Two phrases we often hear, yet perhaps don’t always understand the meaning of, are ‘B2B’ and ‘telemarketing’. So it’s reasonable to think there’s also a misconception of B2B telemarketing companies. However, this article is aimed at trying to answer the question “what are B2B telemarketing companies”.
Business to Business (B2B)
The first part of the equation is to understand what Business to Business means. Often abbreviated to b2b or B2B, Business to Business simply means one business whose target market/customers are just other businesses. This differs from B2C, which means Business to Consumer, i.e. the general public.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing IS NOT a call centre, a ‘sweat shop’ or a ‘boiler room’ – all of which have negative connotations. Telemarketing is abbreviated term for ‘telephone marketing’, ie. marketing executed solely over the telephone.
Call centres generally have a bad press, mainly because they seem to rely on intrusive calls. The difference between telemarketing and call centres is often call centres are high-volume, high-stress, low-quality affairs who generally deal with automated external calls. Quite often these calls are unsolicited and unwelcome, and are often facilitated by dubiously-acquired contact details and bulk lists.
Telemarketing however is generally a more accurate and methodical approach. Carefully curated lists of real candidates and qualified leads will be contacted by telephone, often because they are targeted by a particular interest or niche.
A kay difference between telemarketing and call centres is often telemarketing is welcome and expected, whilst call centres are generally intrusive and unwelcome.
So what are B2B telemarketing companies?
Business to Business (b2b) telemarketing companies therefore are businesses who approach only other businesses by telephone, for marketing purposes.
With an ethical and reputable company such as Prospect Solutions, Business Development is the scope of B2B telemarketing, generally through lead generation. Rather than trying to sell to a pre-designed script that a call centre operative would use, a bespoke approach and a relationship with the business is grown over time, rather than just one call.
Each prospective new lead will treated as such, as an individual, and generally account managers will have researched and qualified the lead before initial contact is made.
By adopting careful and considerate approaches like this, a b2b telemarketing company can focus on building rapport rather than a ‘hard sell’.
Do b2b telemarketing companies work though?
As the saying goes, ‘time is money’ – so if B2b telemarketing companies don’t do the hard sell, how do they make money?
The answer lies in the Return on Investment of customer acquisition. Most analysts and economists will be able to explain the value of a customer is gained over a long journey, rather than an instant quick approach.
In fact, some b2b telemarketing companies claim a Return on Investment of over 260% on work they do for their clients, so clearly the long-term approach does pay dividends indeed.
