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.
Key Takeaways
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.
B2B Telemarketing can help you build relationships with prospects while closing bigger deals more frequently.
Effective telesales relies on appointment setting. This should be a priority in your telemarketing initiative.
Before calling a prospect, research them thoroughly.
Focus on building rapport while you’re on the phone.
If you or your in-house team are not delivering the results you’d expect, try working with a telemarketing agency.
Now is the perfect time to think about how your company can use social media as a tool to increase sales. Whether your company has been experimenting with social media for years, or is more recently diving in, a few things are for sure – social media can help you reach the prospects you are looking for, drive web traffic and, ultimately, generate more sales. Consider using these tips to improve your social media marketingstrategy: (more…)
Find a telemarketing agency with a proven track record. Avoid off-shore telemarketing agencies.
Focus on lead gen, make sure to implement a lead qualification process so you don’t waste time on low-quality leads.
Don’t be pushy when calling your pre-qualified leads.
After you close a sale, deliver exceptional service. This leads to word-of-mouth referrals which makes more inbound leads for your business.
When you run a B2B business, your telemarketing can (and should) look different from other run-of-the-mill telemarketing operations.
You need every call to drive a deeper relationship with your prospects. You need your leads to not just agree to set a sales appointment – but you need them to WANT to set up a sales appointment.
Sales appointment setting through telemarketing can be a daunting task, so we’ve compiled a how-to guide to help you get started!
It is safe to say that one of the best marketing tools to help seal the deal are testimonials and reviews. People want to hear about the good and the bad and, truthfully, anything you see on a company’s website will always come with some bias. Hearing from past clients or customers is a good way to decide whether the product or service will be the right fit. Ultimately, there are many benefits – for both your prospects and your company – that come with sharing testimonials and reviews. Some of these benefits include:
Testimonials and reviews can increase trust
According to Big Commerce, 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business. Potential customers may be more willing to use your product or service if they see that your company is being transparent and honest with them. While other tools, like case studies, can also be helpful in attracting customers, they are often written by the company. According to a 2017 survey of 250 B2B Buyers conducted by TrustRadius, “most buyers think both case studies and reviews have their place in the research process, and see the two forms of social proof as serving different purposes.” As seen in the chart below, B2B buyers consider testimonials and reviews to be significantly more authentic and trustworthy than case studies.
However, in a B2B telemarketing call, a 2 – 4 sentence case study is a fantastic way to verbally demonstrate the Problem-Solution-Outcome that the customer experienced by going with your firm. It adds to the credibility of your presentation and puts the prospect in the shoes of your customer and allows them to visualize the advantages realized.
They can generate more revenue
And revenue is the name of the game right? According to Big Commerce, every time a consumer interacts with your review, they generate 62% more revenue per site visitor. Similarly, consumers that interact with reviews are 58% more likely to convert and buy. This is most likely due to the increase in trust that testimonials and reviews also bring. With evidence that testimonials help in increasing revenue, it is almost a “no-brainer” to include them on your website. People are interested in hearing about what others have to say about your company, product, or service. Even if reviews brought in just a few new customers a year, it would be well worth it.
They can drive web traffic and improve SEO
Surprisingly enough, testimonials and reviews can drive a lot of new web traffic and improve your SEO. The goal of SEO is to deliver users, not only the information they are looking for, but also the most helpful information possible. Using bots, search engines crawl the internet looking for the most relevant information and then rank webpages based on this information. According to data collected by Yotpo, “websites using testimonials saw a 45% increase in traffic compared to those who didn’t.” So why do testimonials and reviews rank so well? Ultimately, search engine bots are looking for content that is new, interesting, and can’t be found anywhere else. User-generated content, like testimonials, are perfect for this reason. The graph below illustrates how using testimonials and reviews can impact the traffic on your company’s webpage.
The benefits that come with sharing testimonials and reviews are undeniable. Your customers will consider your company to be more trustworthy because you are sharing authentic messages, rather than biased ones. With so many people turning to the internet to help them make buying decisions, it is important that they can find information that they can trust online. Convert prospects that may e Once you increase trust, you will likely be able to generate more revenue because people are more likely to convert and buy after reading testimonials and reviews. Lastly, if your company has been struggling to bring traffic to your website, testimonials may be the key. Search engines are looking for unique content and testimonials are the perfect way to include content on your website that does not exist anywhere else on the web. When developing or adjusting your company’s content marketing strategy, adding testimonials and reviews may not be top-of-mind, but given the benefits it can bring to both your customer and your company, you may want to consider it as a part of your future content strategy.
Identifying KPIs for your sales reps will help you evaluate their effectiveness.
Making your KPIs known to your sales reps will help them self-evaluate and improve performance. This reduces the need for intervention from you and other administrators.
When evaluating your sales rep’s performance, your highest priority KPIs should include:
Without an organized client relationship management (CRM) system, prospect qualification, lead generation, and every stage of the sales cycle would be complete chaos. This is especially true if you have multiple lead generators or sales reps working those same records. It’s important for there to be a way to streamline and organize the data collected during each stage of the sales cycle.
Having a CRM system in place is a great way to stay organized, make sure you are reaching the right prospects, capitalize on prior intelligence gathered, and make sure salespeople are not calling the same prospects simultaneously. Lastly, prospects will still remain even if the sales rep leaves. Don’t let the prospect notes disappear along with the rep! If you don’t already have a CRM system in place, consider the benefits that come with having one:
After the year we’ve just been through, there’s no time like the present to have your sights set on growth. Phone outreach is one of the most efficient and effective ways to generate revenue. But let’s be honest – phone outreach isn’t easy.
From dealing with hard-to-reach prospects togetting in touch with the wrong people, phone outreach can be difficult. But, if you’re not already using it as a strategy to grow your business, you’re going to want to start now. The numbers speak for themselves – look at these statistics and trends about phone outreach and business growth: (more…)
The first 15 seconds of a phone call can make or break how successful it is. This time period is your only opportunity to grab their attention, making it even more daunting.
Since their time is valuable, represent yourself and the company in a concise, yet unique, manner. Differentiate your company in order to create a lasting first impression through an intriguing conversation. Be sure you are interesting to talk with by using vocal variety in your tone.
Follow these tips to help capture your prospect’s attention on a cold introductory call, and secure more time with decision-makers!
Even though there didn’t appear to be much of a “summer”, the calendar kept moving. Not long ago we were writing aboutWhat to Expect From Salespeople During this Timeand Adapting Your Value Proposition, and now fall has already arrived. Whether vacations were canceled, rescheduled or modified, working people hopefully took some time off to refresh and sales has become top of mind again.Let’s turn up the momentum as decision makers return from their “summer” vacations, eager to start the last quarter strong.
Track Your Efforts and Re-strategize.
Identify the prospects you contactedthese last few months, and ask yourself the following questions:
Did you make ‘touch base’ calls by phone when businesses were adapting to the pandemic?
Have you ever made it far along in the sales cycle with a prospect and then, just when you are about to close the deal, all communication stops? When a prospect ghosts you, it can be frustrating, leaving you wondering what you did wrong and what you could’ve done differently. However, just because communication has stopped doesn’t mean that you won’t ever hear from them again – there can be many reasons for the “ghosting,” and if you had a good feeling about an ultimate sale, the ghosting could simply be due to bad timing. Consider these suggestions for what to do when a prospect ghosts you:
Key Takeaways
When a prospect ghosts you, you should:
Follow up. Avoid being overbearing when following up, being too pushy will drive them away.
Send more personalized messages with very specific questions.
Remind the prospect of their desired outcomes, then remind them how you’ll help them achieve their desired outcomes.
If nothing else works, keep them in your database to revisit another time.
