Losing weight. Saving money. Exercising more.
We’ve all started the new year with positive intentions. And while New Year’s resolutions tend to get a bad rap, there is powerful science behind stating a goal and developing the day-to-day habits that mean you’ll actually achieve it.
Start the new year strong with lead generation best practices
This year, consider improving your lead generation and sales results with these six New Year’s resolutions for your medtech or B2B business. At Volkart May, we put them into practice every day on our outbound calling campaigns, with the measurable results to prove their effectiveness.
Don’t have the muscle in-house to make these best practices a reality? Outsourcing some or all of your lead generation activities to a professional call center like Volkart May can accelerate your impact and make a true difference in your marketplace. We’re accepting new projects and would love to discuss your needs.
Six New Year’s Resolutions for lead generation success
1. Timely follow-up to every inquiry
For 2022, give inbound inquiries the love they deserve. Put processes in place to guarantee a follow-up call takes place within 24 hours of each contact by a prospect or customer. Studies routinely show that the more time that elapses between a lead through your website, 800- number, tradeshow or other channel, the likelihood of an eventual sale decreases dramatically. Check out our tips for timely responses.
2. Consistent cold calling efforts
It’s common sense that the more time your team spends making sales prospecting calls, the more qualified leads you’ll generate to fill the sales pipeline. However, cold calling often gets the cold shoulder unless the inside sales team has dedicated resources for ongoing lead generation. Too often, sales reps prioritize closing warmer deals or nurturing immediate opportunities, only to find gaps in the sales pipeline down the road. This year, apply adequate resources each month to ensure your leads never dry up. If necessary, look to outsourced call centers like Volkart May to add capacity and supplement your inside sales team’s efforts.
3. No more in-fighting between sales and marketing
The distinct nature of sales and marketing responsibilities often leads to disagreements. Sales needs to meet short-term goals for closed sales and revenue; marketing needs to take a longer term view that includes new market opportunities, brand awareness and ongoing lead generation. Sometimes, those disparate priorities lead to friction. For 2022, focus on the positives and develop transparent and honest working relationships with colleagues in all departments. The more you can align on shared priorities, the smoother your efforts will be.
4. Clear definitions of qualified leads
One way to improve sales and marketing communications is with a lead scoring system. These clearly defined criteria make it simple (and objective) to agree on what is or isn’t ready for a hand-off to your sales closers. And, they make prioritizing next actions a snap, based on where the prospect scores. There’s no better way to ensure every opportunity gets the right level of attention to maximize results.
5. Stronger list hygiene
Nothing wastes time and budget like an outdated customer or prospect list. Yet keeping your CRM system, marketing automation system or sales database up-to-date requires diligent and ongoing finetuning. Purchased lists and automated tools can handle some updates, but often, it’s proprietary data that truly drives results. Outbound calling is one of the fastest and best ways to gather competitive intelligence, collect contract expiration dates, gain opt-in email addresses, identify market needs—and simultaneously update business contact information—all in a single call.
6. Being open to explore new approaches
A final New Year’s resolution for lead generation success? Set aside a portion of your 2022 budget to pilot new approaches. Tools, technology, messages and even decision-maker habits change quickly; having a dedicated chance to test and learn helps your company demonstrate innovation and lead in the market. We recommend a sales lab approach, where outbound calling helps you gain feedback or launch an initiative with rapid results and a low cost-of-entry.
What’s your resolution for New Year’s success? Share your story and connect with us on our LinkedIn page, or find inspiration within our resource library.
