The CRAP Report

So, if you’ve been reading The CRAP Report now, you know that I’m typically writing for folks that may either be looking to outsource their teleprospecting efforts or that may have their own internal sales prospecting team.  I’m also writing for folks that are looking to improve their Business Development Rep’s, be they a vendor or an in-house team.  Oh yeah, and my Mom.  Today, though, I really want to speak to those folks who’ve outsourced their sales opportunity generation efforts.  There may be some take-aways for others, but if you’re working with a vendor who is finding sales qualified leads for you and your sales team, this one’s for you.

Like the title says, I’m asking if your teleprospecting vendor listens to you.  I guess I need to be a little more detailed here, right?  You’ve spent A LOT of money outsourcing lead development and because of that, I’m hoping that you’re getting what you’ve asked for.  There are three key areas that you should be focusing on getting what you’ve paid for: 

1. Does your vendor share YOUR definition of a qualified lead?
2. Do they target your key prospects?
3. Are you getting access to the BDR’s calling on your behalf?

First off, does your vendor share YOUR definition of what a qualified lead looks like?  There have been many blog articles lately about making sure that Marketing and Sales share the same definition (see here and here for examples), but in this instance, you and your vendor had better share that same one, too.  This one is obviously the most critical.  During the initial implementation phase, my suggestion to you is to spend as much time hashing out with your outsourcer just what you feel a qualified lead looks like.  If all you care about is understanding a prospect’s business pains but your vendor’s BDR’s are qualifying for budget, something’s amiss.  I can’t stress this point enough, in fact, for those of you reading that are going to outsource and have not done so yet, get your “qualified lead” definition straightened out first.  Ensuring that you and your outsourced sales prospecting vendor share the exact same definition of what a qualified lead looks like is going to save you headaches in the long run.

Second, do they target your key prospects?  Did your vendor listen to you when THEY qualified you?  Do they know your target audience?  They’re making dials every day on your behalf, so make sure that you know that they’re calling the prospects you want them to.  A good portion of this problem can be alleviated if you come to the table with a list that you want them to call into (my colleague, Craig Ferrara, talks about putting lists together, and you can read his thoughts on that here).  If you already have a focused list, then there really may not be much to worry about, however, I have worked with clients in the past who want us to put lists together for them.  That’s okay, but make sure you review the list before giving the green light to make calls.  Nothing is more embarrassing for a BDR than calling a client’s customer because the client didn’t review the prospecting list and remove their name from it.

Lastly, are you getting access to the BDR’s calling on your behalf?  People who are making calls under your company’s banner should be made available to you, and pretty much whenever you want to talk to them, within reason.  I use the caveat of “within reason” because if you’ve outsourced to an expert, you shouldn’t impede their time on the phones too often.  Getting the opportunity to sit in on calls with the rep working for/with you will tell you all you need to know about whether or not your vendor has listened to you.  You’ll be able to pick up on all of the tweaks you’ve made to your messaging and make sure that what you want to be said to prospects is being said.

While I imagine that most outsourcers do a good job at these, you should keep the above three questions in mind regarding your relationship with your lead gen vendor and whether or not they really listen to you.