Lead Generation – 5 Steps to increasing return from Telemarketing

Posted on 21. Sep, 2011 by Duncan Macdonald in Lead Generation, Lead Management Blog, Marketing

Many businesses still rely on getting a sales person in front of the prospect, listening to their needs and providing a solution. Providing that the margins are right then Telemarketing is an effective lead generation option. To get the best return from telemarketing then it should be integrated and seen as more than picking up the phone to a cold list.

Here are 5 tips to get the most out of a Telemarketing campaign

1. Establish a formal lead infrastructure

The sole objective is to qualify and re-qualify new and existing prospects, and thereby generate new, qualified opportunities for the sales force. Do not expect your sales force (field or channel reps) to fulfil this function; they will be working on existing business and leads you have filled their sales pipeline with.

A lead qualification process will define what criteria, the traits that define a lead. Without it, you will be generating thousands of un-qualified leads that will be roundly ignored by the sales force, wasting valuable marketing resources by creating sales leads nobody wants.

2. You still need Sales

Remember, this is telemarketing not telesales. Don’t ask for budgets, projects, sign off and an interest. Look to get in the door to a prospective client as soon as possible; don’t get your resource to qualify out the prospect over the phone simply because they don’t have sign off. That’s asking a lot from your campaign.

Inevitably, the result will be an extremely low response rate from all but a small group of very highly qualified prospects. If you change your approach to be more relaxed, prospects who are ready to buy will respond anyway, but in the meantime, you’ll also generate leads from companies or individuals who at minimum have the right problems / needs (the one your product can solve) and want to do something about it.

Four types of leads:
- Hot Leads (Ready to Buy)
– Interested, Not Budgeted
– Not Aware of Solution
– Don’t Recognize the Problem

3. Cast a wider net

The type of campaign that attempts to capture Hot leads is highly targeted on a specific location and sector. Response rates will generally be quite low and the cost per lead is therefore high. It can work but is suited to niche premium products where margins are equally high.

A more cost-effective approach is to use techniques that reach a wider range of prospects at lower cost. Segment your prospects then target say the top 100 companies, leads can be less qualified initially, but they’re a great way to help build a database of leads containing both short and long-term prospects. In the end, you need to meet as many people as possible if you want to build a healthy sales pipeline. Activity breeds rewards.

4. Establish a regular dialogue

For Telemarketing to be at its most effective it should be more than a periodic phone call. Support the process with marketing by creating an opt-in e-mail newsletters, tip sheets and how to guides. Then send it to existing prospects as a way to warm them , and keep them informed.

Keep the tone informative rather than pushy and sales focused. Marketing is a key ingredient to any lead recycling strategy; First and foremost, it’s a cost-effective way to stay in front of prospects and give those individuals a reason to contact you when and if they have a need.

5. Create step offers that re-qualify existing 1eads.

Promotional events like seminars and webinars, if used for lead generation, can tend to over-qualify leads by limiting response to only those prospects interested enough to dedicate the time required of such an event. For Telemarketers if these offers are made to existing prospects, they can serve an important role as motivators for prospects who responded initially to information offers and now feel ready to take the next step.

Similarly offers like free trials, consultations and the like, would scare off all but the most qualified prospects in a lead generation campaign, but as part of a Telemarketing driven strategy; can be effective in helping to flag pending decisions within your existing lead database.

Tags: Lead generation, Sales Pipeline, Sales process, Telemarketing