By A.J. Windle, Director of Operations
B2B telemarketing lead generation and appointment setting is challenging. Add to that a target demographic that is highly technical and you will soon find out why writing the best call guide is critical to qualifying sales leads. At QCS, we are experts in creating a dynamic call guide that not only engage your technical demographic but will also generating high quality sales leads that will provide your organization with a positive ROI.
There are 6 primary components to a successful script or call guide.
- Introduction and gatekeeper verbiage
- Presentation
- The Close
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Rebuttals for expected Objections
- Appointment detail capture and wrap-up
Script Introduction for B2B Telemarketing in a Highly Technical Industry
Calling into highly technical industries creates its own challenges. The first and most arguable challenge is getting to your target demographic. Often times the key decision makers are going to be Executives who are rarely at their desk and have a “To Do” list a mile long. They’ve trained their assistants to screen your calls and they don’t want to be bothered by another sales pitch throughout their day. So, what do you do?
You create an introduction that is pushes past the assistants and gets the key decision maker on the phone. Try these things.
- Be Personal – Ask for the lead by their first name. This makes the call seem friendly and less like a telemarketing call.
- Create Urgency – Have a least 2 reasons why it is imperative that the lead speaks to you today!
- Be Prepared – Have a back-up plan. Assistants are going to tell you the lead is not available, busy, doesn’t take solicitations, is not interested or offer you the lead’s voicemail. The key in B2B Telemarketing is to have a response at the ready which allows your team to overcome these common obstacles and urges the assistant to get the lead on the phone.
Scripted Presentation for B2B Telemarketing in a Highly Technical Industry
Once you’ve got the lead on the phone it is imperative that your team can talk the talk and walk the walk. The key decision makers in these technical industries are typically straight to the point and have little time for small talk, so get right into it. Build your presentation with the following items in mind.
- No fluff – Technical Directors don’t have time for Fluff. Get to “Ask” quickly and have clear cut reasons why speaking with an expert would be in their best interest.
- Common Terms and Jargon – Create a glossary of common industry terms and Jargon that the team can reference on the call and strategically integrate those terms throughout the script. This ensures your team can talk the talk. The most critical piece of this is training the team on understanding what the terms they are saying mean so they can walk the walk and not just use the terms aimlessly. These technical decision makers can smell a “fake it to make it” caller out in an instant.
- Key Discovery Questions – B2B Telemarketing sales leads are no good to clients unless they meet specific criteria and have the power to make decisions for the organization. In other words, you can’t just talk to anyone and generating sales leads like this will only lead to frustrated sales teams, loss of time and money. That said, you must have clear qualifying questions within the script which identify you are talking to the right person and they must be distributed throughout the call guide to create a more conversational approach. You are not doing surveys here.
Consider questions that help to identify:- Authority
- Budget
- Need
- Timing for implementation
B2B Telemarketing FAQs and Rebuttals
If everyone said yes, you probably wouldn’t be looking for help. Setting your team up with strategically placed answers to FAQs and Rebuttals to common objections will be key. When creating a call guide, you need to anticipate these items and strategically place them within the call guide in the position where the question or objection is most likely to happen. Anticipating and programmatically setting your team up to have the answer at their fingertips will demonstrate competence and confidence that will help drive your leads forward.
The Close for B2B Telemarketing in a Highly Technical Industry
Remember the goal is to generate a sales lead for the sales team. Your call guide should set your B2B telemarketing team up for success. Consider the following:
- Appointment dates and times – Make sure the call guide lays out appropriate verbiage for establishing a timeline. Appointments with sales should be as close to the initial call as possible and should work with the key decision maker to identify the best time for them to ensure your show rates are high.
- Hot Transfer Options and Verbiage – If your offering a real-time transfer to sales reps, make sure your call guide gives proper direction on what information needs to be gathered prior to transfer.
- Notes for Sales Team – Include in your call guide a section for notes that can be passed to the sales team with pertinent information gathered from the call.
- Clear next steps – Your call guide should help your agent give the lead clear next steps regarding contact from the sales reps to ensure a smooth follow-up call.
QCS knows what it takes to generated great sales leads on B2B telemarketing programs. We’ll start with a conversation to identify your needs and translate that into a highly effective call guide that puts your team in a position for success. If you’re looking to increase the quantity and quality of your leads give us a call at 1-866-963-2889 and press 1 for sales. Or email me at aj.windle@qualitycontactsolutions.com. We’d love to help!
A.J. Windle is the Director of Operations of Quality Contact Solutions. A.J. is responsible for ensuring every client program is successful on a daily basis, including achieving the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that matter most. With a deep call center operations background, A.J. is a hands-on leader and has built his career on creating win-win-win relationships for his team, his clients and the owner-operated call centers he is responsible for. A.J. loves to keep score and he is proud of his team’s scoreboard. A.J. knows that great leaders find a way to make sure their team wins. A.J can be reached at aj.windle@qualitycontactsolutions.com or 516-656-5106.
