Recently, Wendy Weiss featured an article titled Why is Cold Calling Like Buying New Shoes? published on the EyesOnSales blog. The article highlights the importance of setting realistic goals (or a series of goals) for every prospect conversation. This is a great point, and is something that should be considered when developing any telemarketing initiative. Programs such as appointment setting, lead generation, and profiling all have very different goals and objectives (selling a meeting, uncovering an opportunity/need and discovering key environmental information respectively).
The article inspired me to think about the elements of a typical B2B lead generation call flow and the corresponding goals that are used as a process for generating interest and qualifying a lead. Depending on the target audience, industry, solution type, etc, there are numerous approaches that can be utilized when determining the most appropriate call flow. Listed below are a series of goals I consider when planning for a standard lead generation call:
- Earn the conversation – Generate enough interest in the opening to earn the right to continue the conversation with the prospect.
- Confirm involvement – Ensure you are speaking to the right person. Are they involved?
- Provide value & relevant messaging – Explain the reason for your call. What is in it for the prospect?
- Collect environmental or qualifying information – Ask probing questions to learn more about the prospect current situation or need, and be sure to use active listening skills to build rapport and strengthen your relationship with the prospect.
- Schedule a next step with a Sales representative – Position the value of taking the next step (i.e. needs assessment, custom pricing, etc).. Why is it worth their time to take another call/meeting?
- Recap the call and set clear next steps – Ensure the prospect is clear on what will happen next and when.
What goals do you consider critical for a successful B2B telemarketing call?