Balancing Quantity and Quality in Lead Generation

For businesses looking for profit, lead generation must be a balance between quality and quantity. This is why before staging an appointment with the lead generation company for their lead generation services it is vital that you must make a careful consideration of what you think should be the perfect mix of the number of leads you want to come into your company and its quality.

Businessmen who are novice at doing lead generation via online means often make the mistake of assuming that all online leads are good quality leads thus are deceived by lead generation companies into paying for leads they will probably never be able to convert into sales. One of the best ways to balance quantity and quality in online lead generation is to set the parameters for qualified leads. For

example, if you are a company selling shoes, you may impose a way of qualifying leads that will come in

from your website. You may set the rule that shoe stores are qualified leads and will pay for the leads

and appointments with their company representatives. Clothing stores that carry a small selection of shoes may also be a qualified lead, but at a lower rank than shoe stores. You can negotiate for a different fee for this type of lead. Stores that only sell bags are definite unqualified leads.

So before you are taken in by a lead generation company that will tell you that he can give you 1,000

leads from your website within 10 days, ask that company as to the quality of the lead. Remember, you

don’t just need leads, you need leads that you could convert to sales.

Office Number Vs Mobile Number Debate in Lead Generation

For lead generation experts, it is common sense knowledge that a website’s registration form must be
kept short and simple in order to increase the percentage of converting the website’s traffic to leads.
Most websites only have three fields in their registration forms, other websites have five or more. But
as you increase the number of fields in your registration form, you decrease the possibility of having
people sign-up in your website.

Given that you only want 3 fields in your registration form, what information should you collect? A lead
generation company that is in the business of lead generation services will automatically say that you
will first need the email address and then the name, regardless of the nature of your business, whether
you are a B2B, B2C or B2B2C company.

The third field is where the nature of your business will affect what information you will need. In a 2012
Marketing Sherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey, companies were asked the most important fields
they need from their lead generation forms. B2B companies ranked the office phone number as the
third most important information they need while the B2C companies felt that the mobile number is
more important.

This actually makes sense as B2B companies are more likely to contact prospects during office hours
and in their office. B2C companies are more likely to reach consumers via their personal numbers. So
consider the nature of your company before you add the field for the phone number in your registration
form. It will have a significant impact in your lead generation.

Email Address Info Holds Number 1 Rank Lead Generation

A lead generation company who offers lead generation services will advise novice website owners
to keep their registration forms short and simple in order to have a better chance of getting the website visitors to register. If you haven't read my previous blog about registration forms, click HERE.

 But as the website owner, you are faced with the temptation to get as much information from the registration forms for your lead generation and other marketing analysis. Given the limited number of fields in the registration form, what information should you ask from your website visitors and prospective clients? Further, will it matter if your company is a Business-to-Business (B2B) company, a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) company or a Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C) company?

In a 2012 Marketing Sherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey, B2B, B2C and B2B2C companies were
asked the most important fields they feel that they need to collect from their leads on lead generation forms. The results clearly showed that the email of leads is the most important information needed in lead generation, regardless of the nature of the business. This is closely followed by the name of the lead. This makes sense as these two fields are almost 99% included in online registration forms today.

So given that you can only put in three or five fields in your website’s registration form, be sure to put in
a field for the email and the name.

An Insider’s Tip on Lead Generation

Let us take a look at this all too common scenario in online lead generation: A company developed and
launched a great website, spent for online ads to promote it, got the needed traffic into its website, 
but is now at a loss why a very small percentage of people actually register in the website. What went
wrong? The traffic is already there, which means that the website already has informative, relevant and
interesting content. Further, the traffic is an indicator that your marketing efforts are paying off. But
why isn’t traffic being converted to leads?

Before you go off to a lead generation company to seek their lead generation services, let me give you
an insider’s tip that most website owners fail to consider when they formulate their registration form:
Keep your registration form short and simple.

People get turned off when they have to fill in a registration form that takes up so much of their time.
This is evidenced in a study made by Marketo, a marketing automation company. They put up a five,
seven and nine field registration forms. The results of the study showed that a five field registration
form had the highest conversion rate (website visitors who registered) of 13.4% while the seven field
form only had a 12% conversion rate and the nine field form had the lowest of 10% conversion rate.

So take another look at your website’s registration form. You might want to adhere to the KISS
philosophy: Keep It Short and Simple.

The Length of Your Registration Form May Affect Lead Generation

It may not seem to matter much, but the length of your registration form may greatly affect its efficacy in obtaining leads. A lead generation company who knows what it is doing knows that there is a better chance of conversion when the prospect only has to fill in a short form. Marketo, a marketing automation company, conducted a lead generation test wherein visitors to their site were made to fill in five, seven and nine field forms. The five field forms had fields for the first name, last name, work email, job function and company. The seven field forms added a field for number of employees and industry. The nine field form added fields for work phone and CRM system. The results showed that the five field forms had a 13.4% average conversion. The seven field forms had a 12% conversion while the nine field forms had a 10% conversion.

This shows that the longer your registration form is, the lesser the probability that lead prospects will actually fill in the registration form. A lead generation company who offers lead generation services will often advise clients to keep their website’s registration form short and easy to fill in. For most website owners, there is the temptation to get as much information from their website’s registration forms. However, this need for data must be balanced with the risk of turning people off from registering.

The Different Types of Leads You Will Encounter in Lead Generation

When you work for a telemarketing company for lead generation and appointment setting, you will encounter different types of prospects. The way you present the product or service must vary according to the type of lead that you are speaking with, in order to have a better chance of converting prospects into clients. The psychological make-up of each type of prospect is different so the respective approaches must also vary.

Some of the different types of leads you will encounter are:

1. The Jumpers

These are prospects who are dissatisfied with the current product or service that they are using.

They are eager to jump to a better product or company.

2. The Negotiators

These are prospects that know what they want from a certain product or service, be it a feature,

a price point or a service. They will require that their demands be met before conducting

business with your company.

3. The Undecided

These are prospects that are willing to listen to telemarketing companies have to offer but who are often

vague about what they want or expect from a product or a service. It will take more effort and

patience to get them to take the action of buying your product or engaging your service.

4. The Rejecters

These are the prospects who do not want to be disturbed by a telemarketing company. They

might have had a traumatic experience from terrible telemarketers. This is the hardest type of

lead to convert.

Before Talking to a Negotiator in Telemarketing

In telemarketing and appointment setting, it is important to be able to spot a negotiator during lead generation. Negotiators are a tricky bunch of prospects. If you handle them correctly, you will not only be able to convert them to clients, but they might even become loyal customers. Negotiators know what

they want, and if a telemarketing company can provide it to them, they will be loyal to your business.

Before talking to a negotiator, an agent of a telemarketing service must first be very knowledgeable about the product and service that you are offering. A mere surface knowledge of the industry, the product or the service will put off the negotiators. Remember, negotiators are thinking prospects. They will not be brought in through flowery product descriptions but by hard facts. Negotiators will also demand certain features or price considerations to be made available to them. So be sure you know the parameters of your negotiating authority. If not, be sure to be able to point a negotiator to the right person. Do not waste a negotiator’s time with vague answers for their demands, for that is the fastest way to lose them. Also, a negotiator knows he is the customer and he knows he is the king, so be sure to acknowledge his importance to the business and be prepared to meet his demands as best as you can.

Negotiators may be tougher prospects, but if the right telemarketing company will be able to bring an excellent product and wonderful service to the negotiating table, surely, you will also be able to bring in additional sales.

The Jumpers --- the Blessings for Telemarketing Companies

In telemarketing and in appointment setting, the jumpers are the best types of leads in lead generation.

These are the prospects that are willing to jump ship, provided you will give a better product or service

than the current one they are using. The jumpers are considered blessings to telemarketing companies

because they are the easiest leads to convert to sales, just a few notches behind the hot leads, or the

prospects that have been actively seeking for your product or service.

Although the jumpers have a higher chance of bringing in sales, telemarketing services will still have to exert a small amount of effort to bring them in. And it pays to constantly remember that jumpers are dissatisfied with

the current product or service that they are using, so make it a point that when you do your sales pitch,

you are focusing in why you are better as a company and the features that make your product more

superior than those in the market. Often, jumpers are also dissatisfied with the customer service of their

current product or company. An assurance that you will take good care of them will go a long way.

Jumpers are often already familiar with your product or service, so telemarketing companies should focus more on what makes your product or service better in terms of quality or price and what makes your customer service excellent. Given the right push, jumpers will readily jump into your business network.

Who are the Undecided in Appointment Setting?

The term undecided in lead generation and appointment setting refers to people who are not yet sure on the course of action to take with regards to your product or service. For telemarketing companies, this is a good enough lead, a notch above the rejecters who might slam the phone even before the telemarketing agent gets to the second part of the sales script.

If you are a wise businessman, you would tell your telemarketing company agent to let you and your sales team handle all the undecided leads in getting that appointment. The rationale behind it is that it will take an exceptional salesperson to make the undecided fence-sitter to decide to jump in and do business with you. The undecided group is usually those who have the need to gather a large amount of information, seek testimonials, feedback and recommendations, and ask for samples or product demonstration as they contemplate whether they want to have a business relationship with your company.

The good thing about having an undecided lead is that there is still a chance to convert the undecided to a hot sales lead. Handling the undecided leads will take a lot of marketing and sales skill, a lot of time and a lot of patience on the part of the telemarketing services chosen. But in the end, the effort will be worth it because usually, the undecided group would turn out to be loyal customers. If you bag an undecided lead, he usually stays in the bag for a very long time.

Handling the Rejecters in Appointment Setting

In appointment setting, the rejecters are people at the end of the line who have had traumatic experiences from agents of telemarketing companies. They might have experienced being called away from their dinners to answer a phone call that turns out to be a telemarketing agent calling if they want to earn millions by investing a couple hundred thousand in a financial scheme, despite that fact that they earn only a few thousand every month. Or they might have had answered too many appointment setting calls for products and services that they are definitely not interested in.

These rejecters are often the people who badmouth telemarketing services to their friend, relatives and acquaintances. They are also often the people who will slam the phone down on you or who will answer you with what they think are funny retorts to your call script.

So how do you handle them? Acknowledge that yes; there are telemarketing agents out there who are desperate in their lead generation that they have become nuisances. Getting on the side of rejecters will throw them off. And then apologize for the behavior of all the other bad telemarketers. This usually pacifies them. And lastly, never sell your product or service to them during this call. That should be the last thing you should do. What you can do instead is to listen to them talk about all the hurts telemarketers had given them. Make a pleasant chit chat with a rejecter. And then, at another day, call again and remind the rejecter that you are that telemarketer with whom they had a pleasant chat with and slowly and subtly inform them about how your product or service can make the life of the rejecter more pleasant.

Is Your Business Ready for Lead Generation?

Before you engage the services of a telemarketing company to engage in lead generation and appointment setting, be sure that your own business is ready for the influx of leads that will come your way. If you and your sales team are not, then your lead generation will end up as an unnecessary expense in the company’s ledger.

Some of the things to take consideration of are often basic, but are also often neglected in the course of
a very busy business operation. So take a look at this rundown:

1. Do you have the capability of handling the influx of leads? If you are a one-man-show, determine how many leads you can handle and inform the telemarketing company of this so that they will limit their lead generation accordingly. This will also be more cost effective for you since most telemarketing companies offer a pay-per-lead pricing scheme.

2. Are you skilled in converting leads into sales? There are good managers and there are good salespersons; and there are those who wish they are both. If you do not have the skills to convert leads into sales, now is the time to hire someone who can.

3. Do you have enough products or can your company handle the increase in service? At the outset, your business may need the additional leads to fill in the slack in your business operation. But be sure that your business is ready in case there is a surplus. If it is not, your lead generation may boomerang if hot leads will have to be told that you cannot serve them.

Making Lead Generation Work

Lead generation requires hard work, whether it is achieved through the efforts of your own sales team
or through the services of a telemarketing company that you have engaged. So it is important that as a
businessman, you make your lead generation work.

How do you do this? Here are some tips:

1. Classify each lead according to the receptiveness of the prospect and implement courses of action accordingly. For example, if the lead is hot, then you will not have to expend more effort at sales talk, so you can assign this lead to a less experienced or seasoned staff. But if the lead is lukewarm, then assign this lead to a sales staff that might have a better chance of being able to convert this lead to sales.

2. Follow up each lead. When you get a lead, follow it up with an appointment setting for the presentation of your product or service, or clinch it with a sales transaction. Each lead should be given the same importance when it is obtained as when it was still being obtained during lead generation. This mantra should be taught to your sales team. Make it a point to regularly check if all the leads are being given the proper follow-up.

3. Make lead generation a consistent part of your operation. Sales are the lifeblood of your business, so you should continuously feed your business with leads if you want to keep the cash register pumping. Make a system of gathering leads from within your business, such as asking your clients for referrals or staging lead generation promotions like Bring-a-Friend Program. This is of course aside from taking a serious consideration of hiring a top notch telemarketing company for your lead generation activities.

Always remember that leads would be worthless unless you will be able to convert them into sale.

Why You Should Use a Telemarketing Company for Lead Generation

When you engage in lead generation, you will have to surpass several critical challenges in order to
obtain leads. One of the most important challenges is where to start. You might have to begin with the
few referrals that your own clients had kindly given to your sales team. But that is a limited list, perhaps
only amounting to a couple hundred leads. If you engage a telemarketing company on the other hand,
they will most likely be able to provide you with a database of millions of leads, classified according to
industry, geographical location, and according to demographical details.

Telemarketers of telemarketing companies are also trained in the art and science of appointment
setting. This means that they will be able to present a product or service, ask for information, classify
and follow-up leads perhaps much more efficiently and effectively than you or your sales team could.

Cost wise, engaging the services of a telemarketing company is also a more viable option since most of
them offer a pay-per-lead scheme. If you ask your sales team to do the lead generation, you will have
to pay for their labor regardless of productivity. Let me also remind you that some prospects require
numerous calls before you get a firm appointment, something you might have to consider in terms of
man hours if you assign lead generation to your own sales team.

Engaging the services of a telemarketing company for lead generation is a win-win situation for most
businesses. In fact, it is often the most kept secret of successful companies today.

What Comes After Lead Generation?

When the lead starts trickling into your business, the next crucial thing to do is to make sure that the leads are converted into sales. If you fail in this part, then all your telemarketing activities will amount to nothing.

The conversion of leads to sales may prove to be complex to an average person. There are leads gathered by telemarketing companies that are called hot leads, wherein the client could be considered 99% sure to purchase your product or service. But there are also leads that are warm, lukewarm or cold, depending on the potential that the client will purchase your product or engage your service. 

It is important to be able to determine what type of lead each prospect is and sell your product or service accordingly. Hot leads may mean lesser effort on selling and more effort in assuring that the sales transaction goes smoothly while the rest of the lead types may mean more effort at convincing the prospect. The latter type of leads also means more effort in appointment setting with the client to present your product or service. There is also the possibility that more effort should be expended at telemarketing your product or service to the client in order to convert a cold lead to a hot lead.

Lead generation should be followed by a good analysis of the leads and the appropriate course of action for each type of lead. With this, each lead being generated has a better possibility of being converted to sales.

Does Lead Generation Work?

Is there a business these days that doesn’t require leads? Whether you are in construction, surgery, making plastic casts for toy cars, whatever product or service you may have, there is one thing that is certain: you will need leads.

There are two types of leads: the business-to-business lead and the business-to-consumer lead. The former means leads that would point you to another business for a possible client. For example, if you are in the business of making plastic casts for toy cars, then your business-to-business lead may point to a toy car manufacturer. A business-to-consumer lead points to the end user as a client. For example, if your telemarketers are offering plastic surgery as a service, then your business-to-consumer lead generation may point to a matron in need of making her large nose smaller.

Whether business-to-business leads or business-to consumer leads, lead generation works because these leads have the potential of being converted to sales. And any successful businessman knows that sales are the lifeblood of any business. So make sure that you integrate outsourced appointment setting services in your business operation. You can assign your own sales team to look for leads, or you can take the more efficient method of engaging the services of a telemarketing company. Telemarketing companies often offer a pay-per-lead payment scheme which is also a more financially effective option for most businesses.

Whatever your course of action, be sure that you have a steady flow of leads that are coming into your
business. Without it, your business will be doomed to fail.

The Impact of Appointment Setting Services to Sales

Advertising has never been this easy. Businesses today don't need to go from door to door and practically barge their way in just to make a sales pitch. All they need to do is get themselves a computer with a headset, a reliable internet connection and they are good to go. With the advent of telemarketing services and appointment setting companies, they can do their advertising even in the comforts of their own homes, or if the business can afford the expense, hire a telemarketing company.

Websites can be set up for lead generation. Contacts are easily acquired once the product or service is advertised on the internet. It is just a matter of making yourself easy to search for the consumers. Lead generation actually is a faster way of doing business since the seller gets to immediately know the interests and needs of the buyer once the online request is submitted. Then only the necessary information is transmitted to the buyer. There is no more unnecessary sales talk. No beating around the bush. The hard work is done by the telemarketing company.

Setting appointments is also made possible through telemarketing. By making calls to leads, appointments are set up with potential buyers who are interested in purchasing and not just those who are interested out of curiosity. This saves up a lot on gas and transportation expenses since the seller only goes to clients who are interested to buy the product or pay for the service.

Lead generation and making appointments can be done by a skilled and technology savvy business minded individual. However, if you are new to telemarketing, it is best to look for a company that provides these services. Many appointment setting services are already established and have a high credibility rating so finding one that caters to your needs should not be so hard. It sure beats the hassle of going from door to door and getting sunburned in the process.

Telemarketing: Annoyance or a Blessing?

There is probably nothing more annoying than getting a call from a telemarketing company in the middle of the night and getting a sales pitch on whatever it is the other person on the line is trying to sell. But for businesses it gets the job done because whether telemarketing results to annoyance or not it achieves what it initially sets out to do: disseminating information about a product or service. Interest is generated and so a sleep befuddled mind is informed of the latest promos on a certain credit card or the advantages of having the latest phone model. In the morning that annoyed person may search for that product on the internet

and answer the online queries in the seller's website. 

Lead generation then takes place and another contact is added to the phonebook. The perks of appointment setting services are that only valuable contacts are considered for appointment setting. It is through lead generation that we gather potential buyers and get to know their needs. Query forms in the website should be constructed in a way that would not turn off the potential customer by asking irrelevant or very personal questions. Appointments are then set up only with people who have the intention to purchase or have at least signified a real interest. This intention is obvious once the consumer agrees to the appointment and so the sales representative does not waste time and resources in meeting up with the consumer.

By appointment setting, the seller asks for the opportunity to further explain face to face with the consumer the details of the product and service. Once that appointment is set, it is now up to the sales representative to fully convince the consumer to buy and close the deal. What started out as an annoyance may end up into a sale thanks to the wonders of telemarketing.

Telemarketing Spells Convenience

The world is just a click away. Every commercial thing is made available to us through the wonders of technology. If we need to know the complete details of a brand new car all we have to do is search it on the internet and voila! Even the application form to purchase the car is available in the website. Sometimes we don't even have to lift a finger because it is the business itself that approaches us. The latest to join the bandwagon are the numerous companies that specialize in telemarketing and they offer effective lead generation and appointment setting services.

Telemarketing companies makes it easy for consumers to make their purchases. With telemarketing, we do away with long lines, numerous application forms and tedious sales talk that seems to never end. In the fast paced world today it is crucial to get business done as fast as possible. For an individual with a hectic schedule, it is a blessing to be not disturbed with sales talk for products that are not needed. On the other hand, this same busy person may appreciate it if he is included in a lead generation for products that are worthy of one's attention and cash.

Appointment setting saves time for both the buyer and the seller because the former will only agree if he is interested and the latter makes a demonstration to someone who is most likely going to buy. Appointment setting is a win-win situation for both parties. Nobody's time is wasted and although much is accomplished, online business is still done in an upfront and personal manner. At the end of the day it is really the seller that persuades the customer to buy but it is a telemarketing company that sets the groundwork for the seller to make a successful sale.

Your Budget vs. Telemarketing

Telemarketing is a thrifty consumer's worst enemy. A tight budget means buying only the essential materials needed for everyday living. It is stripping down your needs to a bare minimum. There is simply no room for luxuries or indulgences. Then the phone rings and someone is sweet talking you into purchasing the latest computer. Before you know it you have become part of the lead generation and you have accepted the appointment setting.

Telemarketing companies employ only persons who sound so good on the phone that they are just simply hard to resist. They make a product sound so important and vital to your existence that you think you just can't live without it. They can even make you think that you are getting yourself a bargain. Of course, these people are trained in sales talk and talking endlessly on the phone to the point that you just have to say yes to whatever it is they want from you just so they would stop talking. From an objective point of view this way of making your product or service known is very effective.

Appointment setting services can be very persuasive. They are also very good at identifying potential customers and adding them as contacts for lead generation. Once the individual becomes a lead then expect a barrage of calls for appointment setting. Only a person with an iron will can resist. It is a test of wills between a determined telemarketer trained in the art of persuasion and a consumer whose only wish is to stick to his budget. More often than not we find that it is the telemarketer that comes out as the winner. This is the kind of telemarketing company that a business owner should hire, one that is persistent and committed to the success of the company.

Telemarketing for the Busy Person

Online shopping makes people fat. Less and less people stroll around the mall, searching for that
perfect find, comparing prices and quality in five different stores. Instead we have the option to stay at
home and do our shopping without having to step a single shoe clad foot out the door. Blame it all on
telemarketing. Those persistent people who never stop until you succumb to the appointment setting
so that a product presentation can be conducted in your home. You become a lead, part of their lead
generation, one of the numerous contacts they would constantly call until you give in.

Yet for the busy people, online shopping is very convenient. Through the powers of telemarketing you
are informed of the products and services available on the market. By becoming a lead, they would
be the one to call you, not the other way around which seems to be a thing of the past now. The
appointment setting is also left to them to facilitate and all you need to do is set the schedule according
to your timetable. Everything is done to accommodate your busy schedule. In fact, working around
your available time and your comfort is the primary concern. By the time the sales representative goes
to your home you are ready and prepared for a demonstration that may be done at a leisurely pace.

If you look at it differently, this kind of set-up actually gives you more time on your hands. This extra
time may be spent playing with the kids, cooking that special meal for the family or taking that painting
class you have always wanted. A lot of time is saved or maximized. It just now depends on you if you
spend that extra time lazing around the house because you have already done your shopping or you go
for that hike in the nearest park.