Telemarketing first started back in the 1950’s in the USA linked to advertising on the radio – gradually filtering over to the UK and offered by hundreds of companies.

Many businesses when considering using telemarketing have the same questions and need to know the answers before deciding on the telemarketing company to work with.

The key to having a successful telemarketing campaign is in working with your chosen telemarketing company.  By them understanding you and you understanding them can you get the best from the relationship.

However the question that all businesses have is:

How much does telemarketing cost?

How do telemarketing companies charge, do they work on commission or a results basis?

All telemarketing companies are different and each charges what they want. There is no industry standard, all charge different fees based on the following:

Cost per hour
Cost per day
Cost per month
Cost per appointment

Most telemarketing agencies charge on a ‘pay per day’ basis – as it is easier to monitor and keep tabs on. The second most popular way of working is based on a ‘pay per month’ basis – if you have a large campaign that requires haphasard calling throughout a day, then a flat monthly rate is charged in the same way as an employee has their monthly salary.

Smaller agencies want to be very flexible (if they are starting up it makes sense) so charge on a ‘pay per hour’ basis.

This is good for clients that have a limited budget and do need to keep a very close eye on costs.

There are a few (around 10) telemarketing agencies that offer ‘pay per appointment’ telemarketing and as such – they can be very picky about the contracts they take on. Of course they only want to work on contracts that will provide the best returns for their services.

What guarantees are there with telemarketing?

Telemarketing is a difficult thing to offer guarantees with; many clients do want guaranteed results when it comes to telemarketing (as it can be a little like pouring money down a black hole) as the costs can mount up without any results to show for it.

Many people ask about ‘commission only’ telemarketing; however there are no UK telemarketing companies that offer this. There are some students or freelancers that may consider commission only work – however this may be while they are looking for a full time job – so your loyalty and commitment will be minimal.

Are all telemarketing companies the same?

All telemarketing companies are different, different sizes, different backgrounds, different prices etc. Telemarketing companies range from freelancers working out of their bedrooms to large call centers that work with global clients. All telemarketing agencies have different experience based on the clients they have worked with, or the background of the individual caller – so it is a case of picking and choosing.

There are hundreds of telemarketing companies around the UK so it is advised to have an idea of what sort of telemarketing agency you are interested in, and then compare quotes to get the best price and value for money.