Improving Life, Even When Bogged With Lead Generation

Are you aware that B2B lead generation is one of the most stressful jobs that a marketer could ever experience? This is a reality that many will have to deal with. Otherwise, they will not be able to do their jobs at all. While it may be true that this can be a pain, the fact remains that this is also a very profitable activity. If you can generate good sales leads, then you can earn a profit here. How you handle the stress and baggage that this job brings to your life varies from person to person, but there are a few factors that are the same. Therefore, these are fixed points that can be improved on. 

And what are these pointers that you should know about?

  

1.   Plan well – this is an advice that we have all heard too often, but rarely do we really follow. As marketers, we must be able to decide on what business strategy to employ before we start. It would be a virtual waste of effort if we just do things without a proper goal in mind.

2.   Focus – when you work, really dive into your work. Get ‘into the zone’, so to speak. Not only will you be able to accomplish more of your work, but you would also be able to ensure that your attention is focused on the details.

3.  Have a break – of course, after intensely working for about an hour or so, you should learn to stop and take a break. In this way, you can avoid getting burned-out too early in the day. It will also let you refocus on your work later.

4.   Be neat – as some say ‘a cluttered desk is a cluttered mind’. While this may be true in some cases, the point here is for you to put everything in your desk in order. This will help you keep tab on things, as well as avoid cases of ‘misplacing’ anything, like notes from a telemarketing call.

5.   Do not seek perfection – instead, seek excellence in your work. You see, going for perfection is an activity that will never bring you any rewards. Often, this is an unattainable, frustrating, and a neurotic activity. Better aim for something that you can actually achieve, and that is excellence.

6.  Learn to say ‘No’ – you see, there is a limit to what a normal flesh and blood can do. If you just keep on accepting workloads from your bosses, or from your B2B leads prospects, soon enough, you would be overloaded with things you have yet to do. You need to learn when to say ‘No’.

7.  Do not procrastinate – this is common even for those in the B2B appointment setting business. You need to do things now, not later, lest you miss the chance to generate good sales leads in the end.

This is for the good of your B2B lead generation campaign. If you are in top form, you will be able to perform better at the job.

Dealing With Angry Telemarketing Prospects

When prospecting for potential B2B leads, looking over your old calling lists can be a good way to start your work. I mean, you already have a relationship with the people on the list, right? So why not give them a telemarketing call and ask if they are interested in doing business with you again? More often than not, these prospects would say ‘yes’, but there are also cases where the prospect would not only say ‘no’ but would probably have a litany of complaints against you, your offers, or probably to your company in general. These are angry business prospects that, while they may not bring business in, are worth every effort to assuage their temper. For the sake of your business, you need to handle this right.

You see, you can think of angry customers as those who were disappointed by your company. It could be due to a lot of reasons, like poor service, non-delivery of goods, or even fraud. These are just some of the ways to really earn the ire of such former customers. While they may not rank high in our B2B lead generation campaigns, what they say in social networks can bring down our business. So you have to deal with them quickly every time you have such an encounter. Anyway, for those tense moments, it pays to remember these useful tips:

One, do not take their criticisms personaly. They just wanted to get their resentments out of their chests. And in case that failure your company made is serious, then it is only natural that they would want to speak out to the first representative that calls them.

Second, leave the anger out of the equation. If you react to the negative outburst with an equally negative outburst, nothing positive will come out of it. Indeed, this will just end up escalating to higher levels of trouble for you and your company once this gets out of control, which will usually happen.

Third, apologize once things have calmed down a bit. Even if this is not your fault, you represent the company that caused the prospect grief in the past. Assure them that you are there to solve whatever problem they had with your service in the past. Usually, this would have mollified your prospects and make them more receptive to your B2B appointment setting efforts.

Lastly, concentrate on solving the problem itself. Take note, these prospects are unhappy because of some problem your business gave them. For that reason, you should ask them where things went wrong.

Yes, that would be an ugly process, but you need to know in order to iron your processes out in the future. At least you are getting more information. You may not be able to make a sale at this point, but at least you are fixing your relationship with your previous prospects. Once you have gotten this fixed, it will be easier for your lead generation campaign to do business with them again.

What Do Your B2B Lead Generation Prospects Want To Hear?

The secret to an effective B2B lead generation campaign lies in your ability to give your prospective B2B leads what they want to hear. You know that it can be hard to keep their attention focused on you, let alone compel them to actually take action (based on your message), so if there is any way for you to achieve this goal, you would take it. As for that challenge, you just have to tell them what they wanted. Not that you are going to lie, mind you, but more along the lines of being the source of convincing content. Being honest is a big thing in business, as you can see from the things you can say below:

  

1.    You can talk about their market position – it does not have to immediately translate to narcissism or anything, but a lot of businesses would want to know how they are faring in the market these days. If you can help them determine where exactly they are in industry ratings, then they would most certainly want to hear that. Bonus points if you can give them the exact number for the job.

2.    You can be their ‘crystal ball’ of the future – one of the biggest enemies of a business is uncertainty. The unknown is notorious for causing a lot of ruckus to many B2B appointment setting campaigns when it strikes. That is why a lot of companies would be willing to spend just to reduce the number of unknown factors that they have to deal with. And if you can provide that particular service, then it is all good for you.

3.    You can be a management practices expert – with the evolution of businesses and the market, one need to be aware of the latest practices and standards that will help make him more competitive. If you can  serve as the expert in best practices, quality control, or even business laws, then you will be able to grab the attention of interested sales leads prospects.

4.    You can act as their researcher – information is the name of the game, and the company that has in their possessions the latest market data and business trends are the ones most likely to generate the B2B leads that you are looking for. If you can become their provider of necessary business data, for example, because you conduct B2B telemarketing surveys, then you will be able to have a deal with them.

5.    You can offercustomized business solutions with them – remember, not all companies are the same. In one way or another, they may have needs and concerns that go beyond what a pre-fabricated solutions system can provide. Customization is the key here, and if you can provide that, then you have their business.

As I have mentioned earlier, being honest plays an important role in the success of your B2B lead generation campaign. Tell them upfront what you can do or cannot do for them. While this might be too blunt, your prospects will understand. They need real solutions, not pretty band-aids.