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Category: Sales

What should stop you outsourcing your lead generation?

Posted on by Doug Roots

There are so many powerful arguments for outsourcing lead generation. It gives you back time and frees you up to concentrate on more strategic projects while safe in the knowledge that you can rely on a consistent and quality supply of leads. What’s not to like?

So when is outsourcing not the right decision?

The value of your product

It comes down to the value of your product. A good barometer is if your sales value is below the £5,000 mark (one off sale or annualised if you’re selling a monthly subscription model) then outsourced lead generation might not deliver the results you’re looking for. A good lead generation company is able to guide you on this and let you know the potential return on investment (ROI) they can deliver for your project.

Be realistic

Lead generation can deliver incredible results but it’s important to have realistic expectations at the outset. It’s not a magic bullet that can expertly cut through your sales cycle; the expertise is derived from the skill of the agent’s approach and their commitment to achieving results for your business. If it were easy, you’d simply expand your team and see immediate results.

It takes time

Lead generation campaigns need time to gain momentum, taking up to 6 months to prove their ROI. In the same way you wouldn’t expect a new employee to deliver sales on day one or even month 1, you cannot expect to see immediate results from a very limited trial or a very short campaign. It simply won’t be a meaningful reflection of what could be achieved with the proper time and investment in the project.

The foundations for partnership

Lead generation companies worth their salt will want to build a partnership and collaborate closely with you so they can learn how your business operates. Nobody knows your business and products better than you, so communicating your advice and experience is vital to success. Remember, they are experts in their field but they’re not experts in your business processes, so they will need time and support to get things right for you. This requires access, regular meetings and a level of involvement with your in-house team.  Things don’t always go to plan, it’s important to be able to have an honest and open conversation with your supplier. Work with them to find solutions and spend some time listening to their agents making calls. If a supplier isn’t prepared to let you listen to calls, or see how they train their agents, take them off your list at the supplier selection stage. The relationship works both ways and they need to be transparent about their processes to ensure your partnership thrives.

You have a different sales model

All businesses have quirks that are unique to them. If most of your sales come from referrals and you’ve experienced organic growth as a result, then it’s important to understand that leads generated from cold calls will have a much lower conversion rate, typically between 5% and 30% (dependent on product, price and relevance to the customer).

Know your numbers so you can set expectations

It is important to start outsourced lead generation programme with a clear understanding of what to expect.

Check out our video where Owen Richards, MD of Air Marketing and Richard Forrest, MD of Forrest Marketing Group in Australia, dive deeper into the topic discussing the impact of pricing models and perceptions of supplier collaboration on the success of lead generation initiatives.

At Air, we work with clients to create a tailored, blend of services that will deliver the best conversion rates in their desired market. If you’d like to hear more about how we can help your business grow or show you how we’ve helped businesses from all sectors achieve success, get in touch today or call us on 0345 241 3038. Hear more from our existing customers here.

Ask The MD: What Has Been The Highlight Of 2019 For You?

Posted on by Doug Roots

 

In the fifth instalment of our ‘Ask The MD’ series we ask the question ‘what has been the highlight of 2019 for you?’. Find out the answer in this video featuring our Managing Director, Owen Richards, and sister company Forrest Marketing Group’s Managing Director, Richard Forrest.

 

 

 

 

How to decide what to spend your investment on?

Posted on by Doug Roots

Successfully securing investment can be daunting and those tentative early days spent working out exactly how to translate that winning pitch into a winning strategy that delivers, can be a daunting prospect. In our blog, You’ve secured investment, now what? we covered how it’s vital for businesses to work out the practical aspects of delivery, taking an honest look at in-house resource and scoping out where you might need to buy-in expertise or scale up. This is a vital process. Spending money and thinking later will only lead to regrets when investors need to see return on investment (ROI), and so it’s worth investing the time upfront to do this.

Once you’re happy that you have a solid overarching strategy, it’s time to get into the detail on the tactical plans, specifically where you’ll be spending your budgets. In an ideal world you could press pause for a bit, start to see the benefit of your campaign efforts and product development plans but we all know that’s just not realistic. You need to pay your staff and invest in reward schemes to ensure they stay motivated. You must continue to invest in your brand and your external marketing efforts to let the world know you have a new and exciting proposition on offer. You need to make sure that you’re across your target markets; not only understanding them but also proactively ensuring your business is a relevant contender in that space. To keep that cash flow well, flowing, you need to be confident that you can generate sales, consistently hitting the targets to power your growth and support your investment. Without those sales, things can spiral pretty quickly and there simply won’t be time to see your plans come to fruition.

In the SaaS industry, there’s a real challenge in refining the sales approach in a crowded marketplace where external service, maintenance and development factors can also impact the sales cycle, making it vital for any sales strategy to balance the inbound and outbound efforts, appropriately.

With outbound sales strategies you need to make sure that your sales team are targeting the right accounts, and having informed and tailored conversations that get prospects close to conversion. Even so-called ‘hot leads’ aren’t necessarily ready to buy. SaaS salespeople need to have knowledgeable conversations and ready-to-go sales enablement assets that readily and effectively showcase the benefits of their product.

It’s also vital to consider how customer profile impacts the sales processes; those high value enterprise contracts can take far more time to get over the line. They also need to be mindful of tailoring the approach to prospect, learning to navigate different organisations and their complexity without getting bogged down or limiting the pipeline, is a tough nut to crack. To get the ball rolling it can be worth looking at outsourcing a portion of your inside sales activity to get some of those big contracts closed. The key differentiator in this area is often exceptional relationship building and attention to detail. An inside sales professional can be trusted to nurture your most valuable prospects through the entire sales cycle, as a true extension of your team, adding value to your brand and reputation.

In the meantime, it’s equally important to ensure a healthy influx of leads into the pipeline. That’s where outsourced lead generation activity simmering away in the background can be of huge benefit to your sales team. Sourcing new leads is time-consuming and costly; by removing the burden from internal resource you can focus your efforts on where you need to succeed, confident that a consistent supply of high quality leads will be delivered over time.

At Air, we’re experienced in working with clients to design sales strategies that deliver value from the outset. We deliver value and expertise to our clients’ prospects, at any point in the buying cycle, removing the pressure from your in-house team whilst guaranteeing quality and premium customer experience on your behalf. We work with clients to create a tailored blend of services that will deliver the best conversion rates in their desired market. If you’d like to hear more about how we can help your business grow or show you how we’ve helped businesses from all sectors achieve success get in touch today or call us on 0345 241 3038. Hear more from our existing customers here.

Ask The MD: What Trends Are You Seeing In Companies Outsourcing Their Sales Function?

Posted on by Doug Roots

 

In the fourth instalment of our ‘Ask The MD’ series we ask the question ‘what trends are you seeing in companies outsourcing their sales function?’. Find out the answer in this video featuring our Managing Director, Owen Richards, and sister company Forrest Marketing Group’s Managing Director, Richard Forrest.

 

 

 

 

Ask The MD: What Should Stop You Considering Outsourcing Your Lead Generation?

Posted on by Doug Roots

 

In the third instalment of our ‘Ask The MD’ series we ask the question ‘what should stop you considering outsourcing your lead generation?’. Find out the answer in this video featuring our Managing Director, Owen Richards, and sister company Forrest Marketing Group‘s Managing Director, Richard Forrest.

 

 

 

 

Ask The MD: What Should You Look For In An Outsourced Partner?

Posted on by Doug Roots

 

In the second instalment of our ‘Ask The MD’ series we ask the question ‘what should you look for in an outsourced partner?’. Find out the answer in this video featuring our Managing Director, Owen Richards, and sister company Forrest Marketing Group‘s Managing Director, Richard Forrest.

 

 

 

 

Ask The MD: How Important Is Traditional Sales Prospecting In Today’s Digital Age?

Posted on by Doug Roots

 

In the first instalment of our ‘Ask The MD’ series we ask the question ‘how important is traditional sales prospecting in today’s digital age?’. Find out the answer in this video featuring our Managing Director, Owen Richards, and sister company Forrest Marketing Group‘s Managing Director, Richard Forrest.

 

 

 

 

Growing a team of Sales Development Representatives (SDR’s) Vlog #4

Posted on by Doug Roots

 

In the fourth instalment of our series we ask the question ‘what are your challenges in growing a team of SDR’s in a tech company?’. Find out the answer in this vlog hosted by our MD, Owen Richards featuring Air’s Sales Director Simon Scott-Nelson.

 

 

 

You’ve secured investment, now what?

Posted on by Doug Roots

You can still hear the echoes of the champagne corks popping but you know the real work lies ahead. Any business that’s been through rounds of investor pitches, meticulously prepared presentations and hundreds of handshakes to successfully secure investment, knows that feeling of celebratory relief. When you’ve been focussed on securing the money for so long it’s hard to shift to the next phase. Your strategy is clear…in theory. And now someone else believes you can do it too, which presents a new pressure, living up to the pitch.

How do you ensure you make your budgets work as hard as possible, so you can deliver the profitability your investors need to see and achieve your predicted growth?

Start with a solid self-appraisal

You’ve likely got a very strong idea or product to sell, some great market insight and a formidable sales strategy. What do you think will be the hardest part of your strategy to get right? Are you struggling to distil the benefits of your product into a targeted marketing strategy? Maybe you need help reaching decision makers. It’s worth thinking about this at the outset. If you’re in the SaaS industry, for example and the bulk of your time and expertise has been focussed on developing your software, it’s going to be a steep learning curve for your team in areas where your strategy demands immediate excellence in sales or marketing. Look at your budget and make some decisions about buying in expertise. Working with experts who can nail your brief and give it the time and attention it deserves, will save you money in the long run.

Don’t limit your own success

Maybe you really are the best person to do it all, but think of the scale of the opportunity. Do you have time to do everything? Or, will you free up valuable diary space if you carefully outsource elements that you believe you could oversee with a guiding hand? Think about where your money and your time are best spent. If you’re the face and the voice of the business, you’ll eventually need to relinquish some of the day-to-day.

Build your supplier network

A trusted supplier is genuinely worth their weight in gold. They can give you a steer on where to allocate budget and where you’ll get the most return on investment, provide a valuable sounding board for any ideas or concerns you may have and genuinely look out for opportunities on your behalf. Good suppliers are an extension of your team, bridging that gap in knowledge and expertise and working with you collaboratively to achieve mutual success. They won’t sell you anything you don’t need but instead make even the tightest budget align with your business aims.

You can be ambitious and realistic

When it comes to your business, there’s nothing wrong in thinking big. We’re living in an age of business insight, if you’ve got an ambitious target in mind you can work out what your conversion of leads needs to be to achieve your goals. A trusted supplier can advise of typical conversion rates and how they’ve achieved this for their other clients, giving you an educated idea of what’s realistic for your business and your timescales.

At Air Marketing, we’re experienced in working with clients to maximise their outsourcing budget to achieve their business objectives. We’ve worked with businesses at every point in their journey to leverage the best return on investment for budgets that need to deliver results. We work with clients to create a tailored, blend of services that will deliver the best conversion rates in their desired market. If you’d like to hear more about how we can help your business grow or show you how we’ve helped businesses from all sectors achieve success. Get in touch today, call us on 0345 241 3038. Or hear more from our existing customers here.

The real differences between telemarketing, telesales and inside sales: could this be the key to a winning sales strategy?

Posted on by Doug Roots

Even the most experienced sales professional might struggle to pin down a comprehensive definition for each discipline and others might not differentiate at all; so it’s not hard to understand where the confusion arises.

The sales and marketing landscapes have vastly changed in the past decade. Digital marketing, content marketing and sales enablement specialisms have emerged alongside the advent of marketing automation and analytics tools. As a result, businesses are closer to their customer data than ever before, meaning campaigns can be focused and personal, and sales and marketing professionals can become laser-focused on their target market. You might ask what does this have to do with telemarketing, telesales and inside sales? The answer, absolutely everything. 75% of companies say closing more deals is their top sales priority, yet 40% of salespeople say getting a response from prospects is getting harder (source: Hubspot). It’s these solutions that help bring businesses closer to the decision maker, generating meaningful leads and supporting your overarching sales goals and objectives. Here’s how.

Telemarketing – a vital part of your outbound strategy

There’s a huge difference between a telemarketer reading a tired, poorly thought out script in an uninspiring environment and outsourcing the job to a professional and dynamic agency who can demonstrate genuine return on investment through happy clients. Highly trained telemarketers are skilled sales professionals, adept at staying on brand and message whilst nurturing a conversation. They are focused on building rapport with your desired targets and delivering detailed reporting that helps you inform and shape your future campaigns. The best agencies offer you full transparency, connecting you to the team making the calls, live reporting and a dedicated campaign manager. They will provide you with a true extension of your in-house team.

Telesales – professionalism and scalability

Telesales is a slightly different focus. Homing in on the sale of a specific product or service, it’s ideal for businesses that might need to scale up their sales resource around a product launch or campaign. Done well, this approach is far cry from the high volume, light touch methods some might associate with telesales; it can help you increase conversion rates and boost your brand in the markets you need to be known. These skilled telesales professionals can build valuable customer relationships without the hard sell.

Inside sales – turning interested prospects into active clients

Inside sales teams target prospects and customers through email, phone conversations or online through LinkedIn, business groups and forums. These professionals are not only skilled in the art of identifying opportunities for upsell and nurturing conversations through a sales pipeline but a valuable support to traditional ‘outside sales’ identifying key opportunities beyond the scope of their role. Converting a sales lead into a valued customer can be challenging to say the least, this is where inside sales comes into its own, taking greater ownership for nurturing this valuable conversion process.

We understand the reasons driving the decision to outsource are often complex. You might want to save time, protect your internal resource, or bring in the expertise you need, when you need it. Whether you have a project in mind or if you’d like to explore how our services could support your business and sales objectives, we’d welcome the opportunity to take this forward and show you how we’ve helped businesses from all sectors achieve success. Get in touch today or call us on 0345 241 3038. Or hear more from our existing customers here.