Three years ago at this time, as companies were hard at work preparing for 2020, they had no way of knowing that an upcoming global Covid-19 pandemic was about to send their best-laid business plans into complete chaos.
The challenges have continued well into 2022, impacting the supply chain, increasing the frequency of hybrid and remote work, and establishing new business trends that have caused companies to prioritize and focus on new ways to adapt. Add in factors such as the great resignation and an uncertain economy, and companies are facing challenges they never could have envisioned before the pandemic.
The difference now, as businesses, business leaders, and business owners prepare their sales and marketing strategies for 2023, is that we already have some idea of what these challenges will look like. Back then, B2B companies were forced to react on the fly, surviving largely through grit and determination. Three years later, these same companies have a chance to be proactive and take steps in advance to ensure their sales goals for the upcoming year remain attainable and continue to grow their business.
One of those proactive measures includes outsourcing your lead generation efforts to a company with the experience and expertise to fully support your sales and marketing efforts. As a recent Forbes article states: “Outsourcing is a great way for businesses to receive the assistance they need without having to hire in-house teams or pull resources from daily tasks.”
Here are four ways the right partner can help you keep your sales pipeline full in 2023, no matter what challenges the new year brings …
Communicating with current or lapsed customers
In focusing on growing their business, B2B companies too often fail to devote sufficient time and resources to strengthening relationships with current or former customers. And while there’s nothing wrong with keeping an eye on the big picture, it can’t come at the expense of customer satisfaction.
No customer wants to feel unappreciated or ignored as part of their overall customer experience. According to statistics compiled by GetFeedback, 66% of B2B consumers stopped buying after a bad customer service experience. The same report listed lack of speed in interactions with suppliers as B2B decision makers’ No. 1 pain point.
Partnering with an experienced lead generation and appointment-setting call center like VSA can ensure your customers never feel neglected. In recent months, VSA has been hired for multiple calling campaigns involving clients’ current and former customers. One client asked us to follow up on demo invitations, another hired us to reengage with customers who hadn’t purchased in a while; another wanted us to make sure customers were aware of available upgrades.
Each of these calls potentially bolsters an existing business relationship, increases brand recognition, and gives customers past and present a reason to keep our clients’ offerings on the front burner.
Reaching new prospects
Just because the economy might be in a downturn, it doesn’t mean there aren’t companies that won’t be interested in your products or services. In fact, depending on their needs, they might be more ready to buy during the tough times that they may face in the new year. But you won’t know if you’re not having a conversation first.
VSA has been having these types of cold conversations with decision-makers for 21 years. Our list-building resources and data-driven processes help us determine the right people and companies to call on your behalf, and once we reach them on the phone, our Business Development Representatives (BDRs) are adept at engaging in meaningful conversations. This type of lead generation is often one of the biggest challenges companies face and is what VSA is ideally suited to deliver.
Cold calling prospects isn’t for everyone; there’s a reason why approximately 50 percent of salespeople give up after one cold call attempt. And yet without cold calling, your sales reps are missing out on opportunities for valuable new business—82 percent of buyers say they have accepted meetings with salespeople after a series of contacts beginning with cold calls, according to the RAIN Group. By serving as an extension of your company, VSA lets your organization talk to far more of these potential buyers than your reps possibly could on their own.
Gaining valuable market insight
Lately, we’ve been asked to conduct more market research for our clients as part of the overall lead-generation process. We’ve always offered this service, but it becomes even more important during an unsettled economy. Learning as much as possible about your customers’ and prospects’ needs, pain points, and purchasing habits, as well as the overall market, can pay major dividends down the road, even if they’re not ready to buy now.
Two of our recent calling campaigns focused entirely on surveying prospects and accumulating data for our clients. But this intelligence-gathering process is also part of our traditional appointment-setting campaigns. In addition to scheduling meetings for our client’s sales reps, we often ask prospects questions that will help our clients gain a competitive advantage.
Learning what messaging resonates
Just as your business strategies and challenges have changed these past few years, so have your prospects’. The same sales message that would have piqued interest two years ago, or even six months earlier in 2022, might fall on deaf ears if delivered today. This has caused many companies preparing for a downturn in 2023 to look for opportunities to grow their revenue streams.
VSA relies heavily on data to monitor all aspects of a lead generation calling campaign; if the data shows a certain message isn’t resonating, we are always willing to pivot to something new. But this knowledge does not arrive overnight. It often takes a few weeks of dials and conversations with decision-makers before a pattern emerges. By then, we’ve learned which aspects of your offering generate the most buzz among the prospects we’re calling.
Even if the overall messaging stays the same, a slight change in the focus of the conversation can make a huge difference in how your prospects respond. Our team-based calling model ensures that a small number of BDRs are dedicated to your program, allowing them to compare notes on strategy and tactics and regularly share information they’ve obtained during the calls. This collaborative culture helps us deliver the most effective messaging on your behalf.
Conclusion
Preparing for the challenges of a new year is never easy, and, as COVID-19 showed us, sometimes impossible. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t certain steps you can start taking now to prepare you for the challenges that lie ahead.
Regardless of what the economic climate will look like in 2023, having a reliable lead generation and appointment-setting partner by your side will go a long way to helping you achieve your sales goals.
If you’re looking for new ways to keep your business strong in the new year, give us a call. We’d love to talk about ways we can help your company grow in 2023—and beyond.