Multichannel Marketing

My recent post on Cultural Blunders In Telesales inspired a few people to email me directly about this. Before I give further thoughts on this subject, I want to tell you where I stand.

Personal Opinion

Yes, as a person at home most of the time, with a phone number in the public phone book, I do experience all the down sides of Telesales.

My personal complaint is not to do with the bad timing and inappropriate sales pitches, which all of them are in my case. When my children have all left home I will probably get an unlisted number. This is my personal choice.

Cultural Blunders In Outsourced Business To Consumer Telesales

My personal complaint is the current trend I am experiencing with cultural differences leading to rudeness because of cultural miscommunication. There are days and weeks when it seems like all the companies actively practicing Telesales here in France have outsourced this interruption marketing practice to foreign countries unfamiliar with the basic culture here.

You can read more about this in my previous article on cultural blunders to find out why I think companies should think twice before buying this service, simply because of the cultural blunders it creates in Business to Consumer markets.

I will leave the discussion about all domestic market telesales and Business to Consumer interruption marketing practices to the experts. It just does not interest me.

An interruption marketing tactic alone will probably fail if you are in an Export Marketing phase. If your international business is only in export marketing you will probably not have enough cultural understanding of your foreign markets. Read the Get International Client Business Guide 1 – Beginners Discover Your International Business.

You need to adapt telesales and integrate this interruption marketing tactic into a multichannel marketing strategy for it to be worthwhile in international sales.

TeleSales In A MultiChannel Marketing Strategy

What interests me is the international aspect of tele-sales.

In my business directory Get International Clients I help small businesses as they expand into foreign markets. Small businesses often ask about the use of telesales. This is why I want to address the question of international telesales.

First I have to say, I think small businesses need to spend much more time on the phone. Not to do telesales. Phone conversations are great for international market research. Most businesses rely very heavily on online research. There is so much more to gain if you do your international research through phone calls. So I actively push small businesses to pick up the phone.

If a small business has carried out most of its international market research through phone calls, then I think this business has a good chance of getting results using telesales. You pick up cross-cultural skills through practice. These cross-cultural skills will help you with your international telesales.

But, and this is a big but, most companies are still using outdated telesales practices.

I highly recommend Akin Arikan’s book Multichannel Marketing. Akin Arikan describes the problem of today’s telesales practices very clearly. Most consumer markets today make their buying decisions differently than 10 years ago. This is true throughout the world.

Consumer-Driven Marketing

Product-driven marketing needs to evolve in order to get sales results in a market demanding consumer-driven marketing.

Akin Arikan tells a story of the day he moved into a new house. The telesales marketers had done a good job at identifying his new telephone number and flooded his telephone line with calls as soon as it was hooked up. Imagine the situation. You are just moving in, trying to sort out boxes and where things should go. Your new is ringing constantly. You have to keep trying to find the phone in all the boxes. Interruption marketing rapidly becomes unwanted.

What did the Arikan family do? Just like anyone today. They sorted out their important boxes first. And as soon as they got their computer up and running they did comparison shopping online. Then went to the stores down the road to buy what they needed. Of course, they did not feel obliged to buy from the same company online where they found the most useful information. They simply went to the most convenient place for them.

Evolution In The World Of TeleSales

Here are 3 thoughts on how to improve telesales marketing:

• The telesales scripts need to change to fit into today’s consumer habits. The telephone marketers would probably have gained more if they linked their telesales pitch to their online marketing.
• Online marketing also needs to change to get consumers to buy from them. Imagine if the website that provided the most useful information also provided directions to the local store with a housewarming special for new people in the area.
• Successful telesales marketing needs effective multichannel marketing today.

The bad news: Small businesses that rely heavily on international web marketing need to create good multichannel marketing if they want international success.

The good news: It is easier to get it right when starting from scratch.

Of course you can include telesales as part of your multichannel mix. Do your own telesales in-house. Even if this method is not culturally well adapted to your specific foreign market, you will gain valuable insights into your international markets. Telesales is a great international market research tool if you take the time to use it.

More On Multichannel Marketing

• Multichannel Marketing Helps You Make A Better Offer
• Multichannel Marketing For International Audiences
• Multichannel Marketing Is Key To Your International Business Success
• Telesales, MultiChannel Marketing And International Business
• What Is MultiChannel Marketing

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Telesales, MultiChannel Marketing And International Business

International Web Marketing Mix

Different countries have evolved at different speeds in international web marketing.  For example, there are still some countries with brochure-style websites.

The more advanced countries in web marketing have long since dropped this style of website.  They found that brochure-style websites do not bring in business.

• Business is different.
• This communication platform is different.
• Clients and prospects have different expectations.

Online businesses in the advanced countries found it was useless to fight the nature of online business.  They decided to take full advantage of the community potential online.

This is where the brochure-style website became obsolete.

But what about the countries where this is still the norm?

How should you create your international marketing plan for your clients in these countries?

The answer probably lies in multi-channel marketing.  In countries where the brochure-style website is still alive, businesses must rely on other marketing methods to get results.

More On International Web Marketing Mix:

• 3 Ways To Improve Your International Marketing Plan
• Choice Of Internet Marketing Methods
• Company Websites Still Brochures In Some Countries
• How To Give Turbo Power To Your Multicultural Internet Marketing To Actually Get International Clients
• Use A Multicultural Internet Marketing Strategy To Develop Your International Business
• Using Foreign Language E-Communication Tools
• Web Marketing For International Sales
• What Set Of Marketing Methods Do You Need For International Success

Business Guides On Get International Clients

• Multichannel Marketing
• Build Your International Marketing Strategy

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

Company Websites Still Brochures In Some Countries

International Web Marketing Mix

There are three decisions you need to make before creating your international marketing plan. Use these three criteria to identify your international marketing needs.

The Difference With Your Domestic Product

• Will you be selling a domestic product or a product specific to your international market?
• How will your sales pitch be different?
• How will you need to adapt your product and your sales pitch to a different market and culture?

There are seven different stages to international business development. Identify exactly what you are selling to your international clients and use the appropriate international marketing strategy.

Cross-Cultural Marketing or Multicultural Marketing

Are marketing your product to a wide range of cultures, on the web for example, with one marketing plan?

If so, use a Multicultural Marketing approach.

Are you marketing your product to one specific country?

Then you need to use more specific Cross-Cultural Marketing strategies.

Single Channel Marketing Or Multi-Channel Marketing

The type of marketing strategy you use will effect your entire international marketing plan.

Will you only use one single channel to market your product abroad?

Or will you use a variety of channels?

What works in your domestic market may be different elsewhere. Your market research will tell you where you should be putting your efforts. Some cultures will respond better to different channels of communication.

If you are relying heavily on web marketing for your International Marketing strategy, try to add in some other channels. At the very minimum, adjust your web marketing using Cultural Web Tools to get better results.

Effective International Marketing

An effective International Marketing Plan is based on identifying the right mix for your business, products and international markets.

More On International Web Marketing Mix:

• 3 Ways To Improve Your International Marketing Plan
• Choice Of Internet Marketing Methods
• Company Websites Still Brochures In Some Countries
• How To Give Turbo Power To Your Multicultural Internet Marketing To Actually Get International Clients
• Use A Multicultural Internet Marketing Strategy To Develop Your International Business
• Using Foreign Language E-Communication Tools
• Web Marketing For International Sales
• What Set Of Marketing Methods Do You Need For International Success

Business Guides On Get International Clients

• Multichannel Marketing
• Build Your International Marketing Strategy

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

3 Ways To Improve Your International Marketing Plan

International Web Marketing Mix

As a small business, if you want to get more international clients on a budget you will need the special turbo power an integrated marketing campaign can bring you.

Multi Channel Marketing

Marketing today is carried out using different channels. It is referred to as multi-channel marketing.

So if you have launched a multicultural internet marketing campaign, you might think it is simply a question of using a variety of communication channels and your message will get through better.

Well no. You might get lucky and you might create some buzz. But you would be wasting an even bigger opportunity.

You can actually stimulate feed back; create ways to move your readers to where you want them to go.

Integrated Marketing

Using different marketing channels enables you to create movement between the different channels. You can stimulate movement using various tools, such as free reports, surveys, fun tests, anything that can interest your reader enough for him to go to your other marketing touch.

This is important, because it takes a little longer to develop the trust you need for international clients to buy from you. You will need a number of client touches before he will buy from you.

Using these different tools and different channels in different kinds of marketing is called integrated marketing.

An Integrated Marketing Plan Is All About Strategy

Here are a few questions you will need to ask before setting up your integrated marketing plan.

• Where is your reader when he visits your business?
• What does he need to hear right now?
• What does he want?
• What does he need to hear next?
• How can I get him interested in the next thing I want to say to him?

This is your internet marketing lead generation plan.

If you test it, tweak it and get it right, it works. You will get more international clients.

More On International Web Marketing Mix:

• 3 Ways To Improve Your International Marketing Plan
• Choice Of Internet Marketing Methods
• Company Websites Still Brochures In Some Countries
• How To Give Turbo Power To Your Multicultural Internet Marketing To Actually Get International Clients
• Use A Multicultural Internet Marketing Strategy To Develop Your International Business
• Using Foreign Language E-Communication Tools
• Web Marketing For International Sales
• What Set Of Marketing Methods Do You Need For International Success

Business Guides On Get International Clients

• Multichannel Marketing
• Build Your International Marketing Strategy

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

How To Give Turbo Power To Your Multicultural Internet Marketing To Actually Get International Clients