Have you ever considered outsourced B2B telesales for your firm? Using an outsourced team can increase the number and caliber of sales leads coming into your company.
B2B cold calling and lead nurturing can be an extremely valuable tactic, especially for companies selling complex products that require conversations with senior-level buyers as part of the sales process.
You may be wondering about the viability of choosing to outsource B2B telesales as part of your process.
Outsourcing B2B cold calling can be a highly effective method, especially when you need a team with the experience to navigate through a larger organization to identify and reach top decision-makers quickly.
Your staff understands the features and benefits of your company’s product. However, they may not have the phone skills or background needed to engage in complex sales discussions effectively.
Cold calling is a core competency—not everyone is good at it.
Consider this: if you have a long sales cycle; the sale of your products includes significant risk and investment, or there are multiple decision-makers involved, then you have a complex B2B sales situation.
This level of transaction requires a high degree of professionalism and skill to engage in initial discussions on the phone that will carry over to your next level sales team.
Complex Products or Services
In complex B2B telesales, the caller’s professionalism, experience, and level of expertise are considered vital, especially if you are hoping to converse with decision-makers at the organization’s top level. If so, you will need to be confident that the people calling these prospective customers are up to the task.
Your team must be able to quickly research and identify an organization’s decision-makers or influencers and must have the cold calling experience to make the initial contact fruitful.
As I have said in the past, one of the best ways to uncover and qualify solid B2B leads is to put experienced business development executives on the phone and to have meaningful conversations with decision-makers on a peer-to-peer level.
Your telesales team may not have the ability to carry on a peer to peer conversations with decision makers that effectively qualify the prospects’ business pains and needs.
In this case, you may want to consider bringing in an outsourced B2B telesales team.
Do Your Employees Have Time?
Or perhaps your staff doesn’t have the bandwidth to keep the sales pipeline full. They may be focusing on activities relating to the bottom of the sales funnel.
When you have a sales team dealing with complex, high ticket, and sophisticated business products or solutions, the best use of their time is often in front of highly qualified prospects to close the deal.
Remember, complex sales don’t close over the phone or through emails. They typically require face-to-face meetings, or at least presentations, where you discuss solutions and make deals.
It takes time and attention to bring a sale to a close, and it’s best when you can use your in-house sales team for this sophisticated, somewhat delicate, and vital part of the sales cycle.
Short Term Goals
Another reason to outsource the B2B telesales function is that it allows your company to meet the demands of special events such as new product launches, or breaking into a new industry or vertical – activities that demand a shorter-term push.
You may want to double-down at the top of your sales pipeline and fill it with highly-qualified leads quickly. Bringing in additional telesales professionals to build out your sales team at the beginning and creating a big push can result in a higher return on investment.
We have found that, for example, if you begin with a two-person team and decide to increase to four, you have the potential to more than double your sales results.
Another situation where hiring a B2B cold calling team is advantageous is before and after an industry trade show or conference.
Given the cost, time, and planning it takes to have a strong presence at a trade show, it only makes sense to do the utmost in advance to maximize your investment and afterward, to sift through all those card swipes to find hidden treasure.
Calling to schedule appointments before a trade show can get you in front of prospects that may be interested in using your product or service. However, setting up these meetings can take 2 to 3 weeks of time and effort, in some cases by multiple callers to be successful.
Do you have staff dedicated to making those contacts?
For some of our larger clients exhibiting at trade shows, we have scheduled as many as 60 – 80 meetings with high-level decision-makers and influencers, which translates into thousands of calls made before the show starts.
Do they find it worthwhile? Our clients say they do. They have told us that these meetings often yield opportunities that go far beyond the trade show itself.
As a result of advance calls, some prospects that can’t meet during the actual trade show will schedule meetings after the event. The mere fact that they have received a phone call from a skilled B2B sales professional has piqued their interest in the product or service.
Post-event follow-up calls are also crucial for relationship building and lead nurturing. However, it’s easy to return to the office and lose sight of making those valuable post-event contacts.
Leveraging an outsourced team takes that off your to-do list and positions your company for success in developing new business relationships, and new lead opportunities for future sales.
As you consider working with a B2B telesales team, bear in mind the many benefits that outsourced B2B sales teams can offer.
Freeing up your internal staff to focus on closing, increasing the volume of qualified leads generated, and meeting the demands of special situations such as new product introductions or trade shows are among them.
Using an outsourced B2B telesales team with experienced talent, a commitment to excellence and proven best practices will help you keep your sales pipeline filled with qualified sales leads, leading to future success and proven ROI.
