times before they are in a position to discuss sales terms, you mandate it within your marketing team.

This is often a mistake, both in these specific instances and more generally.

There is a maxim in economics known as Goodhart’s law, which simply states that whenever a measurement or metric becomes a target, it stops being useful as a statistic.

It is also applicable to telemarketing; once you require skilled marketers to use a specific, rigid approach, they can sometimes struggle to tailor their approach to the needs of particular prospective customers.

This is a universal rule applicable to any aspect of business, but here are two specific examples that relate to telemarketing specifically.

Do You Always Need Five Calls To Make A Sale?

A survey conducted by Selling Power and published by Marketing Charts claimed that over half of salespeople believe it takes at least five attempts to secure an initial meeting with a client, with a tenth believing it can take over ten calls.

Whilst the specific numbers will change, there is a natural correlation between more calls and a potential sale. Remaining in contact keeps your business in the minds of your contacts, allows you to learn about their needs and builds up a profile to tailor your product offering to them.

Of course, exactly how often you should call will depend on the type of product you are offering. 

If you are offering research instruments that are a one-time purchase and are unlikely to change, you will likely get less benefit from repeated calls. Your customer either wants your product or they do not.

Complex products, services and industries tend to require more calls, as customers will have more questions to ask, more pain points, and require more certainty before they part with their money.

However, this does not discount the fact that every call has value to it, either through relationship building or market research.

Are Longer Telemarketing Calls Always Better?

A more contentious question is the debate about whether it is better to have shorter or longer conversations. Possibly the greater reason why metrics should not become targets is that nobody can agree on whether there should be a call time limit or a minimum length.

Ultimately, the quantity of minutes is irrelevant compared to the quality of the discussions and conversations that are had, and how they bring customers towards your ultimate actionable goals.

Different industries will require longer or shorter conversations to explore their product offering, particularly if there are complicated nuances and pain points which need time to address.

As well as this, different calls with the same lead will have different purposes. An initial enquiry will require more time than a follow-up check-in call.