STRONG B2B LEAD GENERATION
RESULTS IN STRONG ROI

How outbound telemarketing helped to create more trust and more revenue

THE CLIENT CHALLENGE

A global specialist in energy management and automation had a lead-generation process that wasn’t working. Marketing-generated leads came from disparate sources and were passed directly to the sales team without being fully vetted. Sales was very reluctant to work these leads. Frustration between both teams was the basis of the inefficient lead generation process. ResponsePoint was brought on board to collaborate on a solution to improve the flow of qualified leads from marketing to sales and lead to more revenue.

THE GOALS

• Develop a lead generation protocol for qualified contacts.
• Improve the process to produce opportunities needed by sales to generate more revenue.
• Improve response time for newly captured leads.
• Bridge the gap between marketing and sales teams.

PAIN POINTS

• Lead generation process lacked consistent structure and strategy.
• Internal resources for outbound calling were not effective.
• Marketing had a legacy of sending poorly qualified or unqualified leads to sales.
• Consistently unqualified leads created a lack of sales action.
• The lack of communication and trust between marketing and sales led to stagnation.
• There were few analytics for measuring results.

THE COLLABORATION 

The client deployed Marketo at the top of its sales funnel. All leads were processed through this system. As “qualified” leads emerged from Marketo, ResponsePoint called each lead to further qualify potential opportunities. The criteria for this qualification was established through collaboration with the sales and marketing teams. This approach allowed for an efficient assessment of all marketing-developed leads, and it quickly channeled sales opportunities into the follow-up process. Immediate and defined product needs were routed to the internal customer care center for order processing; larger-scope opportunities were assigned to the appropriate sales contact for further development; and unqualified leads were routed back to various nurture paths in the marketing automation system to continue the nurturing process. This “triage” assured that only highly qualified leads were passed on to and accepted by sales.

The new approach:

• Marketing automation system is leveraged to execute email-nurturing campaigns targeting multiple industry-based segments.
• Each contact action or activity is given a score based on specific desired outcomes, such as clicking on a link, downloading a presentation, or attending an event.
• Qualified prospects are loaded into the client’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, and each contact is assigned to a member of the ResponsePoint team.
• Outbound telemarketing calls are made by the RP team to further qualify the lead.
• Each development call is designed to establish a human touch and relationship, determine the level of interest, answer any questions, and assess where the lead was in the client’s defined sales cycle.
• Continuous assessment, tracking, measurement, and optimization is reviewed at regular check-ins with our client.

THE RESULTS

Client’s previously inefficient methods were replaced with an efficient lead generation process, producing significantly more measurable revenue with correspondingly higher ROIs. ResponsePoint was able to help the client connect with 6,942 prospects and create a 30% increase in qualified leads passed to sales.

Through increased efficiency in qualified lead follow-up, together with a focus on building a stronger streamlined process, unqualified leads in the sales pipeline were reduced by 84%, so the client’s sales forecasts are now accurate and reliable.

The new lead qualification process using ResponsePoint has become significantly more efficient than the previous internal efforts.The time between acquiring a lead and following up on it has decreased from weeks to hours.

Sales’ acceptance of marketing-generated leads is now better than 90%.

The client’s average sales cycle is about 18 months to close a deal, yet the marketing-generated orders that came from the new practices resulted in revenues of $45 million in 2015, $67 million in 2016, and a forecast of $98 million for 2017.

The improved relationship between marketing and sales is due to a stronger qualified lead process, increased trust, and a smoother sales funnel. Previously, more than half the leads that were passed to sales remained at the threshold between marketing and sales. Now only a small percentage of qualified leads are at this level. Instead, sales is quickly accepting these leads and converting them into active opportunities they are working to close.

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY

Creating a strong, multifaceted approach to lead generation that includes telemarketing ensures more highly qualified leads, more trust between marketing and sales teams, and increased revenue.

Need some help with your lead generation process? Not sure how to get started? Contact ResponsePoint today to talk about how your firm can turn weak lead practices into a program that generates reliably solid revenue.