We chronically underestimate the value of the phone. Having qualified outbound telemarketers is a fundamental tool to grow any B2B business.

The first step is to find a B2B outbound call center that understands not only how to use the phone, but also how large organizations work and how to break into them for maximum effect. In most cases, teams with this experience can outperform traditional inside sellers because they have veteran players, are better organized, disciplined and trained, and are highly motivated because they are strictly rewarded for their performance. In addition, they will commit to service level agreements (SLAs).

Essentially, they promise to deliver based on a fixed scope of work at an agreed price. They don’t get paid unless they deliver, so they don’t make these deals lightly. And they have the professional skills, the tools to measure and monitor activity, and the sense of pride to often deliver more than expected.

In many cases, my clients do not have benchmarks against which to compare external call specialists with internal ones. They usually can’t tell me how many numbers, calls, and successes their internal employees make each day, week, or month. Rarely can they drive their teams against a new or different target quickly, and all too often there are turf and political wars that cloud the relationship between phone-based teams and field marketing or sales teams.

So consider two recent successes to illustrate the value and usefulness of an experienced outbound team.

Quick view of the market. A client is repositioning a major division. We are working on developing a new positioning and towards a value proposition aimed at a narrow and specific segment of the market. Before we spend a significant amount of time, effort, and money on new concepts or a new campaign, we want to test them in front of potential buyers; Vice Presidents and CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies, to see if our big ideas will fly with the people they are intended for.

We compiled a list of 1,000 target companies and titles based on a profile of who might be the best prospect. We bought lists with those names, expecting 30-45% of the names to be wrong, and wrote a 6 question survey to test our messages. Then we put Stan and his people to work. We asked and they promised to get 100 full interviews in 20 business days without revealing who was asking or why.

Fast forward 20 days. 100 interviews are complete; Data is collected, analyzed, and displayed in snappy charts and graphs. We have received our responses and are actively revising our go-to-market story based on feedback. All respondents fit the profile, all respondents work for a company that is fully capable of being an actual lead. Now we have the benefit of what our real market is thinking, intelligence in real time, without telegraphing our movements. Add to that updated lists and contact information, plus a performance benchmark in case we decide to conduct a blind survey again.

Generate leads quickly. A second customer has a product that works especially well in manufacturing companies. Unfortunately, this product is not their flagship offering or best-selling product and does not have the resources or sales staff that their more productive cousins ​​enjoy.

Enter the five-member call team. After briefing them on the product, target market, and competitive set, we compiled a list of target companies and titles and asked them to book us 50 one-hour sales appointments in 30 days. We carefully defined qualification criteria, which were reinforced in the calling guides we wrote, and we gave them access to our Salesforce.com app so they could do all the scheduling and all the data work and account updating as they went. the calls.

At the end of the 30 days we book 56 appointments with exactly the type of companies we request. We had accurate, up-to-date records for 1,000 target companies, as well as lots of useful information about how people were reacting to our brand, our product, and our competitors. The external team, who had 10 hours of orientation and training on the product and the brand, performed 5 times better than our internal salespeople, who have been with the firm for more than two years, during the same period. . And that’s just based on appointments, since we don’t actually know how many phone numbers, calls, or records internal employees handled each day.

A phone in the right hands is a powerful business development tool. Used correctly, it gives you range, information, and access at predictable speeds. There is nothing in the B2B marketing arsenal as powerful.