Business Ideas

They try to generate 'leads' and often deal with Television polls, newspaper subscriptions, office products, real estate, finance and some specialized fields.

 

Telephone Canvassing is in many ways more lucrative than canvassing face to face or mail. It works out cheap compared to door to door and you get a immediate response too.

 

Some companies use pre recorded messages on a computer to generate leads. You can buy this from $1000 onwards. The disadvantage of this system is that people hate talking to non human messages and hang up. It is crucial for a business to sell, polling and make new leads. So phone canvassing is important in the long run.

 

If you want to start a phone canvassing business, its easy and requires minimal investment. You need to plan yourself and buy a telephone to begin. Make a plan, organise and may be even print some pamphlets to circulate among the businesses around. Its a good idea to make an appointment before you go.

 

Most business do not not that they pay only for positive leads and when you make an appointment. So, this way its an attractive offer for the business to think about. They could either pay per apointment made or a proportion of sales made. Mostly the fees depends on the value of product or service. 

 

To give an idea - if you make a sale or a possible appointment worth $100, your share would be $2. So as the value of sale increases, so does your share. The other option is 3% or 5% of the size of the sale finally made from prospects. You need to have trustworthy clients for this. 

 

 

Polls and questionnaires can be charged according to the number of successful records made, value of product or amount of information collected. You must always work out how much time you will spend doing this. As the business grows and you make more calls, your profits will also soar.

 

Always have written contracts and agreements between you and your clients. Make a draft of a contract yourself and take it to a lawyer. This way you can save on his fees. The contract should clearly state the terms of agreement like - number of calls, list of leads generated who meet the eligibility criteria and how often should you report to your client. 

 

The fee details, will it be a standard fee per name or percentage of the sale. It should also cover what happens to these names if the contract is terminated. Get the eligibility criteria or qualifications required from your client in writing. You must discuss and agree on these with your client before putting them in the contract and they should be fair.

 

In case your client decides on percentage sales, then make sure you put in the contract any sales generated in the future too for an agreed period. This is highly required to protect yourself from frauds. You can make direct calls to people to find out about any sales made that you are not aware of. 

 

Once your initial setup is done, always stay in touch with your client to exchange information and plans. To get more clinets, you may have to place any ad in the newspaper or mail brochures. Opinion poll companies, mailing houses and government electoral departments are a must to contact. 

 

Telephone canvassing is the first step towards telephone sales as most of it is similar. Selling may be more profitable than just canvassing as they make a confirmed deal for your client. Profits are affected by many factors such as product price, amount of sales, sales presentation and commission. The more profitable version is to sell your own product.

 

If you really want to do something like this, think of a product or service which does not clash with your existing clients and which has a good demand among people. Maintaining books of accounts is the same as any business. You will have to keep records of all your clients and names referred to them. Finally you must deliver what you say, if you promised 500 a week, you must do 500. 

 

Remember that there is a contract and you are bound by it and its also about trust. You may over time workout a faster way of doing it, but you must satisfy your client if you want to be in the Telephone Canvassing business.

 

 

BUSINESS SOURCES

 

DADCO DATA, Box 1719, Nevada City, CA 95959. rents a

telemarketing computer that makes calls; 600 different messages

available. Free cassette and brochure.

 

PRO LEADS, Box 182-A Boys Town, NE 68010. Sells a $10 kit to

start your own telemarketing business.

 

J & S Products, 14917 Index, Mission Hills, CA 91345,

818/361-4691. Offers model ETS automatic caller (up to 1500

daily), plus service and other brands.

 

SMC WORLDWIDE PUBLICATIONS, INC.., 310 Madison Ave.,New York, NY

10017. Supplies home magazine sellers.

 

G & B RECORDS, Box 10150, Terra Bella, CA 93270. Magazine

subscription commissions. send SASE for details.

 

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.,31 East 2nd St.,Mineola, NY 11051.

Discount books, clip art, stencils, etc.

 

QUILL CORPORATION, 100 Schelter Rd.,Lincolnshire, IL 60917-4700,

312/634-4800. Office supplies.

 

NEBS, 500 Main St.,Groton, MA 04171, 800/225-6380. Office

supplies.

 

IVEY PRINTING, Box 761, Meridan, TX 76665. Letterhead: 400 sheets

plus 200 envelopes - $18.

 

SWEDCO, Box 29, Mooresville, NC 28115. 3 line rubber stamps - $3;

Business cards - $13 per thousand.

 

ZPS, Box 581, Libertyville, IL 60048-2556. Business cards (raised

print - $11.50 per K) and letterhead stationery. Will print your

copy ready logo or design, even whole card.

 

WALTER DRAKE, 4119 Drake Bldg., Colorado Springs, CO 80940. Short

run business cards, stationery, etc. Good quality, but no choice

of style or color.