From the outside, a well-executed telephone lead generation campaign can look almost effortless. You build a contact list, write a script, make a bunch of calls, schedule some sales appointments, and, ideally, close a few deals.
Simple, right?
Hardly.
The truth is, there are countless moving parts behind the scenes involved in building and sustaining a productive B2B lead generation or appointment-setting program. Every day, there are strategic decisions and pivots to be made that not only impact the number of meaningful conversations and scheduled appointments, but also the quality of these appointments.
Is your sales team equipped to handle these decisions in-house? Perhaps. But often, outsourcing your lead generation needs to a truly collaborative partner (not just a vendor) is the most efficient means of juggling all the components that constitute a successful campaign.
For one thing, outsourcing your telephone lead generation outreach frees up your sales reps to focus on preparing demos, closing deals, and other down-the-pipeline responsibilities, while removing the burden of cold calling or following up with elusive prospects (two time-consuming tasks they’re probably not keen on doing in the first place).
Secondly, partnering with an experienced call center firm provides you with resources, technologies, data, and proven methodologies you otherwise might not have access to.
Still, not every potential partner will be a good fit for your business needs.
“Does partnering with an outside lead generation firm guarantee success? Unfortunately, no, and any firm that promises you ‘X’ number of appointments is probably being disingenuous,” says VSA Founder and CEO Valerie Schlitt. “But if you’re able to build a foundation of trust and collaboration with your partner, that can go a long way toward supporting your business goals.
“At VSA, our approach is not only to execute your campaign and enhance your sales strategies, but to be stewards of your investment. That means leveraging our 22 years of experience and making sure each element of your program is designed correctly and monitored so it can be adjusted right away if needed.”
Since every client program requires at least some level of customization, VSA doesn’t take a cookie-cutter approach to building successful partnerships. However, there are certain strategies and best practices that are crucial to the success of any telephone lead generation campaign. Here are six of them:
1. Don’t short-change your calling list
Clients frequently come to us with what they believe is a thorough prospect list, but often there is a single name and phone number for each company. In many cases, the name listed isn’t the best person to speak with, and the number is for the main switchboard, as opposed to a direct line to a decision-maker.
VSA uses multiple list-building resources and a dedicated team to enhance the quality of our prospects’ lists (or build them from scratch), and our goal is to provide several points of contact per company whenever possible. Most complex B2B purchases involve various decision-makers, and you never know until you reach them all which one will have the most interest in your offering (and the most buying clout).
2. Use a proven script methodology
You can have the most appealing product or service in the world, but it won’t matter if you can’t get far enough into the telephone conversation to share its value. VSA uses a script methodology that has been proven based on thousands of calls to capture prospects’ attention and gain trust within the first few seconds of the conversation.
3. But be flexible in your messaging
Not all pain points and value points will resonate equally with every decision-maker, which is why VSA often develops several scripts per client program, with each one geared toward a separate prospect list. And while there are proven best practices when it comes to script-writing, these techniques can often vary based on the industry you’re calling. Some job titles, for example, may respond well to a permission-based cold call opener, while others might prefer callers get right to the point.
No script is a finished product. There are almost always tweaks that can be made, based on data accumulated over the first few weeks of calling and past experience within a particular industry.
4. Have the right calling team in place
Each of VSA’s Business Development Representatives has different strengths, many of which lend themselves to certain client programs. Perhaps, for example, they have ample experience calling into the healthcare or education markets. Or maybe they’re particularly adept at winning over gatekeepers—an invaluable skill on programs where it’s difficult to reach decision-makers directly.
VSA’s BDRs are not assigned to programs at random; instead, their strengths, experience, and ability to serve a particular client are carefully considered. Same with the dedicated Program Manager selected to oversee the campaign. And if it turns out a BDR is not a good fit for a certain program? VSA’s team-based model makes it easy to move somebody new into the mix without disrupting the weekly call schedule.
5. Listen to the calls
VSA’s Program Managers and Quality & Training team regularly review our BDRs’ calls to prospects, listening not only for major issues such as veering too far off-message or ignoring objections, but also minor hiccups such as awkward pauses or a few too many “ums” and “uhs.”
Often, changing a single word or phrase in the script can be the difference between gliding through a sentence or becoming tongue-tied, and listening to the calls is a great way to determine when such changes make sense.
6. Continuously review the metrics
VSA is not only constantly monitoring BDR performance, the quality of the list and the effectiveness of the message, but also a program’s overall production. Our dashboard includes crucial metrics such as dials-to-connect and dials-to-conversation, as well as specific call results for every dial we make. This information is provided to clients via daily or weekly reports, ensuring not only full transparency, but also making it easier to determine future courses of action.
Sometimes, it might make good business sense to pause a program for a couple of weeks and use the time off from calling to radically alter the list or the messaging. Other times, a few quick adjustments might be enough to get a struggling campaign back on track without any interruptions in calling. Either way, if expectations aren’t being met, it’s vital for us to be forthright and prompt in sharing data with clients, so we can collaborate proactively to address the issues.
Conclusion
From the first day of onboarding a new client through the duration of the program, a successful B2B lead generation campaign requires constant operational and managerial attention. Whether it’s determining which calling platform is most appropriate for the program (VSA has several), or how many weekly calling hours make the most financial sense, or how many times each prospect should be called before it’s time to close a record, there are decisions—both large and small— that must be made every day.
Having a performance-driven partner to make those decisions based on years of lead generation and appointment-setting experience and expertise can go a long way toward helping you maximize your lead gen investment.
If you’re looking for help juggling all the pieces of a lead generation telephone campaign, give VSA a call, and let’s explore how we can work together toward achieving your business goals.