Telemarketing Calls and Lead Qualification Go Hand-in-Hand
Telemarketing Calls and Lead Qualification Go Hand-in-Hand
When you think of telemarketing, chances are your mind goes immediately to selling. Whether inbound or outbound, many business owners have the mistaken impression that telemarketing only belongs at the end of the sales funnel.
Telemarketing, however, can play a much bigger role in increasing B2B sales. In fact, it can – and should – play a strategic role in all stages of the sales funnel.
One of the many important ways telemarketing can help your B2B efforts is by focusing on lead qualification. While it would be nice if leads all entered the sales funnel at a particular place and continued on a specific track, unfortunately that is not how it works.
Prospects enter the sales funnel anywhere from the prospecting stage to the purchasing stage. Telemarketing is a great tool to support your sales team by using it to provide them with only the most qualified leads.
For example, perhaps you have just sent out marketing materials to a number of prospects. When calling these prospects to ask if they received your materials, you can slip in a number of lead qualification questions. These questions can help you find out things like a decision maker’s name or what company is your biggest competitor.
Similar lead qualification questions can be embedded into other calls, as well. Are you taking product orders? Ask the customer if there are any other products they would be interested in or when they might place another order. Would he or she be interested in a sales rep calling to discuss other product offerings?
The idea of lead qualification embedded into telemarketing calls is not a new one but not every business capitalizes on it. This is unfortunate since it is literally a two-for-one opportunity. Virtually every call a telemarketer makes allows for some sort of lead qualification.
Of course partnering with the right telemarketing firm is the key to successfully embedding lead qualification questions into telemarketing calls. It takes highly trained professional to seamlessly weave these questions into a conversation without seeming unnatural or forced. Instead, this telemarketing professional will be building relationships while gleaning the information you need to increase your bottom line. Talk about a win-win!