We are very pleased to share with you that you can now find out about our services, company and experiences in B2B Telemarketing in German language on our newly launched German website http://qualifa.eu

Natürlich können Sie sich auch gerne mit unserer Vertreterin, Fräulein Anna Gehring in Koblenz in Verbindung setzen um eventuelle Möglichkeiten der Zusammenarbeit zu besprechen: E-mail Addresse: anna.gehring@qualifa.eu oder telefonisch mit der Nummer +44 (0) 203 627 7902.

If you are interested in running Lead Generation, Market Research, Lead Nurturing or Data Management campaigns from Germany throughout the world, or if you would like to discuss your German language B2B Telemarketing campaign requirements with us, please do not hesitate to contact Anna Gehring, our Business Development Executive in Koblenz by email anna.gehring@qualifa.eu or by phone +44 (0) 203 627 7902.

However I’m going to look at a different angle to view sales lead generation. Not just through emailing and cold calling but through targeted calls with a sharp and smart pitch that gets straight to the crux of companies sales problems. With our long list of telemarketing services for example event attendees, profiling, market research and BANT research there is an area of telemarketing that would benefit any company. I mentioned BANT just then and this is an anagram for…

B = Budget
A = Authority
N = Need
T = Timescale

For many of our contracts we use BANT to make sure that all of our clients requirements for a particular lead is fulfilled. Im going to expand them a bit further and explain why they are key considerations when conducting and managing sales lead generation telemarketing campaigns.

Budget

Does the company your calling have a budget for what your asking? Would they be able to justify the amount of budget that you are looking for in a lead? Many people would be extremely reluctant to give information on budget to someone over the phone but with a few succinct questions it is possible to indirectly get the information that you need regarding budgets. Some of our databases also have the amount of people that work for any given target company and this is also a key consideration when debating a new call, would a company with 25 employees really have the need for major new IT network development?

Authority

Are you on the phone to the key decision maker when asking the qualifying questions? This is very important as our clients use the contact information that we find to build up their own database of key decision makers. It is also important so that you can get a direct answer from them so as to update your own notes and give more information to your own client.

Need

The need is more subjective, it is your own analysis after taking into account all other factors of whether this company would realistically have a need for the product or service that your client is offering. Need also links to…

Timescale

As if they say ‘we are not interested now but call us back in 6 months’, you can note it down as a positive lead as they have expressed a future possible need for your clients service, they have also given you a timescale which is good for managing your call backs and follow ups. Again this links to Authority as if you have found the correct point of contact getting a hold of them again will be a lot easier.

BANT is important when doing more in-depth profiling and lead generation but these four things are just a more specified view of what sales people should look for when developing and discovering leads. There are other factors that you can look at, but the above are, in my opinion, the most significant. There is going to be a part 2 of this blog where I shall be outlining more of our services and ways in which telemarketing can help you that you may have not thought of before. Until then why not get in touch and let us help you with your telemarketing needs.

Multilingual telemarketing is therefore essential in providing a link between you and markets you may have thought you could not access. Each telemarketer we employ can contact key decision makers within foreign companies and discuss your service or product in an informative and eloquent way, so that your company can be represented impeccably to prospective clients in Europe and around the world. It is also important to recognise the different business cultures that exist not just in Europe but globally, our telemarketers are speaking their native language and so have the experience of working and living in these countries and know the most professional way to address prospects. We offer not only professionalism but an opportunity to expand your business in a way you may have thought impossible, and access markets that may prove to have a great need for you product or service.

Qualifa is however at its heart a lead generation company and we are proud to announce the launch of our multilingual telemarketing capabilities. This means that we can offer our skills in lead generation to companies who are again looking to expand abroad and access perhaps previously unattainable markets.

Multilingual telemarketing is therefore not just about speaking a different language or learning how to say ‘one coffee with milk’ in French, but its about making British companies successful in global markets and giving them the opportunity to do so. For companies to reach their full potential steady growth is key. However, like I said in a previous blog post, lead generation is the engine room of a company, maintaining growth and success at home is key, we can now provide the service to ‘turbo charge’ that engine and generate sales leads across Europe and beyond, all still on the Pay on Results model. So next time your in Europe on holiday or in a business meeting trying to secure a new deal, consider whether its more economical and smart to delegate the job to Qualifa so that you can worry about other aspects of your company yet be safe in the knowledge that we are doing all we can to get across your companies product or service and most importantly your values, ideas and company mission across to a wider more multilingual audience.

Just in case you were wondering how to say one coffee with milk in french…

‘Une Cafe au lait si’l vous plait’.

A sales lead, is the identity of a human or entity potentially interested in purchasing a product or service, and represents the first stage of a sales process.

Well that’s the easiest part of this blog post done.

The hard part is trying to unpick the word ‘lead’ and establish what one is. After having been working at Qualifa, the smart sales lead generation company, full time for just over 2 months, I can safely say that between different people the definition of ‘Lead’ differs greatly. What some people see as a speculative opportunity, others see as a waste of time. So how can you make sure you don’t waste your time going to bad leads? Answer? Qualify Qualify QUALIFY! I have learnt this a couple of times now and it is hard when you are excited for a client as you believe you have got them a meeting with a top branded UK Company, only to find out that the service or product that your client provides is not quite what they want.  As much as you want a lead to be 100% perfect with the right budget, right size and right ‘name’ at the right time, all this is 100% unrealistic. If you want to utilise the services of Qualifa, a lead generation and telemarketing company, you have to be prepared to go to meetings with prospective clients who you know may not be looking right at this point for your product or service but realise that this is invaluable contact building and relationship building with key members of a company, an opportunity you are unlikely to get otherwise. If you go into that meeting knowing everything there is to know about your company and how your product or service could benefit the prospective client, then there is no reason that you cannot come away from the encounter and have another meeting booked for a few months time to discuss terms of a future contract.

Would you really go to a meeting if the company we had found a lead for, had practically decided on an agency to go with for a process that your company fulfills? No? Well one of our clients did go to one such meeting and really impressed the huge UK company, so much so that they decided to go with our client and consequently won the deal and signed a 6 figure contract. They have also expanded into other sister companies of the same group. So it just goes to show that us ‘Qualifites’ are constantly trying to extend the opportunities of our clients, we want to get them the best meetings that we can and we become an extension of that companies sales team. We also become rather fond of our clients and truly believe in the value and quality of the product or service that they provide.

In my opinion a lead is exactly the entity that I stated at the beginning of this post. Finding them is much like fishing, you have to have lots of patience, lots of hard work and time. Sometimes you might catch an old boot, but other times you can catch a huge Carp and then all the hard work makes it worthwhile. Companies need new sales leads to keep them running and as a company can never have enough sales leads there will always be a need for intelligent Sales Lead Generation.

As an intern I had never worked in a professional business environment before and it was quite a nerve-racking prospect. But with the help and amazing support of the team I started to secure meetings for our clients with major high-street brands and grew to love the sales buzz. There is nothing quite like it and I also adore the friendly competition that exists within the office not to mention our weekly table tennis tournaments, it’s a great place to work and us ‘Qualifites’ are a lean mean sales lead generation team.

Before starting my intern-ship I had never really considered a career in sales, I had not done any business units in Sales throughout my academic life and I am greatly disappointed that more people do not get the opportunities that I have so far experienced in my role here. As Qualifa’s Managing Director James Burton says, “Sales is the engine room of a company”and ultimately Qualifa are helping businesses keep their ‘engine’ running by generating qualified new business sales leads. Sales is generally seen as an extroverts career with the stereotypical sales person knocking at your door trying to sell you cheese graters or something. But I can assure you at Qualifa it is nothing like that and I have learnt so much about the methodology behind sales lead generation. Simplicity is key and I have realised that if you have a good product or service and know a lot about it, then you will be successful in a sales career.

Another key part of my job at Qualifa involves Social media. Social Media is defined by many, but one definition that caught my eye was ‘social media is the use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value’, the creating value part of this definition is ultimately what businesses want to achieve when using social media yet many over complicate what really is quite simple. I feel that I have personally learnt through the opportunity of writing Case Studies for Qualifa and posting them on Twitter and Facebook, that Social Media is unique in its ability to reach so many people in such a short amount of time. My case studies were viewed 35 times within the first half an hour, by using my relatively small network I still had the power to reach out and communicate with people my ideas and work. Even if only 5 people had read it, it’s still a pretty amazing feeling!

SEO and PPC is another aspect of Digital marketing that I had never encountered before and I have read a number of resources on how to create a successful campaign. I have also worked on behalf of iCrossing which is a multi-million pound Digital Marketing company, which has allowed me direct access to the different case studies and analysis on what aspects of Digital Marketing that they have researched. Not to mention been given the opportunity by Qualifa to compile a PPC and SEO strategy in which I learnt so much about a world of marketing that I did not even know existed.

I also think I should mention football as it is a frequent topic of conversation between the guys in the office I can now say that I am up to date on all Seagulls team activity and also enjoy the regular rants on Twitter about the guys’ respective teams.

In conclusion there are indeed too many topics to write about what I have learnt, because I am in fact still learning… a lot! So as a parting note I will endeavour to update you on what I am learning and pass on the knowledge of ‘Qualifa’ to those not yet enlightened in the world of Pay on Results Sales Lead Generation.

Here’s a simply DIY prospecting guide to sending targeted letters via email…

When writing introduction emails to potential new clients, think about how much time the recipient has to read what you are sending. Has a Marketing Director got time to scroll through a page of text? Has an IT Manager got the spare 30 minutes to read that 10 page pdf? No – and you knew that already.

So, make what you draft succinct, punchy and scan readable.

If the decision maker can take a quick squizz at it in 10 seconds, they’ll make a swift judgement on whether they are interested or whether to pass it along to some one who will be. If they have to read too much information they will most likely file it away for another day (so never read it) or worse still delete it.

Follow this format:

State who you are

State what you do/who you work with

State what it is you’d like to talk to them about and why

Provide a ‘call to action’ to close a telephone call or meeting

It really should only be a maximum of three short sentences. Any longer and they can no longer scan it – so cut it down as far as you can.

Some other must do’s are:

Make it personalised

Make it relevant and researched

Don’t cut and paste ‘blurb’ (it stands out a mile when you do)

Don’t attach large files that won’t get opened and might even mean the email gets blocked.

This isn’t email marketing, its electronic personal letter writing and less is most definitely more.

With growing technology and digital media businesses (and some larger companies) there is often a recurring issue post initial client meeting. First meeting done, follow up email or proposal sent – sit back and wait for the order…. Sound familiar? Well perhaps that’s an exaggeration but its certainly the case that companies are not doing all that they can and should to move the sales cycle along and progress their opportunities.

But what can you do if you’ve seen the decision maker, submitted a proposal and been told to ‘wait to hear back’? Lots actually.

Consider that selling is not a linear process. In fact, picture each opportunity as a sort of Venn diagram attached to multiple satellite nodes – that would be a more accurate representation of how a sales actually looks when you consider the perspective of all those involved. Put your main contact in the middle of the diagram and start to consider who the other major players are in the decision making process:

Etc etc.

The next task is to map out each of these contacts and with the help of your prime contact establish who has a say in the decision (relating to your sale) and what influence they have. Once done its time to think about how you will start to build a relationship with these people to begin the process of educating them about your offering and how it will impact them personally/their department.

Of course, invariably you’ll require the permission of your prime contact to start selling to other people, however even if they say ‘all communication must come through me’ there are ways in which you can start building your information to hit the right notes with the extended organisation.

Let’s assume you’ve submitted a ‘creative’ proposal:  You should also consider:

I have a saying that there are at least 100 separate things to do in every sale before you close it. You’ll never know which individual point helped sway it in your favour so you better get on and do them all. Manage the minutiae and the bigger picture will look after itself

Frankly, that’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Imagine how hard it’s going to be to find a company that not only needs what you are selling, but who is sat there waving the cheque book waiting for the phone to ring. Hard work, trust us. Fact is, if you are lucky enough to find any of the above they’ll most likely by already talking to suppliers, if not in an advanced state of negotiation on the deal – meaning you’ll be on catch up mode from the start.

So what’s the answer? ‘Speculate to accumulate boy!’ (as my Granddad used to say).

By speculation here we mean that companies looking to build their sales pipeline should research and target their ideal customers and start to network with them and book introductory meetings. There may not always be immediate requirements, but you’ll start the process of being in their thoughts as and when they do have a requirement.

More importantly – GO AND SEE THEM, don‘t just make a phone call. Things happen when you meet with people face to face. Such as:

More than this, you leave with a new business ‘connection’ that, if used to your advantage should serve you well in the future.

Make sure you:

If after all that you don’t believe us, have a look at the following set of events that unfolded recently from a purely speculative meeting:

My Granddad would have approved  :)

Prospecting

Prospecting is essentially planning and researching. There are plenty of tried and tested clichés batted around warning you about the perils of not planning. “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” is my favourite. But however worn out that saying is, it offers concrete advice.

The first stage in the selling process is research. Or prospecting.

This pre-sales research can be done from your desktop. It involves gathering as much information about your prospective client as possible. You can use search engines, news stories and social media to gather insight and background information on a prospect.

When prospecting, pay particular attention to how your product or service can provide a benefit to your potential customer.

Does it help them streamline a complicated process, saving them money?

Does it help them gain market share by doing something their competition doesn’t?

Once you’ve established how you can specifically help your prospect, the next part of the research stage is discovering who the key decision makers are. Make sure you aim for c-level and directors. It is far easier to be referred downwards than upwards.

Here’s an acronym to help with your prospecting:

MANACT

M – Money. Does a budget for exist? Can you create a business case for one?

A – Authority. Who is the key decision maker? Who will sign off on your proposal?

N – Need. What specific business need are you helping to fix?

A – Action. As the sales person, what future actions can you prepare for now?

C – Is the deal competitive?

T – Create a series of time bound events, leading to the sale being closed.

Presentation

Now you’re fully prepared with your business case, supporting facts and figures and an appointment with the relevant people within your prospect’s organisation, it’s show time.

The presentation really has three main functions.

1. It provides you with an opportunity to learn more about your prospect’s business needs, in a face to face environment.
2. It allows you to overcome initial objections immediately.
3. You can establish a commitment from the client to move forward.

Be sure to keep your presentation concise, relevant and interesting. Focus the content on how your product or service provides the benefits you researched in the prospecting stage.

Also, your prospect will have questions. Lots of them. Prepare sound responses with facts and supporting documents ahead of time. So when you’re prospect says, “we’re looking to move our customer database over to web-based technology, how does that affect what you do?” you can be ready to say, “Yes, we knew you were thinking about this when we read your press release last month. Our product is already compatible with a web-based CRM, in fact we’ve already helped Company XYZ implement a web-based system and they’ve reduced customer complaints by 15%”.

No doubt you’ll agree, it sounds a lot more impressive than, “Erm. Not really sure. Can we get back to you on that?”

Negotiation

Picture the scene… After delivering a series of well oiled, faultless presentations, you’re given the good news that you’ve been selected and your prospect wants to proceed with your company.

It is time to prepare yourself for the next step in the sales process: negotiation.

To minimise the impact of giving aspects of your service away for nothing, try to identify areas your prospect will perceive as high value that you perceive as low value.

Where possible, if you are forced to give something away, get something in return.

Closing

Now the negotiations have been finalised and both you and your prospect are happy, closing the deal is the only thing remaining.

And considering all the hard work that’s gone into making a deal perfect for both parties, it should be relatively straightforward.

So here are 3 simple things you can do to help close your new deal:

• Stay in control. Make sure it is you driving the contact and next steps.
• Don’t let the conversation go quiet. Always have a ‘reason to call’ and keep momentum
• Invite the CEO to close the deal; they just love doing the final deal!

Why?

It’s probably a control thing.

Most organisations want to shape their own sales destiny, and not leave it in the hands of a third part supplier.

Natural evolution is another reason. As companies evolve, their professional sales departments need to evolve and grow with them. You need a good ‘internal sales‘ learning ground to breed the next generation of field sales people.

Past a certain point in their persuasion we can’t stop companies brining telemarketing ‘in-house’. But we can still present the reasons why we think it might not be the best idea.

Before we can help you understand why outsourced lead generation works, you need to appreciate just how difficult establishing an in-house sales team can be.

Here’s our thoughts on some of the challenges faced by companies looking to develop internal sales lead generation functions. You’ll see the process poses difficulties and problems right from the beginning.

1. Recruiting The Right Internal Sales Person

Okay picture the scene, you decide the way to grow your business is by hiring an internal sales person. There’s just a few hurdles to get over: You’ve got no sales people. You’re not a sales person and you’re not really sure what they should be like.

Sounds impossible from the start, yes?

Well it’s the situation most growing technology and digital media businesses find themselves in when they move from relying on word of mouth and referrals to grow onto creating sales with outbound sales and promotion.

Unless you’ve worked in sales-driven organisations, amongst true sales people, it will be very hard to know what to look for.

In most situations we have seen, the recruitment process fails to deliver the right amount of quality short listed candidates, normally because the job role was written poorly. Right from the start, you’ll have to chose from ‘the best of a bad bunch’ for your new sales person.

So, often the most outgoing and pushy person wins out.

Being outgoing is only one of a much wider set of skills needed. A great sales person should be outgoing as well as confident, systematic, analytical and many others. Being pushy is probably one of the traits you least want in a sales person.

All this means that your company’s leap of faith into the sales world is starting with the recruitment of what seems to be a good ‘sales type’ person. In truth that person is likely to be a long way from what is really required.

(You can see ‘what to look for in a sales person in an upcoming post. Subscribe to our RSS feed so you don’t miss it)

2. Training Your New Sales Person

Just for a minute, imagine you’re the new sales person. And it’s your first day in your new telesales job.

“Here you go: Your desk, your PC and the phone – off you go!’

Sounds extreme but believe me: I’ve been there.

Many internal telemarketing functions are set up by non-sales people. Normally they have a preconceived idea the new sales person will be a ‘go getter’, who will magically start delivering qualified sales leads to the company.

True, if you’re lucky enough to find a gem of a telephone sales person then, yes, this might work. But whoever they are, they will require in-depth training. Before they can start making calls, your telesales person will need a solid understanding of your company, its proposition and, most importantly, the outbound sales techniques that work best in your industry.

Who is going to train them? I hear you ask.

It is unlikely to be the technical/creative/production manager or director that’s trying to create the new function.

Unless the trainer has been in direct sales roles and understands what’s required in a ‘cold calling’ function, you’re setting it up to fail.

3. Keeping Your Sales Person Motivated

Sales people are strange folk. Many outside of the profession consider sales people to be fundamentally motivated by greed and money. Whilst remuneration is never far away from their thoughts I can honestly say I’ve never met a sales person whose primary concern is building their bank balance.

Sales people are generally driven by:

1. Professional pride (of a job well done)
2. Satisfaction (of developing a sale and contributing to the success of the business)
3. Recognition (of management and peers)
4. Reward

4. Managing, Coaching & Mentoring A Sales Person

Ok. So you’ve been lucky enough to find a natural sales professional, who took to your industry, products and customers like a duck to water. Now you face an even bigger challenge.

How do you manage a sales person in the long term?

As mentioned many times already, sales people are a unique bunch. And therefore, managing their results, coaching their performance and developing their skills is extremely difficult at the best of times. If your company doesn’t already have an experienced, successful sales manager it becomes nearly impossible.

When a sales person isn’t managed, coached and developed in the right way, you’re soon left with a sales person who’ll quickly be looking for their next challenge – often in the job section of the local paper.

5. Recognising & Reward A Sales Person’s Achievements (read: Commissions!)

It’s widely known most sales people are rewarded for their efforts by commission payments on top of their basic salaries.

Commission structures can be complex: Complex to design and complex to administer.

If your company has never had an internal sales person before, it is unlikely your office systems are designed to cope with a commission earning employee and your payroll person will also start asking awkward questions when their workload suddenly increases.

6. Providing The Camaraderie A Sales Person Needs To Succeed

Like most other people, sales-types are herd animals. They enjoy the competition, support and banter that comes with working in an existing team of other sales people. The desire to out-perform their colleagues is often what pushes them to achieve their best results.

When a business is experimenting with an internal sales role, the gamble is a small one. So the sales person finds that they are alone. Like a horse in a herd of cattle. Usually, after a while, the horse goes looking for other horses to run with.

Outsourced Lead Generation Sounds Like An Appealing Alternative

Now you’ve seen how fraught with danger, the in-house option is, I’m sure you’ll be considering outsourcing your lead generation a bit more seriously.

Using a professional lead generation business is easier because:

• You don’t have the pressure of hiring the right people

All of our Business Development Execs are trained professionals, experienced in the latest sales techniques.

• You don’t have to train someone in the art of lead generation

Finding businesses more sales leads is our passion. To help our client’s increase their top-line sales, we constantly learn and test the latest in telesales, e-mail and social media lead generation techniques.

• You don’t have to bear the financial strain of an internal sales team

By outsourcing to a lead generation company, you can save on the salary, commission, NI, expenses and other costs associated with hiring a full time employee.

Need More Information About Pay-On-Results Lead Generation?

Take a look at our lead generation page or read about some of the clients we’ve already helped with outsourced business development.