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John Burson  edited Thursday, September 21, 2023

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Originally Published: http://technologyadvice.com/blog/marketing/4-ways-to-fail-at-b2b-telemarketing/

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B2B marketers tend to engage in unlimited strategies to generate leads. The challenge is experienced by 78% of B2B marketers as reported by the recent Placester Study.

Despite the challenges, B2B Telemarketing has demonstrated great results in lead generation, yet many managers are hesitant to embrace it. It actually ranks number 3 in the list of the most effective tactics; above email marketing, the web, and SEO.Here are the four common reasons people fail at B2B Telemarketing:

Prospects Hung Up on Telemarketers

One common mistake marketers make, is to push for commitment too soon. The moment you begin to pitch for your product or schedule a sales appointment on your first call, the potential client will most likely hang up on you.

In the B2B marketing strategies, it’s never productive to sell at every opportunity. Buyers prefer being educated before making their own evaluation to make a purchase.

Instead, you should focus on creating a value proposition and making follow ups with free industry tools, assessments, etc. With time, you can gauge whether the prospects have an interest in your brand.

Telemarketing Monomania

Telemarketing monomania occurs when you pump all your resources in outbound programs while abandoning other key channels like web, live events, social media, and emails. You can easily be carried away with outbound metrics that brings in 60% of total leads, as compared to 40% delivered by digital/inbound channels.

The two efforts in inbound and outbound channels should complement each other. Let the inbound tactics improve brand awareness, while telemarketing engages potential customers for new leads.

Cold Calls in B2B Telemarketing

The game of numbers is the basis for sales and marketing. In Telemarketing, it’s all about acquiring a huge number of contacts. Many marketers will focus on:

• Gathering several contacts
• Fail to engage a substantial number of contacts through cold calling
• Sell services to a few contacts hoping to build on low-risk, low-reward strategy

The above processes can be extremely unrewarding. To reap maximum rewards from telemarketing, shift from purchasing contact to buying useful leads. You can also utilize trigger-based or opt-in methods to prompt the prospect to take actions. For instance, if a customer downloaded a white paper from your site, you can call them to inquire if they need any help.

Demonstrate the Human Aspect of B2B Telemarketing

Telemarketing accounts for a high percentage of B2B leads, yet it’s given the least attention in terms of compensating, coaching, and training the telemarketers. Poorly skilled demoralized phone reps with heavy accents cannot strike meaningful conversations with prospects.

It’s important to give your sales reps the desired training and coaching to enable them to deliver excellent results. If you choose to outsource, pick on lead generation firms with reputable service delivery.