Science + structure + metrics = successful outcomes might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about improving your teleprospecting results, but following that formula is a great way to keep your teams focused and organized throughout a campaign—and get results.
Here's how the formula works.
Step 1: The Science
Put on your lab coat! There is a science to getting someone live on the phone. Dive into your call history and look at the opportunities that have been qualified and passed by your teams in the past. Look at the number of total activities (phone and email) it took on average to either pass them on as a lead to sales, or to learn that they aren't interested.
Next, look at the average number of days from first activity to final disposition. Now you have the two foundational averages you need to build a structured call plan.
Step 2: The Structure
There is not one single perfect mix of outbound calling and emailing. The uniqueness of your sales team, your prospects, and your products will determine the optimal mix for each of your clients.
Teleprospecting teams that follow a disciplined, structured plan perform markedly better than their counterparts who take a more scattershot approach. Use your skills and experience to your advantage by putting together your initial trial activity plan.
Using the numbers you calculated in Step 1, divide take the average amount of activities by the average number of days. As you are spreading the activities out, keep in mind that you want to create a sense of "polite persistence" and avoid stacking activities on top of one another.
For example, after sending the first email wait a full day before leaving a follow-up voice mail. But don't leave too much time in between activities, or you risk losing the prospect's attention.
Make sure that your reps know what their tone and content should be at every stage to maintain consistency of deliverables and messaging.
Now that you've got the start of a great activity plan, it's time to get it in front of your team members and have them work the phones.
Step 3: The Metrics
At this point you may be asking, "How do I know if this approach is working?" The answer is simple: metrics. Have your reps work the new activity plan for a month and then look at two things:
- Did the number of activities it takes to get to final disposition of a lead decrease or increase?
- Did the number of days it takes to get that final disposition decrease?
No matter the answers to those questions, you will want to constantly tweak and adjust. We can always get better. The logic behind this approach is that it presents you with specific numbers to review and consider as you move forward with new campaigns.
Other Factors in Play
To maximize the effectiveness of metrics-based marketing, you must implement processes that ensure repeatable success.
Given that Sales and Marketing too often exist in silos, obtaining optimal results from teleprospecting will likely require that both teams scale a significant learning curve.
In addition, all organizations struggle to ensure that prospect and customer touchpoints be seamless. This challenges both Sales and Marketing teams to think creatively about how to work in tandem to analyze and act on the massive amounts of data acquired from multiple digital channels.
Finally, although a sound scientific approach is critical to success, other factors will affect the effectiveness of your tactical plan, including the following:
- The right media mix: understand which channels and communication methods work most effectively.
- Maximizing the impact of messaging: closely monitor the marketing messaging that yields the greatest response rates, and apply that knowledge during your persona development process.
- Mining your business goals: with repeatable processes for success in place, you can more effectively reach your bottom-line goals and proactively make forecasts.
