How to Improve Your B2B Telemarketing Results

If you are a B2B business, you rely on making meaningful connections with other businesses to sell your product or service. When it comes to connecting with real people, there is nothing that works quite as well as a phone call. That’s why B2B telemarketing is the best way to get a prospect to move into and through your sales funnel.

Even still, telemarketing is getting harder every year. In 2007, it took an average of 3.68 calls to reach a high-ticket prospect. Now, it takes around 8 calls on average before you can connect with the prospect. 

Getting your highest-priority prospects on the phone is a must. That’s why you need to make sure your B2B telemarketing strategy and execution are top-notch. 

In this article, we’ll show you how to set yourself up for success in the world of B2B telemarketing. 

What Is B2B Telemarketing

B2B telemarketing is a marketing tactic where a business will call business owners and decision-makers with the objective of selling a product or service. 

Cold calling is often a part of telemarketing, but cold calling and telemarketing are not the same. Cold calling is when a business makes their first connection with a prospect through a call. A prospect who has never connected with your business is called a “cold lead.” This is different than a warm lead, which is a lead who has expressed an interest in your business’s products or services. This is where the term “cold calling” comes from. 

A good B2B telemarketing strategy will include cold calling, but it should also include other aspects, such as: 

• Calling warm leads 
• Performing market research
• Qualifying your current list of leads
• Following up with current clients
• Upselling happy customers
• & a multi-channel marketing strategy

Great B2B telemarketing makes it possible to speak with influential decision-makers directly. These connections speed up and lead to qualifying and conversion.

Benefits of B2B Telemarketing

B2B telemarketing produces targeted leads, more sales,  and improves profitability. You’ll be able to warm up your qualified leads and establish a relationship built on trust and personability.

In B2B marketing, it takes more than just a clever ad to land a deal. Business owners want to connect with real people who they can trust before making a commitment to another business. 

That’s why routinely connecting with prospects on the phone accelerates the B2B sales process. Telemarketing takes an approach that is more individualized than outbound prospecting and advertising.

With B2B telemarketers you can designate certain call agents for particular leads. They are able to establish a connection with the client and prepare them to seal the deal.

These result in a higher chance of lead conversion, especially as it related to high-ticket sales. Warming up your leads can help B2B sales team members concentrate on locating and investigating more targeted prospects.

Maximize Your Time With B2B Appointment Setting

Unlike most B2C businesses, a B2B customer will want to thoroughly vet you and your business before committing to buying your product or service. B2B customers are seeking affirmation that their outcomes will be met when they receive the product or service you offer. 

How do you provide that affirmation? Set them up with an appointment with one of your in-house experts (ie. your sales team).

Appointment setting is an art in telemarketing. We’ve written several articles to help you maximize sales through appointment setting. Below you’ll find links to some of those articles, but here’s a rundown of the must-knows when setting appointments using telemarketing: 

1. Make sure you’re implementing a lead qualification process and only calling your highest priority leads. This saves incredible amounts of time and money while keeping team morale high. 
2. Carefully select the time you call your prospects. Often, between 9am-10am is a good time to call since the prospect is awake, alert, and working on getting their day started. 
3. Plan your call before you pick up the phone. Have a rough script ready and know what appointment slots are available before you call a prospect
4. Focus on connecting with the prospect on a personal level on the call, personability goes a long way in appointment setting
5. Keep thorough notes about the prospect. Make notes about their personal interests, business objectives, and their objections. 
6. Don’t push the sale right away. Instead, inform the prospect that they may be a fit for what you offer. Tell them that you want to hand them off to another expert to continue the conversation with them.
7. Send all of your notes to the sales rep who will meet the prospect. That should provide them with all of the info they need to make the sale.

Additional Resources on Appointment Setting

• How to Set Sales Appointments using Telemarketing for B2B
• Prospect Qualification & Appointment Setting to Land More Meetings
• Appointment Setting – Today’s Leading Sales Strategy

Research Your Leads

Prior to making the first sales call, conducting sales lead research can help you stand out from the competition. By researching a company or contact, you can build rapport with that individual faster. 

Building a relationship with a customer over the phone is more difficult than in-person interactions. Building rapport over the phone is a crucial stage in relationship building and nurturing sales leads, especially with new prospects.

We have written thoroughly on this topic,  so to learn more about how to research prospects before a sales call click this link!

Here are some additional tips to help you as you collect information about your prospect before their sales appointment. 

• Do research online before your first outreach: Analyze the company’s websites or C-suite executive’s social media. Use Google to find news articles that have mentioned the prospect. Browsing LinkedIn for mutual connections can also help establish a foundation based on common connections.
• On your first call with the prospect, pay close attention as the prospect speaks. Listen for any specifics they may disclose about their personal life. Show them that you are listening diligently and making them feel heard. You can later intertwine these personal details in your sales approach to make it more customized. 
• On your first call, focus on building rapport. It makes clients feel better about the assistance you offer them. When your consumers like you, handling them and making them happy becomes simple for you. 
• Before contacting a potential customer, it’s important to be aware of a company’s history. Knowing these insights and industry facts can help you secure a sales appointment that will close a deal.

Making the extra effort before calling shows your company’s initiative and thoroughness. This is the first step in developing a relationship between the buyer and seller. Conducting thorough research during lead generation can help you convert leads. 

Customize Your Approach

Do you understand why just a small percentage of telemarketers stand out from the crowd and elicit a response from the other end? 

Most commonly, it’s because they all, go through the same training processes, and usually use similar equipment, & software, and their scripts are all the same.

Successful B2B telemarketers develop novel scripts that will engage a prospect in a way they haven’t been engaged before. A good script is flexible and leaves room for a telemarketer or sales rep to use their intuition to branch off the script as needed. 

Customers recoil when the first line you deliver is scripted. Open with a rapport-building introduction, then use your intuition from there. Apply the script only as needed. 

Your job is to compel the person on the other end to engage in dialogue. The ability to make a sales call appear conversational is the most simple and most effective sales tactic you can apply. 

Ask Questions, Don’t Just Talk At Them

People love talking about themselves, and business owners are no exception. 

Ask questions to your leads during telemarketing calls. No one wants to be talked at, but most people enjoy productive conversations. By entering conversation instead of blindly pitching, you can also uncover details that will make it easier for your to personalize your sales approach.

You should be utilizing the prospect’s knowledge to direct the dialogue and provide a more specialized approach. 

Instead of describing perks, ask questions to ascertain whether the prospect will find them useful. You may more successfully explain your solution within the context of their world by allowing a prospect to talk about their company and its needs.

You may engage with customers, learn about their needs and desires, and show your knowledge by asking the right questions. You can learn more about the buyer’s purchasing process by posing inquiries. This enables you to qualify for the sale and guarantees constant communication between you and the customer.

Secure Next Step Commitment 

Single-call sales are extremely rare. The majority of calls won’t result in a sale, but each one should bring the prospect one step closer to making a purchase. At the end of your calls, you should always figure out how to set appointments for future calls or have a new actionable objective. 

Obtaining a prospect’s commitment to the next stage indicates that the sales process is progressing. A follow-up call or meeting or an introduction to a colleague can all be considered as the next step. Getting a commitment from potential customers to take future action shows that they are interested in your service.

The process can be long and difficult. Try to frequently remind yourself that the people who need you will buy your service. They will commit on their ideal timeline, not on yours. 

Make the Most of Your Business Through B2B Telemarketing & Appointment Setting

B2B Telemarketing is an effective solution for B2B businesses looking to land bigger deals more frequently. 

At Market Reach, we offer B2B telemarketing to help you connect with businesses. Our forward-thinking business approach can help you reach your brand and reach its potential. 

We offer complimentary consultations to help build out a schedule that will fit your schedule. Contact us at Market Reach to connect with your B2B telemarketing needs.