Telemarketing is a significant way to generate leads for any type of business. For the IT industry, reaching the right people is important. This article explains why.
Telemarketing is a significant way to generate leads for any type of business. It is a highly adaptable, capable and multi-purpose means to market services or products. It works well for all types of industry, including the technology sector.
However, many IT-focused telemarketing campaigns fail due to several reasons. One of them is the lack of understanding for the industry itself and the key people making the buying the decisions – the CIOs. CIOs or CTOs are extremely busy professionals and attending to sales calls is simply not one of their top priorities.
Here are some tips to help salespeople, particularly telemarketers, understand what really draws the attention of CIOs towards any kind of IT solution.
Empathize with CIOs. Telephone marketing specialists should always empathize with them and understand their problems and issues. Easy, you say. But just like you and me, they have work-related objectives and interests. If they see that what you have to offer will benefit their organization and make them the best CIO they can be, then you will definitely get their attention and they will be willing to establish a business relationship with the company you are calling for.
In-person meetings with them are vital. Sales opportunities with CIOs begin with being able to meet with them. If you are generatingIT sales leads through appointment setting, make sure that you schedule quality face-to-face meetings so that the sales representative will have the opportunity to effectively explain the benefits of the service or product. While web seminars are so popular today, in-person meetings still do the trick.
Before you call, take time to understand their business goals and the technology they're using. CIOs simply don't have the luxury of time to research and evaluate how the service or product you are offering can solve their IT challenges. You have to do it for them. It will help significantly if you research and ask them questions to find out what they need and analyze if what you have to offer can satisfy that need.
Business intelligence. You would be surprised what a bit of research can do. Although business intelligence should be taken care of by the sales rep, it can do you good as a telephone marketing representative to do a bit of your own research just so you have an idea what kind of company you are calling, what their IT initiatives are or what kind of business environment they have. These information can be found online for free.
Focus on one industry at a time. Marketing and selling to CIOs demand specialized and focused industry expertise. Companies don't purchase technology. They purchase solutions. To be more specific, they purchase solutions for their industry and for their organization. Don't spread yourself too thin and call from one industry to another. Become one with their sector. Learn as much as you can about a particular industry so you can effectively relate the benefits of the IT solution you are calling about to their vertical.
Be technologically savvy. If you are already struggling to perform the telemarketing task, how much more will you struggle at telemarketing high-tech solutions? The reason most IT telemarketing people fail at this job is because they simply do not have the slightest idea what they are talking about. Technology sales are an entirely different ball game. Generic telemarketing pitches and canned responses won't work in marketing to CIOs. You have to speak their language and have a broad and intimate understanding of current IT trends, the competition and their offerings.
Learn how the IT business works. The IT selling process involves common policies, budget, technology objectives, interaction between business units and IT departments, etc. Talking the talk is just part of the entire process of marketing and selling to CIOs. You have to learn the complexities of the IT business.
IT telemarketing was developed in order to help technology companies market their solutions more efficiently, however being successful at marketing IT products or services over the telephone depends on the telemarketer's understanding of the business and the CIOs' frame of mind.
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