Telemarketing Lead Generation Blog

4 Must Have Elements to a Successful Lead Generation Telemarketing Campaign

Posted on Jul 9, 2010 by Jason St Onge, Senior Account Executive

Over the last few weeks, I have had a number of meetings with clients and prospects in which the same basic question continued to re-emerge, “What do I need to do to ensure my telemarketing program is successful?” With each company having slightly different program objectives and organizational structure, we discussed a number of specific strategies and tactics needed to ensure the success of their programs. That said, regardless of the program type, target audience or product/solution/service being positioned, there are definitely some “must have” elements in the execution of all successful telemarketing programs.

In my experience, here are four “must have” elements to ensure a successful lead generation initiative (in no particular order):

1. Marketing and Sales Alignment – Quite simply, sales and marketing need to be on the same page with regards to program objectives, lead definitions, and follow up process. This is no easy task, but I think most experts agree the alignment of these groups is crucial to success. In fact, here are a few other blogs from the TeleNet team on this topic.
   • Marketing & Sales Integration: An Important Key to Telemarketing ROI
   • Four Ways to Engage With Sales
   • Keeping Sales Engaged in Telemarketing Initiatives
   • Working With Sales to Maximize Telemarketing Leads
2. Training – Nothing helps a program get off to a strong start more than a prepared calling team. It is worth taking the time and finding the right person to conduct an in-depth client training prior to the launch of a program. While the level of content may vary based on the complexity of the effort, it is extremely beneficial for the calling team to hear the client talk about their company, industry, solution, value, competition and common objections in their own words. Also, don’t underestimate the value of update trainings while the campaign is in progress. These trainings help optimize the program based on real results, situations and market response.
3. A Program Driver – Every program should have a “go-to” person or central point of contact (on the client-side). From program development to launch to ongoing optimization and maintenance, client involvement is imperative. Developing and running a program that satisfies both sales and marketing can be a challenge, and someone needs to take on the responsibility to make key decisions. Aside from ensuring that at least one person will have a comprehensive knowledge of the program and its performance, the real benefit comes from the availability of immediate input and feedback. Lead generation programs have a lot of moving parts and it aides the calling team greatly to have a person that can provide constructive criticism, answer questions (or know where to get answers), and serve as a sounding board for new ideas. An additional benefit of this role is to have the ability to collect feedback (on the leads being generated) from the sales team. Sales feedback allows the calling team to identify trends (i.e. are we having success with a specific title or vertical) and make any necessary adjustments to the calling effort (i.e. do we need to tighten or loosen qualification criteria or collect a specific piece of information).
4. Closed Loop Reporting – Lead generation programs can be evaluated on a number of factors, but the primary success metric is pipeline impact. In order to judge the effectiveness of a program there must be a mechanism in place to track the progression of leads – from sales acceptance, to the pipeline, through the pipeline, to closed sales. Whether leads are tracked by a sophisticated SFA tool or a spreadsheet, there must acceptance by the sales organization to provide updates and feedback so the program can be evaluated properly.

What do you consider a “must have” element for your programs?

Tagged: lead generation, targeted lead generation, telemarketing lead generation, lead generation telemarketing, lead nurturing

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