B2B Sales and Marketing: How a staffing company gained 242 qualified leads in just three months in a new market
B2B Sales and Marketing: How a staffing company gained 242 qualified leads in just three months in a new market:from B2B Lead Blog
Jenifer Lambert, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, TERRA, decided to use this opportunity to launch her sales efforts into the 21st century. The company’s existing sales process was proving to be a dinosaur predicated heavily on “intentions, moods and temperament.” She couldn’t afford that in Portland, considering this was TERRA’s first expansion outside of Washington state.
“We had to produce a quick return on investment, and I needed a profitable, predictable sales engine,”
she explained.
Fortunately, Lambert already had an ace team of closers – recruiting and staffing professionals who worked directly with clients to deliver results.
“They outperformed direct sales because they simply had more credibility,” Lambert confessed. “They intuitively knew the questions to ask to provide solutions our prospects needed.”
What she didn’t have were the prospects for her team to talk to, and they had neither the time nor know-how to obtain them. Inspired by a MarketingSherpa article, she decided to outsource a lead generation company to generate leads they could close.
In 90 days through teleprospecting, TERRA Staffing had 242 qualified leads, 27 appointments, and closed three deals. This more than paid for its investment. Most importantly, the staffing company established a predictable sales engine through the following:
Measurement. The first priority was to establish a benchmark to measure the team’s progress. After analyzing the Portland marketplace, the team determined:
- The size of their target market
- How much of that market might be urgent buyers
- The response rate and deal size necessary for ROI
Clarifying messaging. Teleprospectors followed a script that included how to respond to objections. They worked directly with TERRA’s staffing professionals to develop appropriate responses.
“This process has, frankly, helped us refine our own messaging,” Lambert said. “It has forced us to be much clearer.”
Determining cadence. After testing how many calls produced the best results, the outcome proved fewer calls to a broader audience was optimal. Most of the appointments came early in the prospecting process.
Optimization. The team used a software system that made the progress of the lead generation effort completely transparent. TERRA could look at data, note which messages were resonating most, and see precisely which leads were progressing and which weren’t.
“In the beginning, we noted we had an unusually high number of leads that were just not moving forward,” Lambert recalled. “By looking at the data … we discovered a commonality: The companies were all too small.”TERRA adjusted its qualified leads to include only companies with a larger employee and revenue base, and noticed significantly more calls converting into appointments. It also helped the team work more efficiently – they stopped wasting time trying to win over prospects who weren’t in a position to buy.
“While sales used to be based on personality and persuasive abilities, today it’s much more of a science,” Lambert said. “At the end of the day, it’s about initiating a sufficient number of contacts with people who can buy from you. Having this partnership has made that very clear to me and, thanks to that, I’m going into 2013 with a much more predictable sales engine.”
Sources:
LeadJen – the outsourced lead generation company TERRA usedJesubi – software system used by the team
Related Resources:
Intro to Lead Generation: How to determine if a lead is qualifiedThriving in the Pressure Cooker: 5 tips for optimize your time, knowledge for better lead gen
Ideal Customer Profiles: 5 steps to ensure your lead generation stays on target
Why 75% of Marketers Are Experiencing Lead Generation Pain and How to Stop It Before It’s Too Late
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