Saturday, May 4, 2013

Margaret Thatcher And Why Appointment Setters Need To Be Like Her

With the recent announcement of Margaret Thatcher’s death, the whole world mourns the passing of another political icon. Some economists will remember her fondly, but certainly some people will deride her. But what made her click with the populace? What made her such a strong personality in the country? Why should we try emulating her in our business, especially in our B2B appointment setting efforts? Plenty

For starters, Thatcher was an uncompromising leader. She knows what she wants, and can find the means to make sure it stays that way. In our case, we often fall into this common trap of accepting demands of our sales leads prospects, even though we are unable to do it. This creates an unfavorable situation for your company.

Another is her understanding of when to back off. During her tenure, when the nurses’ union threatened to strike, she compromised. She was simply not prepared for it. But during the coal miners’ strike, she had enough ammunition to silence them. In your business’ case, if you think the profits from potential B2B leads is not worth the effort in your lead generation campaign, you should stop.

Lastly, Thatcher was an astute politician. She is aware of what her party (and the country) requires of her, and she delivers. That is why she stayed in power. As an entrepreneur, you should be aware of what the market and your customers need. Based on that knowledge, you can craft an effective social media and telemarketing message that will attract their attention, meet up with you and, ultimately, buy or sign up with you.

Truly, Margaret Thatcher was a force to be reckoned with. She is someone worthy of emulating in your appointment setting campaign.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

How To Generate B2B Leads On A Tradeshow

Much have been said about lead generation techniques and strategies, others stand the test of time yet others still fail to keep the business on track. There is indeed no secret formula in generating qualified business sales leads however, when right amount of effort and comprehensive planning are carried out, you will one way or another hit the perfect pitch.

Take the process of trade shows for instance. Presently, studies show that business after business use trade shows to generate leads than other marketing tactics, yet the inabilityof these businesses to generate enough leads to augment their sales still remains to be the major hurdle that blocks their way to success.


  • So to help you bring this essential step into the light, here are some tips to drive your sales leads and your ROI even higher on a tradeshow event: 
  • Do a thorough research about your attendees especially the ones that are on your list of targets. Sponsors shouldn't also be disregarded and they should be visible on the event website. 
  • Days, or even moths before your event, take time to actively engage your presence in the social media by connecting with your attendees and your prospects; tweeting and updating your blogs regarding your event will definitely do. 
  • Cooperate with your event organizers for you to be able to attract and acquire better attendees.
  • Initiate conversation with your attendees and provide them as well with relevant and necessary contents about your product. Also, show them that you highly value their time by not overfeeding them with information, rather doing it clearly and concisely. 
  • Focus on the attendees who express interest towards your product and try to manage them very well by catering to all their concerns and needs. 
  • Doing a follow up day before your event will give you a greater possibility of a having a smooth and well organized trade show, however, when doing a follow up, try not to sound too pushy but be responsive when deemed necessary.


Events marketing such as tradeshows is proven to be an effective venue for a b2b lead generation campaign. Why not consider hosting or even just joining business tradeshows and start generating qualified business leads.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Dealing With Price Objections In Lead Generation

When you face a price objection from your business prospects during your lead generation and appointment setting campaign, do you immediately go on the defensive? If you do, do not be surprised if you do not get any B2B leads at all. Price objections are just a normal part of your daily sales operation. Knowing how to deal with them effectively can mean a great deal in terms of generating sales leads. But the challenge here is how you should do it. What should you be saying to prospects in order to get a positive response from your business prospects?

  1. Discuss the costs early and often – this will help you frame just how much exactly your business prospect is willing to pay for your offer. Usually, once the price range has been mentioned, it will be easy enough for both of you to reach a comfortable pricing model.
  2. Know the value of a perfect outcome – in some cases, prospects object to a price because they failed to get the desired results at that price from your competitor. While this can provide an opportunity for you, this can also create the challenge of knowing how much is the prospect’s perceived value of a perfect delivery. 
  3. Help the prospect look at the problem in different lens – sometimes, a problem may have a certain price to be solved because the prospect was looking at it from only one (and costly) perspective. Help your prospect see things in a different light, and you will be able to handle cost objections better.

This, in turn, will make your lead generation campaign much more successful.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Can AIDA Work In Lead Generation?

One of the most common marketing guides that sale representatives use in their campaigns is the AIDA. It works as a sort of bread crumb trail, or perhaps a checklist, that guides them on what they should do when meeting prospects, either through telemarketing or social media. But how does this work? Will it also apply in your lead generation campaign? Can this aid your appointment setting specialists in clinching business meetings? How will it translate to getting better B2B leads? Let us examine each.

    A (Attention) – you need to get the attention of your prospects. It can either be through some presentation, witty one-liners, or anything. The important point to remember here is value.

    I (Interest) – once you have grabbed the attention of the prospect, the next step would be to fan their interest on the topic. Provide relevant information, add useful details, as well as describe the things your offer can do for them.

    D (Desire) – the next step is to fan their desire. Sales leads are best generated by people who know how to appeal to the emotions of the prospects. Emotions can be powerful triggers for a prospect

    A (Action) – the last step of the process, and the one that will determine the success of your campaign. This is where you compel your prospect to buy or sign up for your offer.

One more thing, to be successful in lead generation, you must be honest as well. Together with AIDA, you can be sure to be more effective in generating B2B leads.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Three Ways To Succeed In Appointment Setting


Do you know how to be more successful in your appointment setting campaign? It lies on how you deal with your prospects. This is the truth. No matter how elaborate your advertising is, the main point is how you handle your sales leads generation in relation with your prospects. How do you talk to your prospects? How do you interact with them? All these can influence your ability to generate qualified B2B leads. Are you skilled it handling the task? If not, you can always give the job a competent and professional telemarketing company? But it still pays to know what you need to succeed. And these are:

  1. Begin with a general agenda –each call is unique, so you cannot use a specific script for every call. It is better for you to talk to prospects about a main agenda. From there, you can work your way towards the point where the prospects might become qualified sales leads.

  2.  Do not lecture prospects – you might be surprised to discover that the person you are speaking with is actually more knowledgeable about your offer than yourself. That is why it is best to approach each call with the assumption that the prospect knows more than you. Less likely to offend than if you begin lecturing.

  3. Tailor your sales presentation – a sales pitch is basically a drag. A better option is to tailor your proposal based on what you have learned from prospects, using what you have learned to craft a viable solution.

Keep that in mind, and your appointment setting campaign will be a success.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The 3 Worst Moves Entrepreneurs Can Make In Business

Truth to be told, being an entrepreneur is a real gamble. There is always the risk that your business strategy will blow up in your face. If we put that in terms of your lead generation campaign, the risk of losing precious B2B leads is real even if you have plenty of business appointments scheduled. The good news here is that you can always do better. You can always make a better move. Of course, there is also the risk that you commit a really boneheaded move in business. And what is worse is that there are plenty of them. Now, what are these business decisions that might do you in?

1. Skipping the research – one way for you to totally ruin your business is skipping on research. Remember Unilever’s Persil power detergent. Sure, it can clean your clothes, but what they didn’t know is that it can also ruin them in the process of doing so. Just imagine the fiasco that went along with it.

2. Looking at revenues instead of profits – sure, it may sound great that you are earning millions worth of sales leads, but if the profits only result to a paltry sum, it is not worth your effort. Too bad that there are many of us who overlook that tiny, yet significant, detail.

3. Not giving up – okay, you have invested a lot in one call center to do the lead generation job for you, but if it is not producing the results you want ,then it is time to move on to a better telemarketing company. Remember, you need qualified business leads fast. So wizen up and move on.

Avoid these pitfalls, and you can be on your way to a truly successful business.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

How To Get Over Lead Generation Barriers


As the manager of a company, finding business leads is a process often fraught with many problems. On one hand you have a very demanding boss who wants nothing less than 100 business leads a day, and on the other hand you are faced with reality. You may also have to deal with a marketing plan that badly needs an overhaul, a small workforce, and very limited financial resources (as is always the case with sales and marketing departments). As the manager, you may think that there is no way you can get over these hurdles and deliver the results demanded from you. You shouldn't spend your time sulking and thinking nothing can be done, instead, look on the bright side (as cliché as that sounds) and think of ways to turn these barriers into assets.

The unreasonably demanding boss - if the boss' demands are too much, you can show him that by delivering as much quality business leads as your sales people can set appointments with, they are able to spend enough time with each lead to convert them properly.

The overused marketing plan - a tested and proven b2b lead generation plan will eventually need remodeling. Maybe your company has yet to foray into social media or content marketing. Perhaps these new marketing channels are what you are looking for to boost the amount of business leads you can deliver.

The small workforce - if sourcing and hiring additional skilled employees can't be done in time for the lead generation campaign, there is always the option of outsourcing to a b2b lead generation company to do the bulk of the work for you.

The small budget - the best sales and marketing departments thrive on very limited budgets. However, if the tasks are too much and resources need to be conserved, hiring a BPO company or cloud computing can help maintain quality services while on a tight budget.

Even the darkest clouds have their silver linings, so don’t let these problems hinder you from doing your job properly.