16
Nov
2009
Direct Marketing Strategies To Establish Trust With Your Prospective Clients
If you stand back and look at what really makes a consumer buy something it boils down to trust. Of course the benefits, the value proposition, the features, the packaging, the warranty and a lot of other things come into play when determining if a product will be accepted by the general public, but do they trust the product enough to solve their needs? Does your service convey enough trust to make the consumer take a chance and spend their budget with your internet marketing company? What about B2B Buyers?B2B Buyers are not simply risking their personal money but the company’s money, as well as their reputation in the corporation. Are you, the sales lead generation company, doing enough to establish trust with your prospects? In this article I will discuss some direct marketing strategies you can do to establish trust with your prospects.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is trust. You, as an internet marketing company, are going to have to set up a trustworthy a work atmosphere. The best way to go about doing this is to build rapport with your prospects through ongoing direct marketing such as email or direct mail communications. Nobody likes to be bombarded with spam so give your prospects something they can use. Through direct marketing you can give them something that will pique their interest such as an article you would like to share, a podcast, a webinar invite or helpful tips that make their job easier. The longer you are in communication with your prospects, the shorter the time it will take your prospects to learn to trust you.
When it comes to establishing trust it is nice to have proof of your creditability from an unbiased 3rd party organization. We recommend joining various respected sales lead generation or direct marketing trade associations or groups. One of the best things any company can do is join the Better Business Bureau. Once you have joined these organizations feel free to use their logos on your website and on any direct marketing communications you use on a regular basis. Another good idea is to freely share testimonials of other clients as well as client case examples. Attach some figures as proof to show your prospects exactly how much your internet marketing company increased revenue or cut costs. Prospects will immediately feel more at ease with you as an internet marketing company, knowing others have been down the same path where they are about to go.
Another sales lead generation strategy you can use to immediately establish trust with your prospects is to create a guarantee program. If you are able, offer a no questions asked guarantee vs. a guarantee that has stipulations or hidden clauses. With a guarantee it is better to be completely open. The guarantee, especially important in sales lead generation, acts like a safety net against B2B buyer’s remorse. The guarantee will help put the prospect as ease and they will be more willing to buy from your company now instead of doing more research or going with a competitor.
One of the biggest mistakes we as sales lead generation professionals see every day with clients is that their content is focused on them instead of the prospect. When a prospect reaches out to you, the internet marketing company, they are looking to fulfill a certain need they have. It is your job as a direct marketing organization to uncover that need and solve their specific problem. If you spend your time bragging about how long you have been in business for or that you offer quality products and service you will be pretty much wasting the prospects time. All Business to Business Buyers have heard the same pitch over and over again. They are looking for tangible solutions to their unique problems from a fair and decent internet marketing company at an honest price. Spend the majority of your efforts focused on their needs not yours.
Patience, lastly, is something you just learn to master. The majority of B2B Buyers are not ready to buy today. It takes diligence and commitment to win the hearts and minds of your prospective clients. If you can stick it out for the long haul and really work on establishing relationships with your prospects; eventually those prospects will turn into life long clients.
5
Nov
2009
The Knack Of The Teleprospecting Sales Call
MAKING THE TOUGH SALE IN A SLUMPING ECONOMY
World renowned sales guru Jeff Gitomer once said, “You don’t get great selling in a day. You get great selling day by day.” This statement really personifies what it takes to be a great telemarketer. Selling is not a one time deal. In today’s business world, information is everywhere and is easily accessible. Companies looking to buy, now have options for them that were once unavailable. However, that doesn’t mean that C-Level executives won’t entertain a phone call from a professional b2b sales lead generation company. Even an expert telemarketer must now play by a new set of sales rules. I’ve outlined 10 steps to making an effective business call in today’s economy.
1. Attitude – Before you pick up that phone your thoughts and emotional state have already determined if you will be successful or not. If you, the telemarketer, don’t have a good attitude, followed by expert knowledge and a true sense of passion the prospect is going to bail at the first opportunity. Be exceptionally well prepared with your product, script and b2b sales offer. Preceding the actual call itself, do something that puts you in the right frame of mind. Think of this time as warming up. Even Michael Jordan took practice shots before a game.
2. First Impression – Once you have identified that you talking to the focal, present your value proposition in the first 30 seconds of the b2b sales call. Before the telemarketing call, craft an attention getter, typically referred to as the Value Proposition (Value Prop) or Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This is the #1 reason that your prospect should remain on the telemarketing call with you.
3. Find the Pain, Sell the Opportunity – In today’s business environment managers are increasingly being held accountable for costs and/or generating a profit. As a b2b sales lead generation expert your job is to identify the unpublished point of pain and explain how your solution fills the void. Conversely, if your solution can increase unrealized sales or profitability, you, the telemarketer, are smart to present these opportunities quickly and succinctly.
4. Interact – There’s nothing worse than a one-way conversation. Your prospect will soon exit the call. An expert in teleprospecting lead generation is prepared prior to the call and probes the prospect for an opening to present their solution. They do their homework and know the prospect, the company, and have a solid profile in hand prior to making the call. They also have anticipated objections and can counter these with meaningful expert dialog enabling them to achieve their objectives for the call.
5. People Buy From Experts – There is really only one reason b2b sales people thrive, they have more knowledge than the buyer. The professional telemarketer brings experience via their solutions that the buyer needs and doesn’t have. Teleprospecting is the simplest and most effectual way to state these answers to the decision maker and open the door to the sales meeting.
6. Focus on Maintaining – Your power questions should help guide the prospect to share what dissatisfies them most about their corporate situation. One strategy during a b2b sales call is to tell the prospect how you’ll stabilize their profits, safeguard against industry trends, overcome fear and abolish their worries. Prospects are just as motivated to maintain what they have as they are to buy something new.
7. Practice Makes Perfect – Role playing is a great tactic. If necessary practice your pitch in front of the dog or in the mirror. Take the time to come up with a good script designed for teleprospecting lead generation and rehearse it until you don’t need the script. Then take it to the next level, pitch it without benefit of the telemarketing script. If you’re the expert your product knowledge should allow you to succeed with the prospect pitch.
8. Close the Deal – You’re saying this a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at the number of telemarketing professionals that don’t have a defined path. You’re in charge of the call and need to stay in that position. Lead the prospect to where you envision and you will realize the predefined goals and objectives of your teleprospecting call.
9. Lead Nurture the Other 95% – In B2B sales it is may take to 5, 6, 7 or more telemarketing phone calls, webinars or face-to-face conferences to close the deal. During that time you need to build trust and credibility. Position yourself and your organization as industry and thought leaders with articles, whitepapers, graphs, webinars, podcasts, testimonials and client case examples. Learn to read your prospect and present solutions to their objections. Don’t be afraid to ask for the sale. In telemarketing, persistence pays off. Each telprospecting lead generation professional has their own style, learn which style works best for you then learn to refine it.
10. Review – Take the time after each b2b sales call to review what you could have done better and then learn from those mistakes.
It takes a lot of time to become a great b2b sales lead generation expert. Remember, you will be rejected. Nobody is ever a failure if they don’t quit when times get tough. Don’t ever doubt yourself; with practice anyone can be a darn good telemarketer. To quote legendary teleprospecting connoisseur Red Motley, “Nothing happens until a sale is made.”