What are telemarketing leads?

Telemarketing leads, simply put, is the process of generating leads through telemarketing. These leads are generated through a variety of options, including cold calling, emailing, or face to face interactions. Alternatively, leads can also be obtained by purchasing them from lead generation businesses. These businesses essentially aggregate consumer and business information and then sell that information to businesses wishing to obtain new leads.

As with most things in life, there are positives and negatives when it comes to generating telemarketing leads. On the positive side, the information that you can obtain from a prospective client is direct and as immediate as you could possibly wish for. One is able to instantly gauge and assess the interest of whomever they are talking to. The prime negative aspect of this practice is that many people still find receiving calls from "unknown numbers" irritating, and often hang up or simply don't answer at all. This, however, can be to their detriment, and today's practice of telemarketing lead generation is very different to what it used to be. 

Adding that personal touch and developing a real connection is becoming more and more important, and something that customers are truly beginning to appreciate, especially in today's world. 

In this article, we'll be looking at the different types of telemarketing leads, why they should form a part of your business strategy, and how to improve your telemarketing lead generation skills.

What are the main types of telemarketing leads?

The most well-known and common telemarketing leads are cold leads, warm leads, and hot leads. Almost every sales industry will use these types of leads in order to determine where their potential customers are in the sales process.

Cold leads

Cold leads are potential buyers of your products or services, but zero contact has been made from either party before the lead is explored.

Warm leads

Warm leads are potential buyers who have had some form of contact with the company or shown interest one way or another.  

Hot leads

Hot leads are potential buyers that are ready to pull the trigger and make a purchase from your company. 

Why should telemarketing lead generation form part of your business strategy?

First impressions are everything

Successful marketing companies have spent years developing methods and practices that are specifically designed to increase the success rates of getting past the "front office" so to speak. They are able to identify the right lead and set up the opportunity for a discussion that has a much better chance of producing a fruitful outcome. 

Efficiency

This somewhat relates to the above and the ability that specialists have in identifying the correct type of leads. Gone are the days of Rolodexes and wasting valuable time searching for prospective leads. There are automated solutions nowadays that allow telemarketing lead generation companies to reach more leads more efficiently. 

Quality leads

When you partner with a telemarketing lead generation company, you are partnering with skilled professionals who are able to pass along leads that you ordinarily would not be able to obtain yourself. Some companies will even go one step further and provide scores or rankings for the different leads they present you with. These types of leads are crucial to help your sales and marketing teams.

Scalability

Sought after telemarketing lead generation companies have the manpower, the experience, and the willingness to increase their scalability at any time. This alleviates some of the pressures on your sales and marketing teams and allows them to focus solely on what they're best at. 

How to improve your telemarketing lead generation skills:

Research

This cannot be stressed enough! Research everything that you possibly can about your target market beforehand. Who are they? How old are they? Where are they based? Anything that could be relevant to narrow down prospective customers and businesses so that you don't end up "just calling everyone". Find a target market, study them, and begin reaching out.

Call volume

The number of calls you are planning to make will determine many things going forward. For example, your phone systems, software choice, and overall headcount are all determined by your call volume. It's vital to know how many calls you can complete in a set time period, as this will help you work out the number of calls and the hours you’ll need to complete your task. Other factors like the length of your campaign, the time zones that you are calling, and the frequency of when you'll be calling are also very important to keep in mind.

Script

A creative and conversational script can make all the difference in the world of telemarketing lead generation. It's important to keep on refining and fine-tuning your script, as well as practising it out loud. Try to think from the customer’s perspective, and ask yourself if it's inviting and enticing enough? It's also OK to deviate a little from the script once you're comfortable with it. Every customer will be different and you'll need to adapt and be creative when dealing with them.

Call recordings

You may choose to record the calls being made by your sales team for both quality and training purposes. If you choose to do so, it's a good idea for you to review them yourself, but also with your sales team. It will make the process of finding out what worked, what didn't, and what needs changing much easier. 

Make it fun! 

There's no denying that telemarketing lead generation is a tough job. As such, it's crucial that your team's energy and spirits are kept as high as possible. Whether that's done by incentives, competitions, or simply an enjoyable working environment is entirely up to you. But if a member or members of your team are unhappy, it will come through in their voice and their overall attitude. Customers will instantly pick up on this, and in the end, the results will suffer. 

What does telemarketing lead generation look like at Spirus?

By making use of skilled professionals, and focusing on building long-lasting business relationships for our clients, we use the trusty, old-fashioned telephone to sincerely connect with you. 

We need to know as much as possible about our clients, and the products and services that they offer, in order for us to make each call valuable. We need to know that whoever we're calling could have a genuine interest in the product or service. We do all of this pre-planning not only for our clients but also for their potential customers (who subsequently feel that they are starting a relationship with value). We also do this for ourselves, because we take pride in what we do and want our work to be enjoyable and valuable.

We follow GDPR guidance because it is the law, and also because it is best practice. At Spirus, we believe it would be counterproductive to call people, or businesses, that choose not to be called.

So, what's next?

Contact Us.

We’re available on 01638 741830 or you can email us by clicking here and asking how we can help you introduce telemarketing to your marketing strategy.

We look forward to hearing from you!