With school ending and the start of summer just around the corner, parents everywhere face a pivotal decision: Will the next three months be the same old-same old, or will this be the year the family shakes up the regular routine?
Instead of the usual day camps or beach trips, maybe this is the summer to explore new places and experience new adventures. Maybe, during this annual period of transition, this is the time to try something completely different and wash away the summertime blues.
Families aren’t the only ones who can get stuck in a rut doing the same thing year after year. Businesses can also fall into the trap of utilizing the same sales and marketing strategies over and over again. Change can be scary; often, it feels easier to just keep doing what you’re doing, even if it’s not working very well.
But that’s not sustainable in the long run. This is a great time for companies to chart a new course for the summer, perhaps by transitioning to using an outsourced calling center for their lead generation and appointment-setting needs.
The website Healthline.com offers 11 tips for helping people get out of a rut, many of which also apply remarkably well to companies looking to grow sales. Here are six of their suggestions (plus one of our own), and how you can make them work for your business.
1. Take a closer look at your goals
How many new leads do you need in your sales pipeline the rest of the year? How much new business are you hoping to generate through cold calling campaigns?
By getting a clear picture of your goals, you know if they’re realistically achievable on your own. If not, the right lead generation firm can go a long way toward helping you reach them. Outsourcing your calling needs to an experienced company with the right expertise and technology can be significantly more productive and cost-effective than expanding your internal team.
2. Make small changes
You don’t have to completely overhaul your sales process to achieve different results. Maybe you’re already conducting cold calling on your own, but your team isn’t large enough to connect with all your intended targets. Maybe you’ve got messaging you’re happy with, but it’s not quite resonating with your prospects. Maybe you’ve got a solid list of companies that could benefit from your offering, but you’re not reaching the right decision makers.
Outsourcing your calling needs doesn’t necessarily mean radically changing the way you generate leads—sometimes, it’s just a matter of bringing in an additional resource to augment your existing process.
3. Give your brain a break
Constantly having to come up with solutions to complicated problems on your own can be exhausting. Having a partner to bounce ideas off can make a huge difference, especially a partner that’s committed to seeing you succeed.
From onboarding through the duration of a program, VSA collaborates closely with our clients to learn all we can about their needs and processes. We immerse ourselves into your culture, services, and goals to best represent your brand. Once the campaign begins, our program managers meet regularly with your team, sharing detailed weekly reports and immediately addressing any areas of concern.
Our two-plus decades of lead generation expertise has us well-equipped to think outside the box and handle any challenge that comes along. When it comes to developing successful lead gen campaigns, two brains are definitely better than one.
4. Reconnect with old friends
This wasn’t one of Healthline’s tips, but it seems like good advice for anybody stuck in a rut. And it’s great advice for companies looking to expand their prospect base.
If you’ve got old leads you haven’t had time to reach out to, or former customers you haven’t connected with in a while, or even current customers who might be unaware of new offerings, an outside call center like VSA can be the perfect partner. We can also reach out to prospects before or after trade shows or webinars, ensuring that your brand stays fresh on their minds.
5. Be more impulsive
To quote the Healthline article: “Approaching problems from an angle you’ve never considered before can give you new insight that can help you climb out of the rut.”
Once again, this piece of advice is perfectly applicable to businesses. Maybe you never even considered an outside partner before now, but why not try something new, especially if what you’re doing isn’t working the way you’d like.
True, some impulsive decisions come with a risk, but that’s not the case with VSA. Our clients have the right to scale down their programs or cancel the engagement with one week’s written notice.
6. Approach things realistically
Not all lead generation goals are achievable, especially at the start of the campaign. Sure, it’d be great to schedule dozens of appointments right off the bat, but that’s unlikely to happen. There’s always new information that can be gleaned about your prospects, new data that can be used to strengthen your program.
During onboarding, VSA asks our clients to share their goals, then discusses the viability of those goals based on our past experiences. It’s important that everybody’s expectations are on the same page before a campaign begins—that way, we can quickly tell when a change in strategy might be necessary.
7. Get support
More than anything else, these two words sum up the reasons companies partner with an outside lead generation firm like VSA.
As an extension of your sales team, we’re here to support your goals in any way we can, whether it’s cold calling new prospects, following up with warm leads, conducting market research, or anything else we can do to help.
If you feel like you’re in a rut right now and are thinking about transitioning to something different, give us a call. We’d love to help energize your summer plans.