Outsourcing Is Evolving In Australia

The outlook for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Australia is evolving from a simple cost effective alternative to a means of improving operational efficiency. Australian businesses have been persuaded to try out business process outsourcing to international service providers due to its positive global expansion potential.

SMEs in particular are eager to jump on the outsourcing bandwagon. Processes such as inbound telemarketing, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources management, finance, accounting and document management are the ones frequently outsourced.

Another factor that is driving Australian companies to outsource is cloud computing. The mobility and proven reliability of cloud services is swaying more organisations to consider the possibility of outsourcing enterprise-level cloud computing, while those already using the service are planning to rely more heavily on third party cloud service providers.

No matter what process is outsourced by a business, outsourcing to both freelance contractors and BPO firms still pose serious risks. Whether the services is sales leads generation, telemarketing, technical troubleshooting, data entry, appointment setting, transcription, human resource, financing or some other back office process, a thorough research and inquiry into the background of the firm or freelancer is important.

Here are a few basic tips to help businesses avoid transacting with unprofessional outsourcing contractors:

• Whenever available, scrutinise online websites of outsourcing firms and social profiles of freelancers to avoid shady contractors
• Always ask for client testimonials and a portfolio of previous work to ensure the validity of their claims
• Employ outsourcing project management, time-tracking and work monitoring software such as Basecamp, AceProject, Freedcamp, DotProject or TeamLab.

Australian B2b Marketing Outlook

3 years ago, b2b marketing was still relatively unknown in Australia. It was hypothesized by Kimon Lycos (of mihellandlycos.com) that this was due to the significant percentages earned by b2c marketers for each advertisement and the difficulties faced in b2b marketing. Marketing for b2b companies can’t be influenced by catchy jingles, colorful TV advertisements or promoted by famous celebrities, an advantage enjoyed by b2c marketers. B2b marketing relies on the marketer’s own people skills, product knowledge and properly done company research. But b2c marketers should learn from b2b marketers. B2b marketing is generally more targeted compared to b2c. A strategy which is laudable especially when compared to b2c's irritatingly bullish marketing strategies.

Green Hat has conducted a research report that explores b2b marketing in Australia and confirmed suspicions such as more businesses leaning more towards digital marketing and the planned increase in marketing budget for b2b sales leads generation. The B2B Marketing Outlook Australia 2012 research report also points out significant trends in Australian b2b marketing:

1. Significant increase in upsell and cross-sell activities of b2b marketers highlighting emphasis on lead nurturing and lead management programs; 
2.  The need to focus on sales and marketing integration to ensure that sales teams religiously follow up on all sales leads delivered by the marketing teams; 
3.  Further development of social media marketing plans; 
4.  Increase in the significance of measuring marketing ROI to support the need for sales and marketing integration.

The research presents a positive outlook for the future of b2b marketing in Australia. "The good news is that the vast majority of Australian B2B businesses are increasing – or at least maintaining – their level of investment in marketing." - Green Hat

How To Keep Your Superstar Telemarketers

We all know just how challenging it is to be in the lead generation business in Australia. Stress levels are pretty high, and the number of success that you get may not be as much as you want. This can be especially true if you are using telemarketing as your medium. Still, you can be thankful that you have someone who may be doing an excellent job in generating more sales leads. Good for you. But, like all workers these days, your superstar worker may be looking for better pastures. But you need him, right? But you know you cannot promote or give him a raise. So how do you keep him?

1. Be preemptive – talk to your talent. Tell him how you value his work, and that he has a lot of potentials. You just have to be honest about the current situation, why you cannot give him a raise or a promotion
2. Be a great boss – believe it or not, people leave companies not because of the pay, but because of the boss. If you are a great leader, then employees will not leave you. Indeed, they might look for means so that you stay as their boss.
3. Allow them informal growth – give them opportunities in other areas of your business. Let them have a say in some important strategies in your business. The pay may stay the same, but employees appreciate the feeling that they have a hand in expanding the firm.

These are just some of the ways you can try.

Six Steps In Deciding Right

A lot of business decisions can affect the future of a company in Australia. While you may find it more convenient to use your gut instinct, using it at a larger company, like those in telemarketing, might not be advisable at all. In fact, there are a lot of things that can go wrong when you do not decide properly. Still, this challenge can be easily taken cared of. There are steps that you can follow so that you will not go wrong.

Consider these six tips below, and your business decisions become less complicated to make.

1. Do a situation analysis to determine what factors can affect your business.
2. Perform a public consultation to know if you can get support on the decision.
3.  Identify the costs and benefits of doing the something. 
4.  Identify the risks and rewards that will come after the implementation.
5. See if what you are about to do is the right thing to do. 
6.  Deciding the job itself, where actual implementation is to be made.  And yes, there is another step, but only if there are problems that come up:
7. Make sure you have a back-up plan. Just in case something happens and the first plan fails, at least you have another plan to use.

There are many things that can affect the performance of the telemarketing company. As long as you can make the right decisions, you will not be in trouble anymore. Your telemarketers will be grateful for you in being careful.

Doing Stuff One At A Time

In today’s increasingly hectic business world, one of the most natural reactions of us when it comes to this is to practice multi-tasking. While some say that this method can produce good results, experience has shown it to be actually ineffective. In fact, about twenty-five percent of an employee’s attention is reduced when they are made to do more than one task at the same time. Practically speaking, instead of getting the job done faster, results are produced slower. That is why it may be important for telemarketing firms to consider taking things one at a time. Not only will this help telemarketers focus better, they can also perform their tasks much better.

Now, how can you effectively do things one at a time?

To start with, you can start by concentrating in a single job in the morning, without any distraction. You are still fresh at this time, so you would be able to do better. Second, take some time to look at thing in a different perspective, prioritizing which task to do first. You will be able to come up with more creative solutions to your job. And lastly, when you take a vacation, really take a vacation. Make an effort to be disconnected from the office even for just a few days. Not only will you be feel better, you will also be able to work better once you come back. These are just some of the things that telemarketing services can benefit from doing things once in a while. Keeping a steady pace will often get more tasks done in the end.

Why Sharing Matters in Lead Generation

There are many tips out there regarding how to do lead generation in the most effective way possible. A more latest study states that it’s when you give something for free, then you can earn more benefits sooner or later.

Turned out that the mere act of sharing has its advantages. If you generate a good noise, for example, if you share some valuable information online for free, people will notice that for sure. It’s only natural for customers to grab anything free if there’s a chance. For the marketers, no one knows exactly how long your sale of 100% off would last, so there’s a tendency that everyone’s going to spread this to their friends also. This can happen fast enough, so brace yourself for a surge of new followers and b2b leads.

Flourishing opportunities for backlinks. If you begin sharing what you know, you will likely to meet others who are practically into the same things. You are on the same level mentally speaking, so all the more reason to take advantage of this chance in order to draw together strong back links. Your subject matter is mostly the same, so building connections can be fairly simple. Supporting each other through backlinking can be a win-win situation for everyone.

Expand your audience. What have you noticed in Twitter and Facebook? From the beginning till now, they’re giving free services. If you ask what they can benefit from it, simple—they captured enormous audience and that’s a potent way to leverage their marketing campaign. They have the access to their users with sidebar ads which attract the other users to purchase. And how much do you think they charge for a single ad which numerous people could publicly view every hour of the day? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

And you can do the same for your company. You got more chances of attaining sales if you have a bigger audience.