Ask most people what comes to mind when they think of B2B telemarketing and there’s a high chance they’ll say cold calls and sales pitches. This preconception assumes that B2B telemarketing can only add value at the bottom of the sales funnel – right before a lead is ready to buy.
This might have been true twenty or more years ago, but today the relationship between sales and marketing has shifted. Marketing is now responsible for a much greater part of the sales funnel: from awareness right up to the evaluation stage. This approach not only generates more leads but generates leads that have a far higher chance of converting. And B2B telemarketing – when combined with data – can generate leads throughout the entire sales funnel. Let’s explore how it can be applied to each stage:
The presales phase: Gathering the right data about your prospects
At the top end of the sales funnel, during the awareness and interest phases, B2B telemarketing plays an important role in amassing data about potential prospects. Database building can be used by telemarketers to generate contacts by gathering up-to-date information about prospects, to check that job titles and contact details are accurate and to gather feedback from leads about your brand and products. B2B telemarketing at this stage of the sales funnel can also identify the right channels and accounts to target. Armed with this market research, you can create more focused and impactful marketing campaigns targeted at these leads. Without the right data, your chances of successful lead generation are much slimmer than if you’ve got plenty of data about your prospects.
During the sales cycle: Identifying leads and adding value to prospects
We now enter the consideration, intent, evaluation and purchase phases of the sales funnel. As a marketer, you’ll be working hard to nurture leads right up to the evaluation phase. After which, you’ll pass the leads that you think have a high chance of converting on to sales. B2B telemarketing can help you nurture these leads and identify the ones that are ready to make a purchase decision. The fantastic thing about B2B telemarketing is that it’s one of the fastest lead generation tactics to identify and close leads.
During the evaluation phase, your leads will probably have a lot of questions about your products. Telemarketing allows you to answer these questions. Plus you can add value to your leads through human interaction, alongside other touchpoints like inbound marketing and email marketing. What’s more, these conversations (all of which can be recorded) yield extra data about your target market that can be used to enhance pre-sales campaigns. At the purchase phase, B2B telemarketing can be used to set up appointments with your sales team.
Post-sales: Collecting feedback and keeping your customers happy
Hurray! You’ve nurtured leads that have converted into sales. The sales funnel might be officially over, but B2B telemarketing can still add value to your customers and your business. Follow-up calls are an important part of delighting prospects that have converted. Not only can you get feedback and data about your entire sales process and products, but it’s a brilliant opportunity to add further value to your customers by troubleshooting any issues they might have. As with any feedback and insights gleaned from telemarketing calls, this data can be used to adjust marketing messages and the lead nurturing process earlier on in the sales funnel.
The average B2B sales funnels have lengthened by 22%. This gives marketers more time to identify and nurture leads and make use of B2B telemarketing to help them achieve this. Download our guide if you’d like to find out how B2B telemarketing can help you generate more leads:
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