If you are not talking to your prospects… Who is?

Have you ever visited your competitor’s website; read their press releases and saw that they just announced a newly signed client? Have you done that and realized that their new client wasn’t in your sales team’s forecast? Or worse yet, have you done that and realized that their new client isn’t even in your marketing database?  How did that happen? How did your competition know about the opportunity and you didn’t?

If the new client had Googled your competitor wouldn’t they also find you online as well? Maybe it was a referral from an existing client or the brother-in-law of the CEO. Maybe. Maybe not. It’s quite possible that your competitor didn’t rely on their inbound marketing tactics to generate the lead or on an existing relationship to make the introduction. Instead, it’s very possible that your competitor simply picked up the phone and cold called them.

Many organizations are implementing outbound calling campaigns to supplement their other marketing tactics because they’ve realized the following.

The sales team is great at prospecting to their known networks, but they don’t necessarily have the time or discipline to consistently reach out to unknown prospects.

Outbound calling helps identify prospects who have not previously engaged with your company.

• Outbound calling can identify “low hanging fruit”. You may talk to just the right decision-maker and at just the right time. He/she may be feeling the pain right when you call and wants a solution today.
• Even if there’s not an immediate opportunity you can establish a foundation of a strong relationship early in the pre-buy cycle. There’s incredible value when you provide meaningful/relevant information that positions you and your firm as subject matters expert for future reference.
• There’s value in being the first one “in the game”. Being the first vendor the prospect speaks with allows you to frame the discussion and you become the one to beat.
• You may introduce your prospect to your company for the very first time and get them to verbally opt-in to future lead nurturing activities.
• You can quickly capture valuable business intelligence and validate qualifying data just by asking a few direct questions. It really is amazing what people will share with you if you simply ask them a question.
• The prospect may already be interacting with you digitally (reading your blog, downloading your content, attending your webinars, etc.), but their buying process can be accelerated if they engage with a person and start to build a relationship.

The point is that if you’re not speaking with your prospects, it’s very likely that your competitors are.  Deploying an outbound calling campaign will help you get in the game and maybe even beat them to the punch. Wouldn’t it be great if your competitor visited yourwebsite; read your press releases; and realized that your newly announced client is nowhere on their radar?

TelAffects can help you understand the needs of your buyers — all along the buying journey — and help you develop content for each step of the way. Contact TelAffects today and learn more about how telequalifying can be a viable solution for your business.