10 Keys to an Effective B2B Inside Sales Campaign

I have devoted thousands of hours in the last five years learning how to master cold calling, lead generation and inside sales. I have spoke with hundreds of CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, business owners, business professionals, decision makers, decision influencers and gatekeepers.

I have prospected and sold to some of the largest and most complex companies in North America, from information technology, to banking and manufacturing. I have seen that when one develops tests, refines and then follows a system and plan, you can greatly improve the results of a B2B lead generation program.

Here are ten Keys to An Executive Level Lead Generation Program:
1. Know exactly what you want to accomplish. Be very clear about your goals for contacts, leads, appointment, presentations, sales, revenue and so on. Having specific and clear objectives is essential for designing the program and evaluating activities and results.

2. Know your market inside and out. You must know the buyer behavior of your target market. But more importantly the issues and trends that influence decision makers and decision influencers. The goal of a well designed and executed B2B lead generation campaign is fill your sales pipeline so you are always calling on and presenting to enough qualified prospects. How many is enough? As many as you can effectively manage without compromising your customer service and other activities. Often, inside sales representatives run out of new prospects to call, reach a point of diminishing returns and then become ineffective.

3. Develop, review, refine and perfect a compelling and clear value proposition that meets a defined business need. Your value proposition must be brief, clear, concise, to the point and compelling, to the point where you it creates enough demand and curiosity so someone will want to continue a conversation with you to learn more.

4. Develop a telemarketing and lead generation plan. At a minimum, your plan should include an initial benefit statement, script elements. Scripts and questions for qualifying and uncovering needs, overcoming objections and closing for an appointment to do a sales presentation.

5. Develop a large, accurate, recent and validated calling list. This should be done with care and diligence, as a poor list with missing, incorrect or inaccurate information can cause one to spend many hours dialing and calling without reaching enough qualified decision makers to make the campaign cost effective.

6. Use a good CRM to store the leads and record, track and analyze activities. If you try to do this manually, you will soon and quickly not be able to evaluate the campaign.

7. Clearly define what is a qualified lead.

8. Establish accurate and realistic metrics by which to control and evaluate calling activities. Be clear about how many qualified leads and sales appointments are appropriate for your solution and market.

9. Provide all of the tools and resources needed for lead generators and insides sales professionals to focus on completing as many dials and calls as needed. If, for example, one hundred dials are day are required, do they have the computer equipment, software, telephony equipment and type of office needed.

10. Have fun! Remember that you are looking for only those people and companies you can help. It is ok walk away from a prospect if you cannot help them.