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Lead Generation – The Expansion of an Industry

Feb 17, 2014 | Lead Generation

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The demand for B2B lead generation among sales organizations has reached an all-time high.  Prompted by tremendous expectations for significant return on capital – even sole proprietor – companies need to find smarter, quicker and less costly ways of finding leads to fill their sales pipelines.

Enter Appointment Setting Companies!  The industry of outsourced B2B cold calling services who set sales appointments has grown, especially with access to cloud-based technology and Voice over IP telephony.  Lead generation companies no longer need to be co-located with a company’s sales force, or even belong to the same parent company at all.  These companies can be in a completely different state, or even country.  Often the management structure for cold calling is so different than any other department within a client’s organization that executives just want to outsource the tedious job of making outbound B2B cold calls.

We could analyze at length the economic and competitive pressures that have caused the incredible growth of the outsourced industry.  High among them are:  risk aversion among companies to hire permanent cold calling teams, the growth in entrepreneurship, and lean staffs, trend towards outsourcing, a down economy that offers numerous qualified individuals who can identify qualified sales opportunities and set appointments.

What’s important is there is now a plethora of B2B appointment setting companies to choose from to perform services for virtually any company.  That’s good and bad news.  The good news, is your company doesn’t need to own or manage the process itself.

The bad news is the range of services and capabilities among the different prospecting firms is hugely diverse.  It’s often difficult for buyers of cold calling services to understand the differences among firms unless they’ve used such services in the past.

For example, VSA is helping a UK firm enter the US market.  This firm sells to large companies within the transportation industry.  Our client has worked with VSA for over a year because we can speak intelligently to their prospects; we understand how to search for the decision maker; we can access their internal CRM system and update records appropriately, and can send email on their behalf; we know how to perform lead generation and qualify each lead we identify.  This company is happy to work with a lead generation company, like VSA, who partners exclusively with high end B2B products and services and can communicate to senior levels within the company.

On the other hand, many companies see our services as overkill.  They do not want to, nor do they need to pay extra for our ability to send emails, accept return calls, take detailed notes or update calling lists.  Companies who offer SEO or Payroll Services – two examples – really need a firm who can call extremely quickly using a predictive dialer.  VSA does not use a dialer, and we would not be a good fit for such firms.

If you’re thinking of working with an outsourced prospecting firm, please ask the right questions about the firm’s capabilities and how they plan and execute each program before agreeing to a contract.  Also be aware of a firm who pretends to be all things to all people.  You want a B2B cold calling company to screen you before taking you on as a client as thoroughly as you are screening them!