Our B2B Telemarketing Service: Frequently Asked Questions
B2B (business to business) telemarketing is sometimes confused with B2C (business to consumer) cold calling, which is often perceived those nuisance calls. In the B2B environment, the tactics used and results achieved quite different.
Here we answer the most commonly asked questions to dispel a few myths with regard to B2B telemarketing.
What is B2B telemarketing?
Telemarketing is marketing conducted via the telephone to an intended market or target group. It can therefore cover a variety of functions; including lead generation, appointment setting, event support, upselling, route to market, market research, customer surveys and raising awareness.
What’s the difference between telemarketing and telesales?
Telemarketing and telesales are very different activities – although they are often interchangeable depending on the aims of the campaign. Telesales is used to sell a company’s products or services, and is frequently described as “cold calling”. In contrast, telemarketing is more about relationship building and has far wider possibilities. It focuses on lead generation, prospecting, appointment-setting or is used to support other marketing activities which a business may be involved in.
How does VSL source a prospect list?
We would start by reviewing the objectives of your campaign and the audience you want to target. We work with trusted, quality data providers, although we are not tied to any one supplier to source the right B2B database tailored for your specific marketing campaign.
Can VSL work with our own prospect list?
Yes we can, although we would always carry out data cleansing to ensure it’s fully up-to-date and we are speaking to the right person. This will dramatically improve the effectiveness of your campaigns.
What results can we expect to see using VSL services?
One of the great things about telemarketing is that it can be measured, so you will always know your ROI from our work. We continually benchmark and monitor our activities to ensure you get the best results from our services.
What can telemarketing be used for?
Telemarketing can be used to perform several roles including:
- Identifying key prospects
- Setting appointments for the sales team.
- Event support
- Mailshot, event or advertisement follow-up
- Identifying new sales opportunities or to “test” the market with new products or services
- Raising brand awareness of a new service a company is launching
- Surveying customers to minimize attrition and introduce other services or products
- Critical communications.
Telemarketing is often the most cost effective way to reach new prospects and gather valuable information about your products and services because it can reach a high volume of people without the cost of face-to-face meetings.
What other activities should my business by involved with besides an outbound telemarketing campaign?
Experience tells us that no single marketing initiative can do the whole job effectively. The best results are achieved when telemarketing is integrated with other marketing activities such as Email shots, PR activities or events.
Is telemarketing a replacement to my sales force?
In short no. We work with your organisation and bridge any gaps between your sales force and the client. This could mean passing “warm leads” to a sales force, or carrying out a specific campaign relating to upselling to existing clients. You can use a team like ours to support areas not covered by your sales team. Whatever the activity, VSL Telemarketing liaise closely with your sales force to ensure that key messages and objectives are consistent and support other activities you are doing.
How popular is telemarketing now in a B2B marketplace?
Telemarketing is a proven and effective way to reach new clients and is becoming an essential asset in the marketing mix. It is the most efficient way of gathering relevant information to determine sales opportunities. Most business start ups now are encouraged to budget for some B2B telemarketing, as the best way to break into the marketplace. Are there any here that we haven’t answered? We’d love to hear from you. Email us your questions!
If you are considering outsourcing to a telemarketing company like Virtual Sales Ltd then please contact us either by email sales@virtual-sales.com or call us on 01403 788481
Tags: Appointment Setting, B2B Telemarketing, Lead generation, Market Research, Seminar Attendees, Telemarketing
Andy Dickens
Andy Dickens is a veteran of IT Sales, used to leading by example. He is the CEO of Virtual Sales Limited (VSL) who offer telesales, telemarketing, lead generation and appointment setting services to B2b businesses. He previously was Sales Director EMEA for Red Hat and before that ran sales at Visio before it was acquired by Microsoft.