We all know that in almost all aspects of life quality trumps quantity. So why does this not ring true with marketers and their leads? B2B Marketing teamed up with The Telemarketing Company to explore the lead-related challenges facing senior marketers today, and consider how they might get back on track.

Niall Habba MD

Comment: Voice Contact Remains Essential

This report, based on a survey of over 100 B2B marketers, has a different slant from previous pieces of research we’ve conducted. In recognition of the challenges inherent to modern-day lead generation, we’ve chosen to drill deep into the pain points experienced by B2B marketers.

We wanted to hear and better understand the views of the people tasked with managing a bewildering choice of channels and techniques, orchestrating a complex set of interdependent variables and activities to generate just the right quality and quantity of leads for their sales colleagues.

At The Telemarketing Company, we’re highly specialised in one channel – voice. Since we were founded in 1990, it’s been fascinating to see how telemarketing has repeatedly fallen in and out (and back in) to favour. Voice contact is not inexpensive when it’s done well, but has a mixed reputation because it's so often done badly. As a result, email marketing, online marketing, social selling, content marketing and MA have all come to prominence as potential alternatives. Each has, for a moment, promised to displace the need for voice contact or human interaction completely; efficiently driving outcomes without the involvement of costly and awkward human beings.

The reality, acknowledged by organisations like SiriusDecisions, expressed by many of our clients and confirmed in the findings of this survey, is that voice contact, telemarketing, inside sales – call it what you will – remains essential at every stage of the so-called funnel. Organisations that have moved to a purely digital model have quickly realised that profiling, prospecting, lead qualification and development, turning interest into appointments and closing deals, remain essential activities where human interaction reigns supreme. It’s significant that even the most ardent digital businesses such as LinkedIn, Google and HubSpot all use significant levels of human interaction in their new business development. These digital champions all maintain inside sales teams, lead development reps and sales people who take the best outputs that digital can provide and use them to quickly identify, qualify, nurture, accelerate and close sales opportunities.

The good news is that there is a huge opportunity for enlightened organisations to fully realise the value of their digital investments by leveraging human interaction at key stages in the marketing and sales process.

For the full report and findings, download pdf below or visit our Knowledge Bank.