Michael K. McClellan, Plexus Marketing

In a recent research project, GrowthANSWERS and Plexus Marketing Group, Inc. recently interviewed a Vice President of Marketing for a North Georgia manufacturer on what his most challenging marketing issue was. He replied: "Getting the right person to talk to", adding "our people persevere through the phone … it's tedious and takes a lot of conviction … this is the toughest problem."

Finding enough of the "right" prospects for their products and services is consistently cited as one of the key marketing challenges facing small to mid-sized manufacturers. And, it's a vital issue whether a firm's marketing tactics involve websites and digital marketing, tradeshows and other types of event-marketing or direct response advertising.

One of the most useful tools for determining whether leads generated through these various marketing tactics are truly the "right" ones - in other words, are truly qualified based on how your company defines "right" - is tele-qualification. While web-based profile forms and other similar customer-initiated profiles can be valuable information sources for marketers, there is no substitute for dialogue with prospective customers to understand the nuances of their business needs and to capture information not typically shared by prospects on web or paper based forms.

While in-person sales visits would be ideal for qualifying each prospect generated by these various marketing tactics, there is typically not enough sales rep bandwidth - or travel budget - available to make this approach practical. Thus, inside sales departments, outsourced tele-qualification services, or sales reps spending a day per week in the office (on the phone) are the efficient and effective choices for identifying the "right" prospects.

So, if you're going to use tele-qualification to uncover your "best" or "right" prospects, what should you ask?

You'll want to include key profile questions, but some information may be better obtained from a prospect's website. It is better to focus on those profile questions not easily answered except through direct dialogue with a prospect. An example of this type of profile question might include "number of computer or Internet users" for a technology product marketer, or "current degree of automation" for makers of electronic medical record systems for hospitals.

Some other types of key questions include: (a) customer need areas, pain points, and planned initiatives; (b) decision maker and influencer names and job titles; (c) what interested them in your company's product offerings; (d) decision process and timing; and (e) budget range (if available). Detailed call notes that include "richness of detail" are essential, as they allow outside sales reps to better connect with the prospect when they are following up on the qualified sales leads.

Just as there are some preferred approaches for writing advertising copy or designing a web site, so too are there proven techniques for writing a good script or "call guide" for a tele-qualification call. The introduction section is particularly important, as it helps the tele-qualifier to break through the indifference often encountered during a business-to-business lead qualification or prospecting call. It is also important to "weave together" benefit messages with profile questions to better engage prospects in the calls. Finally, there needs to be a commitment, or "call to action", section.

In short, it takes more than just leads to fill the "Prospect Gap" - it takes enough of the "right" leads … and tele-qualification is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways of doing that.

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