dD Outbound Whitepaper (1)
- 2. demandDynamic Results Why invest in Outbound Lead Generation? Targeted Outbound and Intelligent Teleprospecting form the foundation of a strong sales machine predicated on revenue that is predictable and able to sustain consistent growth. There are many important components to B2B lead generation, including Inbound campaigns, Email Marketing, and Event Marketing, but there is no substitute for a dedicated, targeted Outbound Marketing and Teleprospecting team. While cold calling farms are an artifact of an outdated strategy, a new era of Outbound has taken its place and has become the most effective method in lead generation todayi . When we dissect past marketing strategies with new clients, we often discover that many have executed little to no Outbound initiatives prior to working with demandDrive (dD). The reasoning is nearly always related to one or more of the following: 1) “I heard Outbound Marketing and cold calling are dead, so we only use Inbound Marketing campaigns.” 2) “Our solution or service is the best in its class. It can sell itself.” 3) “Our outside sales team is responsible for their own prospecting and cold calling.” Let’s discuss each below in detail: 1) “I heard Outbound Marketing and cold calling are dead, so we only use Inbound Marketing campaigns.” Over the past few years, we have seen a stark transformation in the way businesses purchase technology and software. Prospects no longer take the role of a damsel in distress, waiting for their salesperson in shining armor to call and save the day. Instead, they often educate themselves about markets and vendors through various mediums and content. As a result, many marketers mistakenly believe that cold calling is dead and have placed all of their efforts and resources into creating content that drive Inbound leads and support their Inbound strategies. While Inbound is a great marketing device, its greatest value appears when it is integrated with a fully developed Outbound program that engages your prospects. The red section below represents the potential leads missed by Inbound campaigns. These leads fall into a few categories, which follow the illustration:
- 3. a) Targeted Accounts and Decision Makers: Inbound leads don’t always provide the ability to target the right accounts, to proactively knock on the door and create an opportunity, or to uncover leads earlier in evaluation cycles. However, integrating your Inbound channel with a fully developed Outbound program can help you optimize your sales team’s funnel. b) Early Evaluators: Instead of waiting for prospects to download your content, you can cast a wider net by proactively providing prospects with information that drives dialogue. This creates the opportunity for you to develop a relationship with your prospect and discover if there is a fit for both of your organizations. This is critical because 50% of all sales go to the first person that contacts the prospect.ii c) Two-Way Nurture Candidates: Lead nurturing is a fundamental component to lead generation, but it is often mishandled. Prospects who aren’t ready for discovery conversations are usually tossed into a content marketing campaign until a date - or lead score achieved - to be determined. Instead, an Outbound program allows you to not only provide content / updates to the prospect periodically, but it also provides an opportunity to hold meaningful conversations and receive feedback on both changes in the their organization and shifts in market needs. 2) “Our solution or service is the best in its class. It can sell itself.” No matter how great a product or solution is, an Outbound sales and marketing engine is necessary when establishing or expanding market share. For example, one demandDrive client, who offers a leading enterprise software solution, attributes 60% of its current sales pipeline to dD-generated leads. Another client attributes 40% of the pipeline for its multi-million dollar, best of breed solution to demandDrive. The return on investment of an Outbound program can and should be substantial. 3) “Our outside sales team is responsible for their own prospecting and cold calling.” Highly paid sales reps and account managers should not be spending their time cold calling. They need to be closing deals for your company and adding directly to the bottom line. Sales executives are motivated to close business and are usually not inclined to execute a proper cold calling plan. In fact, the average sales person makes only 2 attempts to contact a prospectiii (even though it takes an average of 8 attempts to reach oneiv ). The resource(s) allocated to generate new business at the top of the funnel should be a dedicated BDR or a team of specialized reps. Not only does this allow your sales team to focus on their primary responsibilities, for which they are specifically trained, it also places the role of business development into the hands of a team that is motivated by driving top of funnel activity, for which they are also specifically trained.
- 4. demandDedication Why outsource my Outbound Lead Generation? You have now seen the value of an Outbound program, so the question becomes - should you hire a team of reps or outsource this function? The answer depends on the availability of resources, meaning available human capital and in-house expertise. Consider the following when structuring a successful business development and outbound marketing team: 1) Management. It is imperative to find a manager(s) who can the fill the three necessary roles to lead a successful business development team: Coach: Help direct and guide your business development reps. The manager needs to understand the gritty aspects of teleprospecting and lead generation that allow him/her to provide relevant training. Liaison: Coordinate and communicate with sales and marketing teams. The manager needs to be able to articulate the needs of his team to other organizations in order to optimize efficiency and resources. Leader: Drive performance of his/her team by establishing ambitious, yet attainable, goals that make the team operate at optimum efficiency. The manager should be able to lead by example, through motivation, and with encouragement. At demandDrive, we have leaders who fill each of these roles as project managers. Could you find an individual who can fill that void in-house? Possibly, but at what cost? Evaluate the built-in cost from an outsourced firm against the cost of hiring or allocating a manager, and decide which is more cost effective. 2) Environment. If you have a single dedicated rep or a small team, it is difficult to provide an environment that will optimize their effort. For example, a rep who operates alone or within a very small group has no support to boost morale or provide a competitive spirit. Competition breeds success, and large teams can provide that extra push. For example, at dD, we use weekly and daily competitions to provide incentivized results. Large teams also provide a culture of solidarity that results in the exchange of innovative ideas, tips, and suggestions. Reps, both novice and experienced, have access to incredible avenues of improvement when exposed to different styles and methods. Here at demandDrive, we have over 25 BDR’s operating and collaborating every day. 3) Efficiency. The average company spends between $10k and $15k on hiring an individual but only $2k on trainingv . Because of constrained resources, budget, and expertise, onboarding new reps is a slow and costly process. You must decide if the capital necessary to both hire and train BDR’s is the best investment for the growth and success of your company. At dD, we have a streamlined onboarding and certification process that trains and prepares our reps for the role of a top performing BDR in minimal time. “As a lead generation partner, as well as an extension of our lead qualification team, demandDrive is able to ramp quickly on any new campaign and scale up and down according to our needs” -Jeneane Cawford, Director, Demand Generation Limelight Networks
- 5. demandDifferent Why choose demandDrive? At dD, we believe the top of your funnel deserves specific expertise, calculated process design, and methodical execution. The primary objective at demandDrive is to create a long standing partnership with our clients. We believe that your marketing investments need to provide a dynamic, valuable set of results that help grow your business. To develop this trust and value, we provide a number of deliverables in our Outbound program beyond lead generation that our clients can leverage across their sales and marketing efforts, including market intelligence, account mapping, and lead nurturing. demandDrive's Outbound Lead Generation service is built upon our proprietary Inside Sales Pipeline, which most effectively structures the top of your sales funnel. Each of our Business Development Reps completes the dD Certification program, ensuring a mastery of this process. As a result, we provide true qualified lead generation that fits your definition of a sales qualified lead. Our reps are also trained to fully maximize their access to not only demandDrive databases but also outside data sources that are often too costly or inaccessible to internal teams and lower quality lead gen firms. demandDrive’s Outbound Lead Generation service provides our clients with a dedicated rep or team of reps who work closely with your sales and marketing team to develop a strong understanding of your product, industry, and target market. Our project managers and reps provide an interactive relationship with your team that allows you to gain the most insight from the conversations and leads they have every day. The end result is a business development team that carries the expertise of an industry leader while providing the transparency and interaction of an internal team. i MarketingProfs ii InsideSales.com iii Ovation Sales Group iv Sirius Decisions v Trish Bertuzzi: Effective Onboarding: The Foundation of Success “demandDrive is a terrific group to work with, and they deliver results! We contracted with dD to generate leads for a new product. We worked closely to test lists and scripts. Their reporting was excellent. Most importantly, dD did a great job. They exceeded our expectations in the number and quality of leads generated.” -Vice President, Product