Outsourcing Cold Calling: Lead Generation In-house

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Outsourcing Cold Calling: Lead Generation In-house

Written by Emanuel Carpenter

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The Secret Sauce of Tele-Selling: 7 Ways to Use the Pause to Sell More

There is nothing sweeter than the sound of our names and when a client hears his or her name, he tends to listen closely to the next 15-20 words. It’s a habit that has been honed into us from birth. By pausing a second or so after using the person’s name you double the impact and benefit of the pause. Clients focus and listen carefully. This approach is particularly effective with opening statements.

Many companies struggling to meet their projected sales revenue may decide to outsource their business-to-business (B2B) lead generation to a telemarketing firm. Before you outsource your cold call prospecting duties, you should ask yourself the ten questions in this ten-part series written exclusively for Salesgravy.com. The question first is this:

Can We Do Lead Generation In House?

Outsourcing lead generation might sound like a good idea. However, you have to be sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. If your outside salespeople are too busy managing current accounts, too busy trying to close a full pipeline, or simply do not have the skill to do cold calling well, these are all excellent reasons to outsource. If your team has the skill and the time to cold call but are simply too lazy to do it, you may want to reconsider outsourcing. Chances are, if they are too lazy to cold call, they’ll be too lazy to pursue the qualified leads handed to them by a firm.

The truth is no outsourced agency can ever know your business like your own staff. They will have access to your company’s internal support, and they will care more about the success of your company. Having done lead generation directly for an employer and for B2B telemarketing firms, I can tell you that there is no comparison.

When working for B2B firms, I had to juggle three or four accounts at the same time. I often had to focus on just who I was supposed to be that day. Was I Emanuel from the digital marketing firm, Emanuel from the CRM provider, or Emanuel from the trucking company? If a prospect returned my call, that created an even greater dilemma. And let’s not even talk about dial quotas. Don’t get me wrong. There were many successes for my clients, and they saw all kinds of returns on their investment. It just wasn’t all gravy.

In contrast, doing lead generation directly for my employer was far more rewarding. I had access to warmer leads (B2B firms hardly ever get these), access to our internal marketing team and other support, and a greater investment in the success of the company. My training was ongoing and not just an hour briefing like with some B2B firms. And above all, I only had one account to worry about, and that was the company I worked for.

Bottom line: If you can do lead generation in house, that should be your first option. If you still need to outsource it, be sure to check out the next part of this ten-part series which asks, “What Am I Getting for My Money?”

If you like this article, check out Emanuel Carpenter's ebook by clicking here.

Emanuel Carpenter
		About the author:
		Emanuel (E.R.) Carpenter is the author of "Six-Figure Cold Calling." His work has been published by Little, Brown, and Company, the Midwest Book Review, and AALBC.com. The one-time gatekeeper loves to share ideas with his fellow salespeople. Carpenter has provided lead generation services for brands such as Salesforce.com, SAP, and Freightliner.