B2B Lead Generation

Telemarketing is the process of using a phone to reach out to potential customers or “leads” to inform them about your product or service. Apart from giving information about your product or service, some other activities in telemarketing involve:

• Periodic outreach to create interest in your product

• Organising business appointments 

• Informing leads of available opportunities or promotions

• Improving customer service

• Collecting feedback and key details 

All of the above activities are for the sole purpose of nurturing clients and relationships to better improve services and ultimately make more sales.

Steps in Using Telemarketing to Generate Leads

Cold calling can be an extremely time-consuming task and without professional telemarketers, it is challenging. Here is the step by step guide in generating leads for your business:

Determine Your Lead Source: You have to decide where you will get your call prospects from. This is different for every industry or niche but data houses, self-generated data and targeted prospect lists are a good place to start from. Getting quality, targeted and up to date leads is one of the most crucial parts of telemarketing that needs to be done carefully. 

Planning: You need to sort out details of the telemarketing campaign to know the office space you’ll need, the phone system, and software needs. Even if you are outsourcing your telemarketing, you’ll still need to determine:​

• Length of the calling campaign or if it is going to be an ongoing program

• Days of the week to make the calls

• Factor in time zone changes if you’re calling nationwide/worldwide.

If you’re handling the telemarketing yourself, you still need to worry about the budget of the campaign. The information above can be a starting point to calculate the budget which would normally include:

• Phones and/or headsets

• Software licenses

• Management

• Phone lines installation, monthly fees, and long-distance charges

• Workstations

• Incentives/Bonuses

• Insurance 

• Office space 

Calling the Leads: At this stage, the calling team reach out to the leads on their list to inform them about the product or service. A good call script that captures attention and builds value is the key to closing the deal. Here are a few tips to take note of while calling:​

• Use a calling prefix that is the same as your prospect’s call area. This increases the chance of picking your call. 

• Try to make it conversational, simple, and straight to the point.

• Why you? What is in it for the prospect you are calling? It has to be about them – not just you. 

• Let your team members read the call script/briefing pack and collect feedback. 

• While writing the script, record yourself speaking it and listen to it because what looks good on paper may not work on call. 

Following up: After your prospect has gotten information about your product or service, ask for an appointment to further discuss further with a specialist. You then need to build upon the established relationship by calling to ask if they have any concerns or questions. 

Benefits of Telemarketing

• Fosters rapport and connections with your customers. They can easily ask all their questions and get a reply immediately.

• The call can be tailored ‘on the go’ to suit the prospect requirement 

• Return on investment is vast compared to many other marketing methods. 

• You get immediate feedback on your product or service. Whether it is positive or negative feedback, you can start working on it immediately to provide a better service.

• Allows you to reach out to both new and existing customers faster than in-person sales calls. 

• You can overcome the distance barrier and reach out to prospects in a far location. 

• Results gotten from telemarketing are measurable. This will help you plan better for your sales and drop off aspects of your business that isn’t working 

Cons/What to Watch out for in Telemarketing

• Training staff for telemarketing strategies is time-consuming and could cost a lot of money. The calling team are key to get right, keep motivated (not just money incentives) and keep. 

• Prospect lists may be very difficult and costly. Even when you get them, many are outdated, untargeted and not ‘clean’. 

• If telemarketing isn’t handled properly, it could leave permanent damage to the business’s reputation.

You can avoid all the above challenges with a professional telemarketing firm like ours. With years of experience, we know all of the pitfalls and how to avoid them to generate excellent results. 

​Want to grow your business quickly? Contact us today and generate quality leads through telemarketing.