For a lead generation cold calling campaign to be truly successful, the learning process can’t end when the dials begin. Sure, it’s important to gather as much knowledge as possible before launching a program, but that’s only part of the equation.
When it comes to complex, relationship-driven B2B sales, no matter how well you think you know your prospect base, there will always be crucial pieces of data that can only be obtained once you’ve started calling. Such as:
- Which titles are most likely to engage in conversation?
- What type of messaging is or isn’t resonating with decision makers?
- When is the most productive time and day of the week to call?
- How many dials does it take to typically get through to a live person, or to book a meeting?
- How often are people responding to voicemails or emails?
VSA’s technology, experience, and insights allow us to closely monitor all these variables and more and respond accordingly. From our regular weekly reports to the deep-dive analyses compiled by our database marketing team, we are constantly accumulating information for our clients and looking for ways to improve productivity.
“Data has always been important, but now we’re finding it critical,” says Michele Plunkett, VSA’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.
As Michele puts it, VSA is not “set it and forget it” when it comes to what’s best for our clients. We’re never locked into the same calling schedule, messaging, or list strategy for the length of a campaign. But we’re also not impulsive or alarmist—adjustments to programs are strategic and data-driven and based on a wealth of research and best practices.
Here are four of the ways we use data to strengthen existing programs:
1. Expanded list development
VSA uses several high-tech list-building sources to prepare for a campaign, but even the best lists aren’t perfect. There will always be information that can only be gleaned by actual conversations—or lack thereof. One of the most important pieces of information is the person we should be talking to at each company.
Because of the complexity of many of our clients’ offerings, there are often multiple titles involved in the purchasing process, sometimes a half-dozen or more. Not every company’s process is the same, of course, but after a few weeks of calling, we’re able to determine which titles we’re most likely to connect with.
Beyond that, we can learn who we’re most often having appropriate conversations with and who our clients say are moving through their pipeline. Perhaps we started calling C-suite prospects but realized we’re better off at the management level, or vice versa. We use this information to strengthen each list moving forward.
The data also helps us determine which type of messaging resonates best with different titles, allowing us to alter our conversations based on who we’re talking to at each company.
2. When we’re making calls
Just because we’re giving you 40 hours of calling time a week, it doesn’t mean we’re calling 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. Because of our team-based approach, all of our clients have multiple skilled and knowledgeable BDRs assigned to their campaign. That means if the data shows Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon are the most productive calling windows for your program, we can devote more dials to those days and times.
The data also helps us determine how often we call the same prospect. We have programs where we’re much more likely to set meetings during the first few conversations, while others can take double-figure conversations before we get anywhere. Our analysis helps us know when it’s wise to keep calling, and when it makes sense to close a record.
It’s all about making the best use of the time our clients pay for. We have the skillset and technology to deliver more than twice the output of the average B2B call center, but the extra dials don’t mean much if we’re not learning anything from them. By relying on data to determine the best times to call and how often, we’re increasing our clients’ opportunities for success.
3. Tweaks to the script
On one current program, the data showed that a particular Business Development Representative (BDR) was consistently scheduling more meetings than the other members of the team. After listening to the calls, the program manager noticed that the BDR was adding the same line to the script in the same place each conversation.
The program manager had the other members of the team listen to the BDR’s calls and asked them to start including the added line. Sure enough, they began scheduling more meetings too. Something as simple as an extra line in the script made a difference in the program’s success rate, all because we had the data to back it up.
4. When we’re leaving voicemails and sending emails
You never want to bombard a potential customer’s inbox with unsolicited messages, but you also don’t want to give up on connecting with hard-to-reach prospects.
The data lets us know how many dials it takes before we make a meaningful connection with a prospect and gives us more insight into how frequently we should be leaving voicemails and sending emails. We can see how voicemails and emails affect the dial-to-conversation and dial-to-meeting ratios for each program, and adjust our cadences from there. It’s all about building on the data to narrow down what’s most effective for each campaign.
Conclusion
When it comes to cold calling, there are hundreds of variables that can affect the success of a program. At VSA, we don’t ignore any of them.
Program managers review the data regularly and share weekly reports with our clients. Not only does this improve a program’s short-term success, but it also provides clients with long-term market intelligence they might not have been able to gain otherwise. When you partner with VSA, you can be confident that we’ll never stop looking for ways to make your campaign more successful. If you’re interested in learning more about our data-driven processes, give us a call. We’d love to see how we can help you.