eMarket2 Blogs

Learn How Winning World Cup Football Strategies Are Similar to Successful Lead Generation Campaigns (Part 2)

“The first 90 minutes are the most important.”  Sir Bobby Robson

Hello again,

Following my last post on this subject, an astute reader suggested that I was putting too high a value on soccer’s strategies and that The Beautiful Game is not nearly as “well-organised” as I am prone to believe.

He also pointed me towards a current online survey on http://GlobalFootballMonitor.com, where it seems that most fans are expecting their country’s manager to blame the weather when they lose!

Point taken!

Undeterred, however, I’ve since given some thought to comparing the qualities needed to be a world-class footballer with those required to be an effective telemarketing agent. And there are some uncanny similarities.

In the age of Google Adwords and online marketing, some businesses have misguidedly jettisoned B2B cold calling in favour of an exclusively inbound strategy – big mistake. Indeed, many businesses have now set this process in reverse and have actively revived their telemarketing operations.  Effective lead generation is all about having a balanced mix.  It’s about eggs and baskets.

The fact is that cold calling remains the life blood for many businesses and, statistically, most new business leads are still generated via telemarketing. Whether performed in-house, or by a third party vendor, the cold call is the vital first step in establishing a relationship and driving the sales process.

Consider the end purpose of your actions 

The reason a soccer player competes will differ from person to person, but we can safely assume they all have the same ultimate purpose, which is to win the game – to beat the competition.  

Equally, the telemarketing agent should be driven by the same sense of purpose.  But to achieve consistent success it takes strategy and it takes tactics; we must always bear in mind here that the purpose of a cold call is not necessarily to “sell”, but rather to create the beginnings of a dialogue with a view to setting an appointment or phone consultation. 

A game is rarely won by a player charging down the centre field intent on scoring a single-handed goal. It requires a more subtle, softly-softly approach. So it is with the cold call.           

Most B2B decision makers are on a tight schedule, so don’t waste their time with pushy scripted and hard-sell monologues. It’s the quickest way to turn a prospect off.  Instead, take a consultative approach and, if appropriate, use open-ended questions to guide the prospect through the process.

It’s far better to use a give-not-take approach, which involves more preparation, but inevitably results in a more productive outcome.

To this end, when a telemarketer makes contact with a prospect for the first time they should immediately state the purpose of their call, simply, concisely and professionally. Keep it simple, be clear about your tactics, and have a strategic reason for engaging the prospect- other than simply making a sale.

Focus on your preparation

Every football player needs to prepare themselves prior to the game, both physically and mentally. Preparation can be boring and time consuming, but it’s vital to the outcome of the game. Daily training and workouts, and even mental visualisation techniques are all elements of preparing for a game.

With the right preparation in place, a cold call can very quickly become a warm call.

Know the company you are calling and identify key contacts and decision makers. If you can demonstrate to a prospect that you understand the issues and challenges they face, you will have presented yourself as an educated, trustworthy professional able to help them with their business needs and challenges.

Remember that numbers talk, so whenever possible be concrete and specific – quote statistics, couch your solutions in a way that relates them to time, cost savings, or doing more with less.  Use our old friend the 80/20 rule: 80% listen; 20% talk.

Develop a positive attitude

All the pro footballers I’ve ever seen seem to have nurtured a fearless attitude to put them on the path to winning. So it is with cold calling for an appointment or lead; you can’t be afraid of failure, rejection, or taking “no” for an answer.  Anticipate a positive result with each call, and maintain a positive attitude throughout. Negative thoughts will result in failure.

To be effective in sales you must be “fearless.” Whether it’s a striker lining up the ball to take a critical penalty, or going for the perfect header in the teeth of danger, a player’s psyche needs to be uninhibited by fear. Nike said it best: “Just Do It”.

Put in your 10,000 hours

Muscles need resistance to become stronger. To reach the premier league, it will take a player many years of disciplined practice. As with any complex skill, it is estimated that to reach an expert level of proficiency it will take up take around 10,000 hours. If what you’re doing doesn’t appear to be working then change your tactics.  But never give up. Ask your supervisor or manager to help you identify weaknesses and make improvements  

Telemarketing is the vitally important first step of the sales process.  But to succeed you must go for glory and play to win.

And finally… an unusual lead generation / marketing opportunity

As I mentioned last time, I very rarely, if ever, make a naked sales pitch in my blog, but this is a win-win situation!

We have recently developed a “Digital Interactive World Cup Lead Generation Campaign” for a client who unfortunately cannot execute the campaign in time, due to last minute internal data issues.  So, in mutual agreement with our client for  wavering the outstanding fees owed  on  this project, we have retained the rights and ownership and are able to now offer this innovative Digital World Cup Lead Generation Campaign to you for just £1,495 + VAT.*   That’s a substantial saving of 70% off the RRP of £5,000. This rate is only offered because the original client has already paid for the majority of the design and development work and we simply want to recoup our profit margin on the job.

Click the url to play the Penalty Shootout which forms part of the interactive lead generation campaign

If you would like to know more about how you could use this innovative lead generation campaign to boost sales for your business please call me on 01256 85 30 40 or email me ncampbell@emarket2.com and I will send you the Campaign overview workflow PDF doc.
*It is offered as a self service campaign for £1,495 +VAT (you roll it out) or on a fully managed basis (we roll it out for you) for £1,995 +VAT whichever suits your budget and resources.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and, as ever, your comments and ideas are very welcome. 

And always to a higher response!

Norman

Drop us an email now to see how quickly we can generate sales leads for your business