business sales leads Archives

In any B2B lead generation campaign, attending public events and creating networks from the people you meet is a necessity. You know that getting B2B leads can be done in a variety of ways, and it makes sense that you use all avenues in getting them. That is why networking is a good place to start. You get to meet a lot of people, interact with them, learn what issues they face every day, generally giving you an idea on what you and your appointment setting team should do to turn these acquaintances into actual deals or closed sales.

You can be successful in this, if you know how to do it. So follow these tips, and you will be in the right path:

Come in early – while some of you would be tempted to arrive a few minutes after the event, but that would be a bad move in marketing. You would want to come in early in order to observe the other attendees better, as well as identify groups or individuals that you can interact with.
Ask around – when you are in a social event, please try not to stay by the walls. Not only will this make you look like a sore spot, it would also hinder you from meeting people and getting information out of them. That, in turn, would reduce the number of prospects that your telemarketing team can contact once you get back.
Forget the sales pitch – if you want a sure fire way to dissuade prospects from doing business with you, you should try using a sales pitch on them. Really, if there is anything that a prospect or networking event attendee hates to hear, it has to be someone trying to sell them something. That never ended well for those who used it. Besides, the whole point of you attending such events is to meet new people.
Talk about your passions – you know, if you want your new conversation partners to warm up to you, then talking to them about your passions can be a good topic. Besides, if both of you like the same thing, then would it not be the perfect way to establish a connection that can be transferred to your B2B appointment setting campaign later on? You should give this a try and see it for yourself.
Smile – truly, the one networking asset that many marketers tend to forget. You see, no one really approaches someone who, while they may have something good to offer, when they see that same person with a dour expression.
Do not dominate the conversation – while you may have something much to say, it is never a good move to actually hijack the conversation. A good appointment setter would let the others talk more. It is all about the conversation, not the business.
Follow-up – after the meeting, and especially if the conversation yielded good results, it is always good to give them a call or follow-up with the conversation, on a different date or a different place. In that way, you are connected with them beyond the event.

Pretty easy tips, to be honest. Just follow these and your B2B lead generation campaign would be fine.

As with any campaign that your company that your company undertakes, your appointment setting campaigns need to have clear, SMART goals so that you can positive results. Setting up SMART appointments relies on proper coordination between sales and marketing people. The sales department need to keep the marketing team updated with news about the leads passed on to them, and the marketing people should inform the sales department whenever new effective lead generation strategies are used or when new market demographics are tapped. Otherwise these goals will remain ineffective.

Here are the 5 goal criterias to help you do a SMART appointment setting campaign.

Criteria 1. Specific

Business appointments vary depending on which stage in the sales cycle your business leads are in. When b2b leads are not yet ready to purchase, sales people attending the meeting should be informed accordingly or else they might aggressively push for the sale, and vice versa. Letting your sales reps know what to do before they get to the meeting will help them be more prepared and make your appointments more successful. Being specific also means setting appointments only with the people who can make the decision happen.

Criteria 2. Manageable

Don’t send a new sales hire to close a potentially big deal or else you could lose a potential client. The selling skills of your sales people should always be taken into account when pairing sales representatives to b2b sales leads. Doing so will help them close more sales for your company.

Criteria 3. Attainable

Have your appointment setters schedule meetings only with business leads who have an obvious propensity to purchase. This means the potential clients should always be—as much as possible—high-quality b2b sales leads. Even if the need for your product is not yet apparent, as long as the business lead will truly benefit from your products and services, you can ask for an appointment. For example, a professional BPO company has a business lead who owns a fast-growing startup with ten employees. Although their prospect has not yet expressed a need for outsourced services, the BPO firm can have an appointment with them to discuss the benefits of outsourcing. So, when that business lead needs to outsource in the future, the BPO firm will have already established a relationship with them that they can advance forward.

Criteria 4. Realistic

Let’s say you hired a telemarketing company for their amazing b2b appointment setting campaign. As much as possible, your contract should require them to deliver only as much business appointments as your sales reps can cater too. Keep in mind their work and personal schedules so that neither of these two will overlap with the appointment of the new business lead.

Criteria 5. Time-bound

When scheduling multiple meetings throughout the day, take into consideration the amount of time the sales representative would need for introductions, presentation, answering questions, and bargaining. Give your sales people enough time to spend on each client so that they can discuss matters more thoroughly. One more thing, unless you’ve hired professional b2b telesales representatives or some other online agent, allot enough time for the sales rep to travel to and from the meeting place.