A Guide to Telemarketing Software [Features, Benefits, Top 3 Tools]

People want to buy from people.

Not corporations, digital addresses, and foreign phone numbers – and that's often exactly how prospects perceive your business.

Telemarketing (marketing via phone) is a great opportunity to engage in real conversation with leads, and 57% of C-level buyers prefer being contacted that way.

It's a great tactic if you try to build a door in that wall and show your prospects who and what's behind it.

Otherwise, they feel like you're barging in when you call.

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The problem is that telemarketing takes a lot of time and labor on your end.

Unlike automated emails, for instance, where a bunch of your leads will read the same message, with telemarketing, you have to go through them one by one.

Telemarketing software can help you streamline that process, build better client relationships, and get the biggest bang for your buck.

So, let's discuss the details.

What Is Telemarketing Software?

Telemarketing is marketing via phone calls. It can be outbound and inbound, depending on whether you're calling a potential customer who's never been in touch with your company (outbound) or talking to a warm lead (inbound). But, more often than not, telemarketing is just another word for cold calling – and we all know that most people rightfully hate it.

On the clients' end, telemarketing can be mildly disruptive for the average person or the bane of your existence if you're an older person relying on landlines.

On the agents' end, it's everyone's least favorite part of the job because it includes a whole lot of rejection. Plus, it takes a lot of effort to succeed.

But telemarketing software makes the process more bearable for all parties.

And what is telemarketing software?

Telemarketing software is a tool that lets you efficiently contact a large number of people so you can better prepare for those dreaded calls, spend less time on repetitive work, and remove obstacles from your way. It increases your chances of melting the ice on your prospects' end, so they hear you out and hopefully become customers.

After a reasonable amount of follow-ups and nurturing, of course.

So how does telemarketing software do it?

Features of Telemarketing CRM Software

The best telemarketing software has 5/5 of these features.

1. Inbound and outbound calling functionality

Communication is the number 1 feature of any telemarketing software.

You're calling and prospecting all day long, right?

But that doesn't mean every (or any) tool will have you covered within the subscription fee alone.

When you're comparing them to pick the best quality: price ratio, it bears checking what's included in which CRM software plan and how the pricing structure works.

So, for example, let's say you're considering a wallet-friendly-looking CRM that costs $29 per month on the cheapest plan.

When you take a closer look, the price includes an outbound channel, but you'll have to pay extra for other features you need:

• Inbound calling functionality
• Lead management
• Calling credit
• Auto dialing

On the other hand, you have Ringy offering:

1. Cloud VoIP softphone with a caller ID for $99 per month
2. $0.01 per minute outbound calls
3. 1000 minutes or text credit every month for free

It only looks more expensive at first glance – until you see that the price includes some features your CRM with cheaper subscription charges additionally:

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Don't skip on those details – communication isn't one of those things you'll be able to say “whatever, we don't need it” about.

2. Remote access/access from multiple devices

Cloud VoIP with mobile access makes you more agile.

When you have access 24/7, you don't have to worry about whether your work hours fall inside the “best calling time” for your customers.

Or whether you'll be able to respond to their call immediately before they go to your competitor.

Smartphones increase productivity by 34% – it's no wonder that salespeople who use multiple devices tend to outsell their peers.

3. Local caller ID

Over 70% of people prefer buying from local businesses vs national chains, and many of them literally never pick up a call from an “unknown” number.

Looking like a local is the first step to building client relationships.

It's a way to gain their trust immediately: because you're like two peas in a pod, you know?

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Okay, having a familiar phone number doesn't automatically make you best buds with leads.

But a local ID opens the door and gives you a chance to win them over, no matter where you're located.

4. Lead management and history

If a client talks to an agent a few days previously, then contacts the support team again, they expect a seamless continuation of the service.

This means your team needs to know where the last conversation was left – even if that agent wasn't you.

It's a tall order, but you can manage it with telemarketing software that has a good lead management feature.

Lead management and history mean:

• Having an easily-scannable database at your fingertips
• Knowing your leads at a glance
• Finding key information quickly

All with the goal of keeping your clients happy and your reps' jobs easier. Speaking of…

5. Advanced dialing features with automation

You can automate up to 30% of the tasks currently performed by your agents.

It's a big deal.

Because, as is, they're spending most of their days not selling.

That's right. Salespeople spend the majority of their work time on the things that surround client calls, like creating to-do lists, inputting new contacts, manually searching for the right info, and pressing lots of buttons.

It's not good for their fingers – or your business.

Automated dialers like power or predictive dialers exist to take the logistics and administration off of your back.

They automatically go through your contacts, connect the available agents to prospects who pick up, and speed up the whole dialing process.

Some of them give you extra time to prepare for each call, others help you sprint through with no breaks.

But all of them can boost your sales.

Benefits of Telemarketing Phone Software

Let's talk about how all those telemarketing software features translate to measurable benefits for your business.

We'll keep it short and straightforward:

And, always keep in mind:

Receiving infinite scammy calls and pitches from companies you don't care about really sucks. Nobody likes it.

And we're not saying you're doing that!

But, while telemarketing software will help you streamline your process, it's on you to change your prospects' perception by showing them you care about their needs, listen to their requests, and don't push for your sale at all costs.

Because that's what's really going to make a difference for them in the end. If you figure that out, the $ales will grow naturally.

Makes sense, right?

But back to automated telemarketing software because… well, we just explained why. Let's see some real options.

3 Best Telemarketing Software

Our best telemarketing software picks include something for everyone.

Here's a quick overview before we dive in:

*Pricing accurate as of August 2022

Okay. Time for a closer look.

Ringy

Yes, it's us. But Ringy is on this list as the objectively best-rounded option, and here's why in one word:

Automation.

There are other perks to using Ringy as your telemarketing CRM software, including an easy-to-use customer database and a cloud VoIP softphone with a local caller ID.

But Ringy's high level of automation really sets it apart from the crowd:

1. Automated drip email or SMS campaigns on schedule
2. Advanced auto-dialers
3. AI capabilities that fine-tune your massages based on client details
4. Automated repetitive tasks like to-do list creation or data inputting

With all that out of the way, you're free to reallocate that time to creating scripts and templates for any occasion and perfecting your pitch.

Automation is applicable across the board so Ringy is used by a wide range of industries.

Pricing: $99/month

*Pricing is accurate as of August 2022

Bitrix24

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Looking for an affordable telemarketing database software that still covers all of your needs?

We'll do you one better: Bitrix24 has a plan that's free forever.

You won't find a lot of tools with such a robust set of features that you can use across your company, from sales and marketing to project management.

Here's what to expect from the free plan:

• A basic contact center with a phone, email, live chat, and social media account
• Unlimited contacts and deals
• Automatic dialer inside the CRM
• Basic project management with custom fields

This is a good start, but it's limited.

If you need higher automation, sales intelligence, and other advanced features (and who doesn't?), you'll need to splurge at least for the $175/month plan that allows up to 100 users.

Pricing:

• Free
• $43/month, billed annually
• $87/month, billed annually
• $175/month, billed annually
• $350/month, billed annually

*Pricing is accurate as of August 2022

Salesforce

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Salesforce is a classic CRM you'll see featured on any list, for good reason.

It's a well-rounded, versatile CRM tool with plenty of options to choose from – enough to fully support an enterprise.

Customization is one of Salesforce's strongest points.

The starter plan, Essentials, covers you for most of the important features at $25/user per month, with the exception of workflow automation – that's available on Enterprise and higher plans.

All in all, Salesforce is a perfect solution for medium and large businesses who are in for a beast of a CRM that can accommodate their unique needs.

But it does have a bit of a learning curve.

If you're a smaller business or simply put ease of use way higher on your priority list, the other telemarketing software options would be better suited for you.

Pricing:

• $25/user, billed annually
• $75/user, billed annually
• $150/user, billed annually
• $300/user, billed annually

*Pricing is accurate as of August 2022

Automated Telemarketing Software Is The Way to Go

There's no point beating around the bush: telemarketing is difficult. And even when it's done right, it has a bad rep.

But that doesn't mean you should surrender. This tactic is still highly effective and can be the difference between your sales growing or stagnating.

So, if anything, you should be going at it harder than ever.

Telemarketing software makes it so much easier, faster, and more efficient.

But you already know that from reading this blog until the end. Maybe that's a sign…?

So book a demo with Ringy and see what telemarketing looks like at its finest.