So, you’ve done one successful lead gen campaign. That’s no excuse to relax!

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One of the most short-sighted things you can do in business is to rest on your laurels once you’ve completed a successful sales campaign. And it’s also a waste of the time, money and effort you’ve invested in getting that far. Rather than making a cold start each time you get worried about sales revenue, it’s easier to build on the momentum you’ve already achieved.

Doing it right

The Cerebral Palsy Society of New Zealand are an organisation who know how to do things the right way. As they’re a registered charity, and reliant on the kindness of corporate sponsors and empathetic individuals, they are careful to only invest in activities which help them meet their objectives. So, when they signed up in 2015 to become part of the global Steptember initiative they had a tight marketing budget, and an ambitious fundraising goal firmly in mind.

Building up the steps

Steptember challenges everyday people to walk 10,000 steps a day for 28 days over – you’ve guessed it – September of each year. The programme has already raised almost $9.5M worldwide through corporate sponsorship, with our wonderful Kiwi corporates contributing nearly a million dollars to that total.

To start with, the Society allocated us a small part of their Steptember marketing budget to provide telemarketing support for their other activities. This was the first time they’d ever used a lead gen company, so they were happy to start with a conservative approach.

And it worked. We made our 10% of their budget go a long way!

For every dollar the Society spent with us, we raised $10 of corporate sponsorship for their cause. In fact, telemarketing turned out to be the most successful tactic in the Society’s Steptember marketing kit.

As you can imagine, they were happy and impressed and could see the strategic value in enlisting our services on an ongoing basis.

Let’s do it all again!

By the end of last Steptember’s campaign (see what I did there?) our telemarketing efforts had raised almost $15 for each dollar the Society spent with us. That equals 53% of their total Steptember revenue for 2017.

While we’re always happy to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, we credit the success of Steptember in NZ to the Society’s ability to look beyond their year-by-year success. They accurately measured the results of their marketing activities and saw how they could continue the fundraising momentum gained through previous telemarketing efforts. And they built on it.

As I said, they’re smart – you can Steptember

Takeaway

“It’s easier to grow your business by building on existing success. And if you’re not successful to start with, then find better a better toolkit.”

And you can quote me on that.

lisa@hotleads.co.nz

PS: If you’d like to give the Cerebral Palsy Society of NZ a helping hand then step right up! You can make a donation here, or preregister your interest for Steptember

 

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Lead gen 101: Your must-have marketing checklist!

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Lead gen 101: Your must-have marketing checklist!

Ok, you’re ready to run your first lead generation campaign. You’ve got a targeted and accurate database, a compelling offer and a convincing script. And of course, it goes without saying that you have a professional lead gen team to make the calls, then nurture your pipeline.

But you feel like there’s something missing.

You’re right, there is. Check out our list.

The ‘must-have’ list

  1. Your website. The first place prospects check when they’re interested in your products/solutions is on the internet, therefore your website needs to support and reinforce the professional image of your business. So, in all honesty, how’s it looking? Is it free of spelling mistakes and poorly laid out graphics? Is your ‘offer’ eye-catching and easy to find on the homepage? Does it exactly reflect the campaign messaging, so your prospects immediately know where to go for more information? (And while we’re at it, what happens if they look up your company on LinkedIn?)
  2. A PDF leaflet. Your lead gen expert has had a great call, but the prospect needs that little bit more encouragement to make the decision to buy or meet. Or perhaps they need to share information with others before taking the next step. By emailing a PDF which officially reiterates ‘the offer’ and reinforces your company credentials the level of engagement steps up a notch, and your campaign conversion rate climbs dramatically. If your campaign is to existing customers, you should also consider sending the PDF version of the offer out first as a warm-up tactic.
  3. An AdWord campaign. If your prospect is really just too busy to take it in the offer at the time of the call, they may still mentally file away the information to check on later. And when they need that information again…we know what they do. They Google the keywords they remember from the offer (which will often not include your business name). For example – NZ free 3-stage health check on my accounting software. And you want to be there, on the search results page, when they do.
  4. A landing page. There’s an art to converting sales once your prospect is no longer on the phone. And it’s called a landing page. This page is about the offer and nothing but the offer, and it provides the capture mechanisms (i.e., an e-form) you need as a marketer or sales manager to allow the prospect to easily request more information or to take the next step (or for you to reach out to them!). Make sure your home page banner, LinkedIn or Facebook sponsored ad, PDF, and AdWords all point to your landing page. And embed tracking code, so you know how the prospect ended up there.
  5. Ready-to-go warm up, acknowledgement and thank you emails. Don’t overlook the common courtesies of business engagement. Prepare a branded email template (with room for personalisation) to thank prospects for their interest, confirm appointments or next actions. A great email sent out in advance of a campaign (as long as it’s only to existing contacts or customers, so it complies with the Electronic Messaging Act) can also pave the way to a more responsive reception to a call.
  6. Social media. Make sure you get your offer out via appropriate social media. If you are running a very select campaign, consider using the targeting tools in LinkedIn (and soon to be available through Facebook) to only share the offer with the people you want to engage with. The more awareness you can generate through ‘soft’ channels, the more impact, reach and response you’ll get to your lead gen campaign.

In a nutshell:

Human engagement is still considered to be a major factor in driving most B2B sales opportunities, but a truly integrated approach will lift the performance of your campaign.

lisa@hotleads.co.nz

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Say, what? Why your cold calling approach can kill an opportunity dead.

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You’re busy. But when your phone rings you answer cheerfully (as the effects of the recent holiday haven’t worn off yet).

Then it happens.

‘Hi ! This is Jane Doe from ABC Ltd, and I’m part of the Super-Duper Saving Team. Would you like to get the best price every time you shop, without having to shop around? With our Super-Duper Savings exclusive membership, you will save…’

You’re a) surprised she’s called you on your mobile, must talk to receptionist about giving out that number, b) vaguely irritated she used your first name to presume acquaintance with you, and c) really annoyed that you couldn’t even get a word in edgeways before she started or during her sales spiel.

And that holiday feeling just wore off. If you’re nice, you’ll say ‘thanks for calling, but I’m not interested’ and say goodbye. However, if you’re like most of us, you’ll just hang up.

This type of call is why we disassociate ourselves from telemarketers who provide ‘cold calling’ services. We specialise in lead generation, and we’re a whole different kettle of fish.

Why we’re not cold callers

There’s an art to successfully calling and initiating a positive relationship with someone who is, let’s face it, a total stranger

If their first perception is that you’re a telemarketer reading a script at full speed, you’ve lost an opportunity. And in all likelihood, you won’t win back any lost ground during the course of the call (even if you’re not hung up on).

But it’s not all about the script delivery. This is why we’re so much more effective than the old style ‘cold calling’ telemarketers.

  1. We leverage our professional sales and business experience to call prospects without sounding like cookie cutter telemarketers. We break down inherent barriers by being instantly warm, empathetic and professional – and by listening, not just talking.
  2. We’re trained to call strangers. We not only know the right things to say, but we also know what we’re talking about. As part of our campaign training we learn about the pain points your prospect is experiencing, and how to use this information to engage their attention and interest.
  3. We use scripts. But they are only guidelines, not a stream of words that gives your prospect no opportunity to become involved, and gets their back up and the phone down. We have natural, flowing and intelligent conversations – the sort of high-value exchange of information that well-targeted prospective customers rarely hang up on.
  4. We make sure that your campaign messaging meets your market profile. If your value proposition is missing the mark, we proactively come back to you to discuss how we can achieve higher conversion rates by trying alternative approaches.

Win-win-win!

After a good call, everyone walks away happy.

Your prospect feels as though they have learned something of value that they can act on to benefit their business or themselves. You achieve a higher conversion rate, resulting in a more compelling ROI on your lead generation campaign investment.

And we have done what comes naturally to us, which makes us feel great. High-five!

lisa@hotleads.co.nz

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Why telemarketing works for Jane

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Last week you met John. He reckons telemarketing doesn’t work. But if that’s the case, why do so many other business owners, sales and marketing managers, and entrepreneurs swear by it as a highly successful lead gen activity?

Meet Jane.

She runs her own successful business and sees telemarketing as a smart strategy for growing her client base. She already outsources several of the key business processes, like the day-to-day accounting and digital marketing activities. She says that for her, these tasks are more cost-effective and efficient when given to professionals.

Jane’s keen to gain more clients. She’s going to do a lead gen campaign which combines social media and telemarketing to introduce prospects to her services and products.

As we did with John, let’s think of Jane’s telemarketing campaign in terms of a running a race. An event which generally requires training, strategy, and commitment.

On your mark, Jane

First off, Jane needs a list. She already has a great, up-to-date client list in her CRM (because she recognises the value of keeping her data valid and current), but it’s new clients she’s after.

Jane has a plan. She’s going to:

a. Establish who she wants to attract as new clients. Jane’s had considerable success converting the owners of medium-sized businesses into clients, and she understands their needs and the tangible benefits she can offer them. So, she’s going to look for prospects in similar industries, and around the same size. As she likes to visit her clients regularly and in person, she’s going to stick to her immediate geographic region to minimise the cost of travel. She’s also going to target the same prospect list through a LinkedIn campaign to help boost response rates. Great start, Jane!

b. Work with a professional list procurement company to buy (or rent) a fully detailed database rather than potentially waste hundreds of hours building her own list. After all, that’s time she could profitably spend elsewhere in the business.

Get set, Jane 

Then, she’ll put together a team of people to represent her business and her valuable brand to the world. Jane’s already worked out how she’s going to do that. She runs a lean internal team, and needs them to keep their eyes on the business-at-hand, so she’s going to outsource.

She’s going to:

a. Do some research. Ask around, look for verifiable references and quantified proof of performance from small, medium and large customers.

b. Meet with several lead generation companies. Ask some hard questions about set up fees, where the team is based, their local business knowledge and skill base, how long the campaign should take, and how it can be improved. She’s looking for value, advice and performance.

c. Choose a partner who reflects her own approach to doing business. Someone who takes pride in their business, and invests time in understanding her business. A partner who has people who don’t parrot a script, but instead deliver well-qualified (and therefore high-value) opportunities through intelligent and engaging conversations. And someone she can trust with her most important asset – her brand.

d. Establish and agree on clear campaign objectives and outcomes, and insist on regular reporting and account management. She’s also make sure they will work closely with her external digital marketing consultant to align their efforts.

And go, Jane, go!

Once Jane’s got her list, and her team sorted, there’s the campaign strategy. For this campaign, she’s already decided that she wants more clients who are ‘like’ her top 20% existing clients.

So, what to offer them?

a. More of the same! Although there are plenty of options, Jane already knows what her most appealing products/services are for the group she’s targeting. She’s confident that once she makes a new sale, she’ll develop a long-term relationship with that client and have lots of opportunities to cross-sell. Jane’s a pretty smart cookie.

The after-race party

Jane will cross the finish line in great time, then drink champagne and dance on the after-race party podium.

And I can predict that her takeaway lesson after the event will be: Telemarketing worked for me. (But then, I put in the effort to define my target market, my offer and find the perfect lead gen partner).

Post-race analysis

Jane doesn’t believe in failure. She believes in reaping the rewards of doing things properly, like her approach to defining her prospect, choosing a team of well-trained, high-performing business professionals to represent her company, and developing a sure-to-succeed offer. And she’s going to end up with a substantial sales pipeline.

In a nutshell

Be like Jane. Give the task to us; you’ll get a winning outcome. And sorry John, but there’s no time for also-rans in today’s competitive business world!

lisa@hotleads.co.nz

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Why telemarketing won’t work for John

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Meet John. He wants to do a telemarketing campaign. He’s never done one before; he’s not even sure if it’s going to work. But he wants to do it right now, and most definitely on the cheap. So, he’s going to organise it himself.

Let’s think of John’s telemarketing campaign in terms of a running a race. An event which generally requires training, strategy, and commitment.

On your mark, John

First off, John has to procure a list which will be a goldmine of up-to-date contacts, and all their details.

John’s going to: 

a. Use that old spreadsheet list. He’s not sure how old the list is, and what permissions are in place for its use. To be honest, John doesn’t really know which companies are still around, if the same people work there – or sadly if they are even alive.

b. Purchase a list from someone who just won’t stop spamming him. Hey, it didn’t cost much so nothing to lose.

c. Extract a prospect/client list from the CRM or finance software. No-one has actually kept it current, but he reckons it can be updated on the go.

Get set, John 

Then, he needs to put together his team. The people who will represent his business and his brand to the world. How will he source them?

He’s going to:

a. Look around the office to identify who doesn’t seem to be busy and start there. Perhaps his receptionist could make calls, or he could get a high school or university student in over the holidays or after class? And he or his sales guy could write a script.

b. Outsource the calls. He’s heard about a contractor/company who offers very keen prices. He’s not quite sure where they’re based, or how good they are. But does it really matter as long as they call everyone on the list? It’s a numbers games, he reckons, so the odds are they have to make some wins.

And go, John, go!

John’s got his list, and his team, but then there’s the campaign strategy. He wants to generate sales and appointments.

So, what to offer them?

a. Everything! The perfect prospect will want to know all about what John’s business does and buy every product and service he offers. Or at the least be interested enough to listen to a long call to find the one thing that could be of interest. Yeah, right.

b. A super-hot price or giveaway. How about a cut-throat, never to be repeated offer? Sound too good to be true?

c. Sell ice to Eskimos. Can never have enough, right? And don’t forget, it’s a numbers game, so the telemarketer will have to strike it lucky eventually.

The after-race party

Well, we can guarantee that John won’t make the after-race party. He’ll barely get off the starting block. And his takeaway lesson (the one he will share with everyone who cares to listen): Telemarketing doesn’t work.

Post-race analysis

John is doomed to fail. Without a decent list he’s wasting time and effort. With poor quality and/or inadequately trained low-cost resources his prospects won’t engage. And by not thinking through an offer carefully tailored to his target market, the campaign conversion rate will be low. Instead of saving, he will waste time, money and effort doing a lousy job.

You know where I’m going with this. The results you get from telemarketing are dependent on the investment you make. And that isn’t just a financial investment, but doing the research and planning to make every campaign a winning one.

In a nutshell

Give the task to us; you’ll get a different outcome! We’re fleet of foot, nimble and always get to the end in great time! And we leave the Johns of this world to eat our dust.

lisa@hotleads.co.nz

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