Entries Tagged as 'B2B Lead Generation'
B2B Ads From the Past
I always find it interesting to take a look at the work done by our predecessors in B2B marketing.
In post in Jackie West’s UK Industrial Marketing Blog, she mentions Richard Stone’s Insights into PR and Online Marketing blog post where he links to The Vintage Ad Browser.
Simply click on one of the categories in the Vintage Ad Browser, or type something into the search window, and you will get to see some of the advertising work done by those B2B marketers that came before us in what then was called “industrial advertising.”
Speaking of B2B advertising from the past, one ad that never grows old for me is this one from McGraw-Hill:
The copy reads:
“I don’t know who you are.
I don’t know your company.
I don’t know your company’s product.
I don’t know what your company stands for.
I don’t know your company’s customers.
I don’t know your company’s record.
I don’t know your company’s reputation.
Now—what was it you wanted to sell me?”
I believe McGraw-Hill was right, and still is. When prospects are reading your ads, emails, or any other of your marketing communications, this is what they are thinking.
You’ll need to address these issues before your prospects will be in a position to buy your product or service.
B-to-B Lead generation: What Enterprise-size Companies Should be Doing Differently in 2010
If you are responsible for business-to-business lead generation at a large company, don’t miss this webcast!
Lead Gen in 2010: Learn What is Working Best Right Now
January 27, 2010 at 11:00 am PST (2:00 pm EST)
This one-hour webinar will cover:
- The latest trends in B-to-B lead generation, and how you can leverage them;
- Which lead gen strategies and tactics are working best, and which no longer work for enterprise companies like yours;
- The pros and cons of various marketing media for generating, nurturing, and qualifying leads.
Why not register right now?
The webcast will be moderated by Mike Wallen, CEO of the Lead Dogs and presented by Albert Springall, Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft and B-to-B lead generation expert (yours truly) M. H. (Mac) McIntosh.
The good news is that as the economy recovers and the new year begins, business spending is starting to increase. However, as a result of the recent downturn, business buyers are being cautious. So to generate more business your lead generation strategies must clearly communicate value while differentiating your products and services from the competition and resonating personally with your prospective customers. We will show you how best to accomplish this, and more.
So be sure to join us online on January 27th at 2:00 EST (11:00 am PST), as we share proven ways for enterprise companies like yours to uncover qualified sales leads, highlight real life success stories, discuss best practices, and show you how to maximize your B-to-B lead gen ROI in 2010.
To register to attend the webcast, or to learn more about it, please use this link: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/db51uw0s9ooo
B2B Lead Generation by Phone: An Interview with Michael Brown
This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to business-to-business lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals.
My guest today is Michael A. Brown. He is the B2B telemarketing and telesales consultant and telemarketing trainer whom I frequently recommend to our clients.
Michael, first off, I know you hate to use the word “telemarketing.” Why?
Three reasons:
First, the word carries lots of unpleasant baggage from the business-to-consumer world. Telemarketing is why your home phone is on the national do-not-call list.
Second, businesses that try to recruit good callers for lead generation and nurturing but refer to them as telemarketers are usually unsuccessful. “Telemarketers” are entirely different people from those you really need in business-to-business marketing.
Third, “telemarketing” does not really describe the job function or its importance to your business.
What should we call it instead?
I recommend using more accurate words: sales lead initiation/development and business development are among the most popular terms. The “tele” prefix is unnecessary. That one is doing these things by phone is self-evident.
Given all the “e-“ and social media, does the phone still have a role in B2B lead generation, lead nurturing or lead qualification?
Absolutely, but usually later in the lead process than before.
Indeed, cold-calling has fallen from grace and fallen out of bed. That is because for the most part (70 percent by some accounts), business considerations now begin on the Internet. So the phone becomes integral once a prospect has inquired via a company’s website or has responded to a marketing message in another medium.
The phone is where the human engagement and business dialogue take place and where the lead can be developed into a genuine opportunity. And yes, human beings do need to communicate LIVE! Beware the technology pitchers who allege that all lead nurturing or development can be done via e-mail.
Do you have any success secrets, Michael, that you can share about using the phone to find, cultivate and identify qualified, sales-ready leads for the folks in sales?
Yes! The secrets are silver bullets, crystal balls, magic wands and Ouija boards. But seriously, the real strategies and tactics for success are not secrets at all:
- To find leads, seek out relevant events based on what organizations in your market sectors are doing, are considering or recently have done that make them brighter blips on your business radar. In other words, go beyond mere demographics and look for companies’ actions such as expansion, reorganization, introduction of new product lines … actions that make them more likely than others to need your products or services.
- To cultivate leads, conduct conversations and give (information, guidance, etc.) before trying to get. Also do what good physicians do: diagnose and then prescribe. Doing so differentiates your communication favorably from that of telemarketers and your competitors and allows you to “make the case” for the prospect to take the next forward step in the consideration process. Do not attempt to leapfrog the due-diligence of lead development by rushing to a quick transition to sales.
- To identify qualified, sales-ready leads, start by meeting with your sales team and executives to hammer out a mutually acceptable set of criteria for what actually constitutes a “qualified” lead. Select the most important criteria and assign point counts to each. Establish a point count “release threshold” for passing viable and right-timed leads from marketing to sales.
Michael, I agree that is a critical first step in improving B2B lead generation programs. In fact, I am often asked by clients to facilitate the process of working with sales to come up with an agreed-to lead qualification definition and lead scoring criteria. That foundational work can have a huge impact on lead generation program results.
It was not easy to do this for a big software company that was a client of mine, but it sure did work! The pilot division’s sales rose 31 percent over the next quarter.
There is a lot of buzz about appointment setting as an approach to B2B lead generation. What are your thoughts on the subject?
Yes, marketers are making lots of calls to lots of prospect companies, trying to convince them to agree to an in-person meeting. Unfortunately, some marketers are going about it in the wrong order! They pitch the appointment right off the bat rather than first seeking the two prerequisites:
- A likely business matchup, ascertained via good questioning and qualification
- Agreement by the prospect that there will be genuine value in a meeting … that it will not merely be a “grip ‘n’ grin” session or a “dog and pony show”
Absent the prerequisites, bad things almost always happen:
- The prospect refuses an in-person meeting, viewing it not as a valuable event, but rather as a vendor-centric pitch or a geographically motivated (“our rep will be in your area”) drop-in.
- The prospect agrees to meet but cancels before the meeting.
- The sales person shows up but the prospect is not available or not even there! S/he “forgot.”
- The meeting happens, but the participants are not authorized to act, so no sale results.
- Marketing’s credibility with sales drops sharply.
Resist the urge to meet prematurely. Refocus campaigns on establishing credibility, then viability, then desirability. Leverage your combined marketing … phone, e-mail, webinars, etc. … to the hilt. Then, when you do secure a meeting, it will have substance and a much greater likelihood of success. Because sales’ time and prospects’ attention are so precious, meet only with viable prospects who are excited about meeting.
In your expert opinion, Michael, when does it make sense for a company to do its phone-based B2B sales lead work in-house versus outsourcing it?
These are the key factors in favor of in-house:
- Full account management. Even if someone else could “manage” your accounts, you would not want them to.
- Combined marketing – sales contact teams. Team members have to wear the same uniform.
- Customers expect in-depth content knowledge and business process skills. The effort, energy and investment you make in educating your marketers should return value to your customers and to you, not to rented callers.
- Reps must have the business prerogatives and authority to plan and execute the next step in marketing or selling.
- You need multi-call and/or inbound-outbound continuity with the same rep. It is harder to get dedicated reps when they do not work for you.
- Frequent discussions among marketing, sales, prospects and customers.
- Complex and rapid changes in your marketplace and your product/service offerings.
The factors that favor outsourcing include the following:
- General or universal messages and campaigns
- Consistent, easily learned communications over time and among accounts
- List validation
- Leads’ prequalification with limited criteria
- Sudden volume of inbound response or outbound notifications, as for product recalls
- Events promotion and registration
- Order acceptance
Also consider this: almost anyone can accumulate data, but only callers who actually interact live with prospects can accumulate wisdom. Therefore, if the callers wear an outsourcer’s badge, you will get the data, but the wisdom will go to the outsourcer. If they wear your badge, your company will get the wisdom along with the data.
If outsourcing, how do you choose the right company to do the phone-based sales lead work?
- There are b-to-c calling agencies pretending to be good at b-to-b. Most are not. Consider only the “real-deal” experienced b-to-b players.
- The company does not staff-to-forecast; rather, they forecast-to-staff. If the former is the case, their “stable” of callers and the callers’ quality will fluctuate widely. Also, the company’s management will spend more time recruiting and interviewing than attending to your project. Conversely, forecast-to-staff generally yields a more dependable group of permanent callers, meaning a greater likelihood of continuity and success for you and your campaigns.
- They have no more than 30 percent temporary callers. You need to know who is calling on your behalf at all times and that they are trained and competent to do so.
- Their focus matches your need: that is, they can conduct stand-alone campaigns or carry on sustained lead development.
- Their labor market, education and turnover rates will support the right types and levels of calls to the kind of people you need to reach. For example, do not accept recent high school grads to contact your C-level prospects.
- They can demonstrate their experience calling prospects and customers whose profiles match those in your market sector. They have audio recordings of real calls and will let you listen to them. You can monitor calls from anywhere on the planet.
- They apply valid business-to-business practices and metrics, not business-to-consumer. There is a HUGE difference.
- Their technology is compatible with yours.
- Their customers’ customers say good things about the calls they received.
One other thing … do not even consider a pay-for-performance outsourcer. Any outsourcer must execute successfully and consistently to your lead criteria with a blend of production and artistry. Allowing variable performance would put your lead efforts and sales quotas at great risk. Some of my clients who outsource lead services reject the notion of pay for performance … they consider it a gimmick.
Are there benchmarks for what a company should expect to invest in its phone-based sales lead programs? For example, a benchmark for the cost per qualified lead generated by phone?
I wish there were in b-to-b, but there probably never will be. Most b-to-b outfits guard that sort of information very closely. My clients won’t let me reveal theirs.
I can report that the numbers are all over the map … from $35 to more than $3,000 … and depend chiefly on these factors:
- The definition of a “qualified” lead or the absence of an agreed definition.
- Complexity and price point(s) of the company’s product or service. Enterprise IT leads cost more than office supply leads.
- Compensation or outsource fees matched (or not) to the reality of the job in the company’s marketplace. For example, do not expect million-dollar deals to flow from a $15/hour caller.
- Reach-rate: how many attempts it typically takes to speak with a prospect live and engage in a business conversation.
- The CFO’s astuteness or gullibility.
Michael, you mentioned that I should ask you about something useful you wanted to offer our readers?
Yes, I’d like to offer them a free copy of my 10-Point Phone Marketing Checkup for Lead Generation and Qualification. Here’s the link they can use to get it: http://michaelabrown.net/checkup.html
Wrapping things up, Michael, are there any final thoughts you want to share with our readers?
Mac, thank you for inviting me. I’ll close with some good news … despite all the online marketing and social media and e-hype, people have not thrown away their phones! Prospects and customers still will speak with us if … and only if … we can make a compelling case for a conversation, and if that conversation is about them, not us. We also have to pursue leads by phone in context with our other marketing and sales media so that our communication strategy is cohesive and valuable.
Now I must excuse myself so that I can call a prospect. Cheers!
Thanks, Michael.
Readers, please join the conversation.
Do you agree with Michael’s advice about B2B lead generation by phone? Do you have additional thoughts to add on this subject?
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Planning B2B Lead Generation for 2010? Attend this Webcast on January 27th
Are you responsible for B2B lead generation at a large company?
If your answer is yes, I recommend that you sign up for this live, one-hour webcast on January 27, 2010 at 2:00 pm EST.
Lead Gen in 2010: Learn What is Working Best Right Now is an information-packed, one-hour webcast which will highlight:
- The latest trends in B2B lead generation, and how you can leverage them;
- Which lead generation strategies and tactics are working best, and which no longer work for enterprise companies like yours;
- The pros and cons of various marketing media, and which will help you get better lead generation results.
The webcast will be moderated by Mike Wallen, CEO of the Lead Dogs and presented by Albert Springall, Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft and B2B lead generation expert (yours truly) Mac McIntosh.
The good news is that as the economy recovers and the new year begins, business spending is starting to increase. However, as a result of the recent downturn, business buyers are being cautious. So to generate more business your lead generation strategies must clearly communicate value while differentiating your products and services from the competition and resonating personally with your prospective customers. We will show you how best to accomplish this, and more.
Be sure to join us on January 27th, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST, as we share proven ways for enterprise companies like yours to uncover qualified sales leads, highlight real life success stories, discuss best practices, and show you how to maximize your lead gen ROI in 2010.
To register for the webinar, or to learn more about it, please use this link or point your browser to: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/db51uw0s9ooo
B2B Copywriting: Interview with Miller McMillan
This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals.
Miller McMillan is a copywriter who worked on high-profile accounts at ad agencies in Atlanta and Boston before establishing his copywriting boutique in Los Angeles. Miller has worked with such clients as CNN, Hughes, Nestlé, Avery and Microsoft. His copywriting capabilities include websites, direct mail, email, ad campaigns, brochures, slogans and names.
Miller, it seems to me that copywriting plays a big role in B2B lead generation. Am I right?
Absolutely. Copywriting can attract, educate and motivate prospects through a variety of media, including websites, email campaigns, Twitter, direct mail and other options.
Based on your experience, Miller, what are some of the secrets to success regarding B2B copywriting?
It’s really critical to understand the prospect’s needs and challenges—almost like a psychologist. Then the challenge is to deliver bite-sized information that answers questions and builds confidence, moving the prospect toward action. Benefits are everything. We can talk all day about features and still not capture and cultivate leads. We need to quickly communicate how our product or service meets a need, solves a problem and helps an organization move forward.
Today our copy talks to search engines as well as human beings, so we need to address the interests of both. Ideally, well-written copy puts keywords in the right places without a lot of conscious thought. But we can do more to optimize our writing by following the evolving guidelines for SEO writing.
What must a good copywriter do to avoid the mistakes you see others making regarding copy for lead generation?
Write less and say more. Wordy copy is a turnoff. The challenge is to be concise yet complete.
Love subheads. Ideally the reader can skim through a document or web page—reading only the subheads—and get a good idea of what’s being offered. Pages with lots of uninterrupted text are not likely to be read.
Ask early and often. I see a lot of writing in which the call to action is hard to find. Big mistake. The copywriter needs to give the reader many opportunities to call, email or take other action. The skilled writer makes generous use of “exit ramps” to steer traffic to the next destination.
In fact, it’s good to have jumping-off points on virtually every spread of a brochure and every page of a website or direct mail piece. Phone numbers, email links and buttons are powerful assets to accelerate the selling process.
Be honest, avoid vagueness. It’s so important to tell the truth and not mislead with copy. Buyers have keen radar and know instinctively whether they are experiencing a credible message.
Pay attention to design. Although often overlooked, great design provides a platform that supports the copywriting message, giving it credibility, appeal and a better chance for success.
Miller, if a company wants to generate more B2B leads for the products or services it sells, it is critical for its web pages to be found at the top of the search engine results. How does this change the way you write copy for those web pages?
It’s important to be up to date on SEO techniques that drive search engine results. Using keywords, tags, links and relevant content is critical to being visible in search results.
Can a copywriter be a generalist and still be effective, writing everything from lead generation copy to search-optimized web page copy to content such as case studies, white papers and how-to guides?
That’s a great question. Sometimes a marketer may want a copywriter who writes how-to guides every day, or whose middle initials are S.E.O. In other cases, a fresh approach from a highly versatile writer who “gets it” may be helpful.
When I think “generalist,” I think “versatile.” There are copywriters who have an excellent grasp of many product categories, media and techniques—and who offer an array of writing styles to match the specific marketing challenge.
One of the little-known facts about copywriting is that a truly skilled copywriter has an ability to learn very quickly—and a great capacity to capture what is relevant and communicate it effectively across a variety of platforms.
Miller, do you have any advice to share about how to find a good B2B copywriter?
Recommendations from colleagues and designers are a great place to start. One might also try searching the web using keywords that relate to a specialty. When taking such an approach, it is important to look at relevant work, talk by phone and request references.
That said, I think the real test is how you feel when reading a writer’s copy. Do you feel engaged intellectually and emotionally? Do you want to read more? Do you feel like you’re part of a conversation rather than the recipient of a monologue? Is the copy effortless to read and understand?
From a marketer’s standpoint, is it better to work with a copywriter by the hour or by the project?
I think per project works better in most cases. The marketer has the advantage of knowing total cost up front, including revisions. An exception might be a project that is not concretely defined. For example, a marketer creating a website may not know how many pages or how much text will ultimately be needed. Here, the hourly approach offers flexibility in accommodating an undefined scope of work.
Are there any final thoughts you want to share with our readers?
Technology is great, but, ultimately, human minds and hearts make purchase decisions. Use SEO and other techniques to stand out, but remember the importance of the human connection. Make sure your copywriting is concise, engaging, honest and likable.
Miller, thanks so much taking the time to share your thoughts about B2B copywriting with our readers.
Readers, please join in the conversation.
Web Inquiry Management: Interview with Mike Wallen
This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals.
My guest is Mike Wallen, CEO of The Lead Dogs, a B2B lead development company that provides sales lead generation, telemarketing and telesales services.
Mike, I understand that you recently published a special report about the handling of web inquiries, titled "The Truth Behind Web Inquiry Management." What do you include under the definition "web inquiries," and why did you focus the report on them?
Today companies receive inbound inquiries through numerous sources—the web, chat, phone calls and emails. The report focuses on web inquiries specifically because the biggest percentage of inbound inquiries come through this source, and these inquiries often represent overlooked sources of revenue.
At The Lead Dogs, we define a web inquiry as a completed form on a website or landing page. Someone who completes a form may have gotten to the site as a result of a marketing campaign, online searches, social media activities or a word-of-mouth referral.
What is the truth behind web inquiry management? What is the main thing you want those responsible for B2B lead generation to know?
The truth is that people are letting good leads slip through the cracks. Whether it is due to the perception that web inquiries are low in quality and not worthy of being followed up on or purely the lack of resources to use in following up, the overall handling of web inquiries today is insufficient.
The report talks about the impact of response time on connecting with interested prospects and identifying them as qualified leads. Tell us more about that, Mike.
In the companies we interviewed, the average response time to an inquiry was 31 hours. We see this as being pretty reflective of what happens in most companies. However, this time frame is just too long. According to an industry survey and our experience at The Lead Dogs, the odds of connecting live with a prospect are the highest within minutes of the inquiry occurring. From there, the odds of connecting decrease by 10 times in the first hour.
These stats really emphasize how critical it is to have inquiry management processes in place. When the resources are set up to handle inquiries as they occur, you can quickly reach these individuals, qualify them, classify them appropriately, and then move them into or through the funnel promptly, without missing any opportunities for new revenue.
In addition to filling out web forms, lots of inquirers respond by phone or email. How should these inquiries be handled?
All inquiries should be handled with a prompt follow-up, ideally within minutes, to quickly qualify them and determine whether the inquirers are a fit and ready to engage with sales.
Mike, your benchmark study also shows that 4 percent of inquiries come from chat. As that number is so small (compared with the 43 percent that come in via web forms, the 33 percent by phone and the 20 percent by email), should marketers bother adding chat capabilities to their web pages?
Part of the reason chat represents such a small percentage is that not many companies are doing it yet. As more companies add this capability, I anticipate that the percentage will increase.
Yes, I believe that marketers should add chat to their websites, as it can be a very effective way to engage prospective customers. But chat isn’t an area to dabble in. Adding chat capabilities is resource intensive—it requires the marketer to staff the role, provide training, etc. There needs to be a long-term commitment to making chat a success, whether that involves using internal resources or external ones.
According to the report, your client data shows that for every 100 inbound inquiries, 10 are sales ready and 50 need additional nurturing. Should my readers bother with lead nurturing? And if so, how should they go about it?
Lead nurturing should be a priority for every marketer. In today’s economic times, with lengthening sales cycles and more and more people involved in the buying process, it is important to build relationships not only with prospects who are ready to buy now, but also with those who may buy in the future or who may be influencers on the decision-making process. This is really important because according to the 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practice Study, the number of decision makers involved with each sale shifted up by 16 percent compared to the previous year’s study and companies are getting more sophisticated about how they make decisions. According to Bill Golder, Miller Heiman’s executive vice president of sales, "They’re getting better at internal collaboration in decision making." That means not only more people involved but more knowledgeable people involved.
To effectively nurture these opportunities, marketers should approach lead nurturing the same way they do lead generation—with a plan! Just as with lead generation, it is important to understand the target profile [or persona], tailor key messages to each profile and its stage in the sales cycle, develop an integrated set of campaigns to reach those leads, continuously monitor and analyze results, and tweak campaigns based on results achieved. Many of our clients have found success with an ongoing combination of very targeted and personalized phone conversations, emails, direct mail and even event invitations [for webcasts, etc.].
Mike, thanks for speaking with us about your benchmarking report. How can our readers learn more?
A complimentary copy of the report is available for download here:
The Truth Behind Web Inquiry Management
They also can email me at mwallen at leaddogs dot com
Readers, what are your thoughts about web inquiry management?
Are you responding quickly enough to your web inquiries? How about your phone and email inquiries?
Are you nurturing your not-yet-qualified prospects until they are sales ready? If so, is your lead nurturing paying off in more qualified leads and closed sales?
Are you providing chat services on your web pages? And if so, do you generate more qualified leads as a result?
