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The value of referrals and reviews for generating b2b leads

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The value of referrals and reviews for generating b2b leads

We all know that a personal recommendation from someone we trust is more powerful than almost any other form of advertising. Whether it’s a film, restaurant, or book, when friends endorse it, we’re likely to act. Also known as word of mouth sales, referral marketing is an effective sales tool in generating b2b leads because we instinctively trust a business that someone tells us they’ve had a positive experience with. These days reviews can work as well as referrals, in fact, a handful of 5 star Google reviews can make all the difference if you’ve shortlisted a bunch of suppliers who look similar on the face of things.

Referral selling and reviews

Referral selling is not new, it’s actually one of the oldest marketing techniques. Unsurprising, therefore, that it’s as effective for creating b2b leads as it is for consumer sales. One of the best ways to improve a company’s performance is to offer an outstanding service in a sustainable way. This means charging appropriately and having happy, engaged staff on your front line who reflect everything that’s good about your business and its objectives. This turns clients into long term advocates, who respect and champion your business leading to word of mouth referrals, as well as good reviews. According to a study by Harvard Business School, reviews have a direct impact on revenues. They go on to say ‘a one-star increase in a Yelp rating leads to a 5% to 9% increase in revenue’. Simply put – the better (and more) reviews you have, the higher your chances are for building a reputation that is trusted and has a loyal following – inevitably leading to referrals.

Selling is only one of your success measures

Although generating b2b leads that convert to sales may be the ultimate goal of marketing, moving the emphasis away from selling can actually help you to sell more in the long run. Not selling at every opportunity will help you to build trust with your customers and will show them that you’re putting their needs first. Instead of always looking for ways to make a sale, ask your customers if there’s anything that you can do for them. The more you can find out about their needs and their requirements, the easier it will be for your business to offer a relevant and high quality service.

Listening skills

Although it can seem counterintuitive, listening is an important part of the selling process, especially if you’re trying to build long term business relationships. Ask about your customer’s long-term goals and the challenges that they face in achieving those goals. When creating b2b leads try to remember important facts about the industry and the individual business and add to your knowledge bank regarding all aspects of your customers’ requirements. The more genuinely interested you are in their business and their world, the more you’ll be able to adapt your products and services to suit their requirements. The happier your customers are with your products, services and performance as a whole, the more likely they’ll be to tell others about your company.

Seek out new ways to help

One of the main benefits of listening to your customers and taking an interest in their industry is that it will give you the perfect opportunity to show how you can help. Explain to your customers exactly what you can do for them. Don’t exaggerate. Be honest about the products and services you offer. Customers are much more likely to respond well to a realistic sales pitch than to one that promises them the earth and stars. If your company offers a high-quality service, competitive prices and great products, customers are likely to refer your business to other potential clients. To find out more about how to generate b2b leads, sales or effective marketing techniques, take a look around our site today.

5 Things you should know about B2B Market Research calling

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5 Things you should know about B2B Market Research calling

Market research companies may well be busier than ever this year, as changes in the economic and political landscape reflect on B2B buyer behaviours.  It’s no great secret that uncertainty affects business. However, what happens when uncertainty starts to lift and B2B purse strings gently begin to stir? Do all our clients return to their hungry selves, or can we expect the competition to sweep in and tempt some away.

Often the folk called in to ask these questions are market research companies like Blue Donkey. Our task is to seek out buyers and delve deeply enough to understand the motivations and triggers that will keep them loyal, or have them jumping ship to the competition. Here is what we’ve learned in our 22 years at the coalface.

1. Objective

Market research companies set out with a defined plan about what they want to understand. Often a problem, opportunity, new product idea, or threat has been identified and the questionnaire will be designed to throw light on it. Research with a flimsy objective such as ‘What’s the next big thing’ (yes that happens!) will have vague outcomes at best.

2. What are you really thinking

Unwitting messages are really important. These usually appear in the tone of voice, or are implied but not explicit answers to questions. Market research companies listen carefully for cues as to what a respondent is saying beneath their answers, for example, if a respondent answers a question then add the words ‘I suppose’, market research companies may gently probe to see if there is more to the response.

3. Objectivity

Market research companies can be objective, which is why organisations will usually decide to outsource. A company’s internal team will naturally have a cognitive bias in the way they understand and report answers, and they may feel protective or defensive. Market research companies won’t feel personally affected by outcomes so will be able to keep a professional distance.

4. Market research is market research. Sales is sales

Market research companies will never ever take sales leads from market research. Your calls must be either sales, or market research. It’s unethical and frankly rude to dress your call up as market research if what you are actually looking to do is find sales leads. Responses or respondent details are not be linked to the report, they should be completely anonymous.

5. Curiosity didn’t really kill the cat

It’s important to remember that every interaction with a client or potential client is a potential opportunity to learn something new. Market research should not start and end with market research companies, it should form a part of everyone’s role. Curiosity is good for business, how often did a question that you asked a client as an afterthought lead to tangible new opportunities, upsell, or innovations?

According to one of the world’s foremost authorities on strategic marketing professor Malcolm McDonald, the first step to business success is all about understanding what customers value, and how best to deliver it.

 

To find out more about Market research, or to learn how we can help you to improve the quality of your research calls, take a look around our site or get in touch with a member of our team today.

Herzberg two-factor theory and Lead generation marketing

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Herzberg two-factor theory and Lead generation marketing

We’ve looked at how Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory can be applied to workplace motivation and sales. His thoughts on the elements that motivate workers by their presence and those that de-motivate by their absence can also be applied to lead generation marketing and can help managers of lead generation marketing activities get the best from their data.

Herzberg’s theory has broad applicability to any process or activity that involves people, so naturally, it can be applied to sales. However, by reflecting on the motivating factors and the hygiene factors he identifies in his theory, we can see how companies can motivate a customer to buy a product from their business instead of from a competitor, and how qualifiers can be used to differentiate in a noisy market.

We all want to believe we’re completely responsible for the decisions we make at home or in the workplace. However, anyone who’s interested in the workings of the human brain will know there is a myriad of subconscious factors influencing our psychology and therefore our decisions. According to brand specialists Clutch Marketing, understanding the psychology of your buyer is the secret of great marketers. They say Marketing is about persuasion, creating the impression you want to make, eliciting a specific feeling or response, and then enticing a person to take action. The keys to success are bound up in clever marketing which manages to create an alluring proposition, that stands up to competition, then surrounding it with compelling messaging that picks out its differences.

Hygiene factors in lead generation

In his motivation theory, Herzberg discusses the need for hygiene factors to be present in order to maintain entry-level consideration. They are the qualifiers, the basic must-have features. These hygiene factors are the essential things that a potential buyer will be looking for, and as markets evolve the list gets bigger, for example nowadays all mobile phones have cameras, and so all customers will expect to benefit from one.

When you translate this theory to lead generation marketing you can see that hygiene factors are essentially qualifiers – the features that buyers expect to be present in a product or service. Although the presence of these qualifiers won’t necessarily help to push decision makers into responding to your sales message, their absence will discount you from the selection process completely. Understanding these qualifiers can influence your potential buyers, and working this theory clearly into your sales messaging could help your business to improve the results of its lead generation marketing.

Motivators in lead generation marketing

Motivators are the second component of Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory. They are the extras that help motivate potential buyers to select a particular product or service above a competitor. Usually associated with benefits, these factors are designed to differentiate and position. For the purposes of B2B lead generation marketing, benefits are almost always to do with time, effort, money, or security. So again, building your messaging around the elements of your product or service that are exclusive to you, and which provide one or more of these benefits, will really help motivate buyers towards your product or service and power up your lead generation marketing.

Motivating factors include extra guarantees, the number of customer service touchpoints, endorsements, testimonials, and accreditations. In lead generation marketing, these motivating factors can be directly compared with Order Winners. The little extras help to make a product or service more compelling for the decision maker and can easily swing a deal. If marketers know how to use these Order Winners correctly, and how to combine them with qualifiers, they should be able to make their lead generation marketing more persuasive and encourage a higher number of decision makers to opt for their brand.

To find out more about sales and telemarketing techniques that really work, or to learn how we can help you to improve the quality of your sales calls, take a look around our site or get in touch with a member of our team today.

The importance of influencers in B2B telemarketing

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The importance of influencers in B2B telemarketing

Influencer marketing is having a big impact in B2B telemarketing and marketing generally. Understanding the important role played by influencers in business can help marketers power up their brands like never before.

The rise of influencer marketing

To some extent influencer marketing has been around for a long time. As soon as one business recommends a product or service to another business, they’re influencing decisions and acting as brand ambassadors. These days, influencer marketing is used in a much more deliberate way and on a larger scale. From recruiting selected online ‘influencers’, to designing online and offline campaigns to encourage recommendations from person to person, companies have now embraced different influencer marketing techniques.

Data

Like influencer marketing, data driven marketing has long been used by B2B telemarketing companies to identify potential customers, target campaigns and drive marketing. However, the introduction of big data is now providing organisations with an unprecedented level of information about their customers, to help feed marketing decisions and success. According to data experts Search Data Management, the ever-growing volume of internal and external data flooding into businesses, means educated data management strategies are essential. Companies use the big data accumulated in their systems to improve operations, provide better customer service, create personalised marketing campaigns based on specific customer preferences and, ultimately, increase profitability. Businesses that utilise big data hold a potential competitive advantage over those that don’t since they’re able to make faster and more informed business decisions, provided they use the data effectively.

Data & influencer marketing

Combining data driven marketing with influencer marketing will help organisations achieve better results from their campaigns. Gathering key metrics about potential and existing clients means marketers can understand their target audience better. This, in turn, enables them to mould campaigns around specific needs and wants, and ensure their marketing message is always responsive to changes in mood, so it’s on point and relevant. In B2B telemarketing having informed and relevant content is vital to the success of metrics around engagement and conversion because you only get one chance to make a strong impression on the phone. Unless telemarketers come from a position of having sound informed marketing insight and can demonstrate an understanding about why customers decide to buy from one business rather than another, their campaigns won’t be as effective. Additionally, good quality data about buying habits, customer needs, and competitive offerings, can also boost future product and service development for the demographic they’re targeting.

Multi-platform approaches

The more a business knows about its customers, the easier it is to find appropriate platforms on which to promote and raise brand awareness. Using multiple platforms in a marketing campaign can help to reinforce the message and achieve maximum exposure. For example, a business could work with relevant influencers to promote products or services and then follow up the initial influencer campaign using telemarketing. If the call list used in the telemarketing campaign is created with the help of such data, it’s likely to be relevant, accurate and productive.

Taking full advantage of all tools and techniques available can help businesses to improve the results of their marketing campaigns. Find out more about telemarketing and successful marketing techniques by taking a look around our site.

B2B telephone market research

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B2B telephone market research

Market research is a key component of any successful business. Understanding what clients think and need, not only helps cement lasting relationships, it informs product development, service enhancements, and the broader marketing mix. In fact, market research helps companies ensure they are making the right products for the right people.

For organisations selling to other organisations, b2b telephone market research is usually the preferred method for collecting new insights from clients and potential clients. This is because the phone offers some unique opportunities to gently probe and tease out the right kind of information to enable marketers to gain information that is reliable, valuable, and as informative as possible. However in b2b, telephone, like all other areas of telemarketing you need to be asking the right questions.

Demographic

One of the most essential things you’ll need to learn from a market research telemarketing call is whether the contact is from your selected demographic. If the business you’re talking to falls outside your target criteria, any information you garner during the call will be largely irrelevant and won’t help to inform your campaign. It also puts your product development cycles at risk of responding to the wrong demands. The list used for b2b telephone market research needs, therefore, to be carefully profiled and homogeneous – this means buyers will typically have a similar type of requirement and will fit your target group closely. Of course, it’s still important to ask the right qualifying questions to ensure the person you reach is the best person to gather views from if you want to ensure your outcomes are reliable and robust enough to shape your future marketing investments.

Demand

In some cases, the main purpose behind a telemarketing market research campaign is to understand whether there is demand for a new product or service, and the price that would make it useful or attractive to potential buyers. Your telemarketers will need to be able to explain the concept behind your product or service succinctly and clearly. They’ll also need to be able to interpret various responses in order to distinguish between polite interest and genuine enthusiasm. As all business leaders know, conducting market research during the development of a new product or service is essential, especially if you want the finished product to appeal to the right target audience.

Needs

B2b telephone market research offers telemarketers an opportunity to learn more about the people they’re speaking to. By asking insightful questions, listening to the answers and getting a conversation going, your telemarketers can get under the skin of the people they’re speaking to and get a real feel for their needs and requirements. Have your telemarketers tailor a mix of open and closed questions to find out how the products and services you offer fit in with the specific needs of the prospect. The more they can learn about the requirements of the business, that can be supported with a mix of numerical and anecdotal feedback, the more it will enrich and inform your marketing progress.

Appeal

As well as ensuring your business is meeting the current needs of your target audience, you need to know how you can improve the service you offer in the coming years. Even if you’re not planning to expand your operations in the near future, understanding where you can improve and diversify the products and services you offer will stand your business in good stead for the future.

To learn more about b2b telephone market research, or market research and telemarketing techniques, take a look around our site or get in touch with a member of our expert team.

How your b2b telemarketing agency will get motivated this January

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How your b2b telemarketing agency will get motivated this January

January is a notoriously difficult month for many of us including the typical b2b telemarketing agency. Long days, dark skies, cold weather, and credit card bills from the Christmas hangover take their toll on workers across all sectors. For many, January can be less productive than other months as employees struggle to find the energy to start new projects or drive plans forward.

The only way to counter this New Year malaise is to get motivated. With a little effort from managers, most employees will find the extra energy they need to knuckle down and get 2020 off to a cracking good start. To help managers get their workforce back on track, we’re sharing some easy and effective motivational techniques used in our b2b telemarketing agency to boost productivity and improve office morale in no time.

Herzberg’s theory of motivation

Frederick Herzberg was an American psychologist who became one of the most influential names in business management in the 20th century. Known for his two-factor theory of motivation, his book ‘One more time, how do you motivate employees?’ sold more than 1.2 million copies when it was published in 1968. Although his ideas may now be half a century old, they still hold true for managers looking to inspire employees and boost productivity in the winter months.

Two-factor theory

Herzberg didn’t work in a b2b telemarketing agency, alas, but he believed that in most kinds of organisations, motivation was influenced by factors that fell into two broad categories. These are motivators and hygiene factors. Motivating factors are the features of a workplace which actively encourage morale, happy factor, or a better rate of work, and which give employees the energy and the drive to make the discretionary extra effort. Without motivators, employees would struggle to put 100% into their work all the time.

Hygiene factors, on the other hand, won’t necessarily motivate workers to be more productive simply by being present, but their absence could demotivate workers, and therefore reduce productivity. These are things that we would expect to have in our places of work such as training, support, a warm clean environment, and proper working support systems. So, where hygiene factors are the must-have components of the workplace, motivators are the optional extra features that make a business and workplace desirable, such as free fruit, or hot drinks, easy parking, attractive buildings. Ensuring the presence of both hygiene factors and motivators, therefore, is crucial if managers want to get the very best out of their workforce.

Motivators

There are a number of motivators that Herzberg identified in his theory. Chief among them was the belief that by giving workers increased responsibility, meaningful and fulfilling work, and increased autonomy would improve motivation levels and give workers a sense of pride and satisfaction. These days we refer to this as creating meaning in our work and we are all too aware of the impacts of not doing so, not just on mental health and wellbeing, but also on the bottom line, as the notion of happy workers is now inextricably linked with happy customers and bottom-line profit.

He also encouraged managers to reward achievement and recognise hard work among their employees. According to recruitment experts, Morgan Mckinley meaningful and challenging work scores No.1 in the things that motivate employees, at No. 2 is that companies should seek to improve the lives of workers, and No. 3 was that companies should offer recognition and praise for a job well done.

Hygiene factors

In Herzberg’s theory, hygiene factors are basic provisions that can demotivate a workforce by their absence. These include adequate pay, good working conditions, and fair and appropriate supervision. Although the presence of these important factors won’t necessarily motivate a workforce, their absence will significantly hinder productivity and sap employee morale in the process, especially in an environment such as the busy sales floor, customer service team, or b2b telemarketing agency.

A two-pronged approach

Managers looking to boost motivation this January should, therefore, take a two-pronged approach if they want to improve productivity for good. Looking at both motivating factors and hygiene factors will help company bosses to provide the best conditions possible for their workers and increase motivation levels across the board.

If you’d like to find out more about boosting motivation and improving the quality of your workforce, explore the information on our site or get in touch with a member of our team.

IIP standard-setting for B2B Telemarketing Agencies

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IIP standard-setting for B2B Telemarketing Agencies

So who ever said they want to be in telemarketing when they grow up? Not many of us probably, it’s a tough gig, hard work and relentless. But if you need to be challenged, and you want to use your brain, if you enjoy the sheer diligence of speaking to decision makers with diverse business interests all day every day, there’s nothing to beat B2B telemarketing, provided you choose the right company. Therein lies the rub – how do you know? Whether its telemarketing or something entirely different, finding the right employer, that sets itself apart as a people business is not always easy.

Investors in People, or IIP, is a popular quality standard used for excellence across people management. It’s a recognised accreditation system, across 75 different countries that highlight organisations who embrace and champion high standards for the development of their most valuable assets, their people. Established over 28 years ago as a government project, IIP set out to help companies achieve differentiated service quality, something that’s especially valuable for industries like B2B telemarketing where competition is high. Now an independent not for profit organisation IIP has already helped thousands of companies raise their game to become more competitive in their respective markets.

From a people perspective, a key benefit of gaining IIP accreditation is that it helps to attract the best quality B2B telemarketing talent since most of us would choose to work in an organisation that cared about its people, enough to invest in systems, processes and feedback models designed around the needs of its workforce. Indeed, a company that takes pride in its people will deliver a sense of pride to its customers and market. For companies that have IIP accreditation, there are a number of different initiatives that bring together employees from different functions of the business, with the objective of making work more enjoyable and satisfying for staff. It’s also widely accepted that happy staff makes happy customers so not only does IIP build a cohesive and productive workforce, it helps create a business that customers want to be a part of too.

IIP standards

The Investors in People standard is based on three core areas: leading, supporting and improving. Each of these categories is then further divided into subsections, giving business leaders a clear framework on which to build. As companies work to incorporate the specific ideas and criteria of the IIP standard into their business practices, they will receive accreditation from the governing organisation. The highest level of accreditation is Platinum followed by Gold and then Silver.

Leading

The ‘leading’ element of the IIP standard is divided into three areas: leading and inspiring, living the organisation’s values and empowering and involving people. Where the organisation is in B2B telemarketing or something entirely different, incorporating these ideas into a company’s everyday operations will help the leadership to make the organisation’s objectives clear, inspire their workforce to deliver and create a culture of trust within the organisation.

Supporting

Creating a supportive environment is essential for businesses that want to get the best from their workforce. The IIP standard outlines three core areas that are key to achieving excellence in the area: managing performance, recognising and rewarding high performance and structuring work. When workers feel supported, they’re much more likely to commit to an organisation, come up with innovative ideas and work effectively with other members of their team.

Improving

As all successful business leaders will know, organisations that want to succeed and to grow need to be constantly looking for ways to improve. Within the IIP standard, improving is divided into building capability, delivering continuous improvement and creating sustainable success. Creating a culture in which constant improvement is expected and encouraged is essential for businesses that want to achieve their potential.

IIP standards and your workforce

The IIP standard gives organisations a clear and practical framework on which to build their management structure. Employing these standards, and working to reach the highest possible level of accreditation, can help companies of all sizes to boost morale, get the very best from their employees and build a workforce to be proud of.

To learn more about B2B telemarketing or getting the best from your team, or for more information on practical and effective management techniques, explore our site today.

Personality types and B2B telemarketing (are you bovvered though?)

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Personality types and B2B telemarketing

For many years pushy sales techniques were as popular in B2B telemarketing as they were in other areas of sales. The term ‘hunger’ was often used to describe unyielding and headstrong personality types that were deemed advantageous to sales success. These personalities were often ‘not bovvered’ about the negative consequences of hard-selling for those on the receiving end of their transactions, and chose instead to focus on the delivery of results. Extremely successful in its day, this notion of single-minded selling was used around the world for decades.

Fortunately, the modern sales landscape is changing and a new more caring approach has become mission-critical for sales professionals who expect to win career-long relationships and networks with the community of buyers they connect with. Indeed, buyers are now pickier about who they buy from, making an inextricable link between caring people and a reputable brand. What’s more, professional B2B telemarketing operations now have a low boiling-point for pushy salespeople. They know that short term selling can lead to long term reputational damage and pain. So yes, they are definitely bovvered, and no they are not likely to hire a personality that refuses to associate with the needs of others.

There is a lot of fascination around personality type and suitability for certain roles, and much has been said about introducing the right personality types to a sales team. According to psychometrics experts Personality Growth, there are 8 Jungian Cognitive Functions that make up Myers Briggs personalities, so where some people excel at being a salesperson, others hate the job based largely on personality type.

Problems with pushy ‘foot in the door’ selling

Pushy selling techniques where a salesperson persuades someone to accept a modest request (the foot in the door) before getting them to agree to a much larger one are still used. However, buyers see past such attempts now. Decision makers tend to respond poorly to these kinds of techniques as it implies there’s some deception going on. No one likes to feel like they’re having the wool pulled over their eyes. Using ‘foot in the door’ can also compel decision makers to buy products or services they don’t really need. This can damage the relationship between the salesperson and the prospect and can limit their future business interactions.

The ‘carer’ personality type

Instead of working a call to suit their objectives and goals, intelligent telemarketers are placing the prospect’s needs and requirements at the centre of the conversation. Rather than making the call solely about closing, B2B telemarketing involves talking to decision makers, finding out about their specific requirements and tailoring services accordingly. By genuinely caring about clients, and by listening to their queries and objections, sales professionals can build trust and lay the foundations for a productive business relationship.

Benefits of the ‘carer’ personality

In the long run, this approach can be far more beneficial than the pushier ‘foot in the door’ technique. By caring about prospects, working to meet the needs of a decision maker and listening to objections, queries and questions, salespeople can begin to build a trusting and productive business relationship. These types of relationships often last longer than those built on ‘foot in the door’ sales calls. This means that over time the prospect may become a more lucrative lifetime customer.

Using a caring personality in sales calls is often more beneficial to the telemarketers as well. Rather than forcing them to sell, sell, sell, it allows them the time and the space to properly connect with the prospect and to adjust their sales approach accordingly.

Revising tried and tested techniques, innovating on familiar methods and staying up to date with changing trends are vital in telemarketing. To find out more about modern approaches to telemarketing or for more advice on getting the most out of your telemarketing campaigns explore our site today.

Quality Management System ISO:9001 in B2B Lead Generation

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Quality Management System ISO9001 in B2B Lead Generation

B2B Lead generation has increasingly become more complex and specialist with influences such as GDPR and CTPS making successful telemarketing trickier than ever. Quality management systems (QMS) have always had a big role to play in defining the specialness of a business, but today more than ever, a good QMS can be the difference between success and stagnation, particularly in B2B lead generation where output can be so variable.

History of QMS

QMS first emerged at the time of the industrial revolution, when consumption habits changed and work typically went from simple subsistence methods to large organised factories and places of work. 19th century pioneers such as Frederick Winslow Taylor, best known for his remarkable innovations in the early manufacture of the Ford motor car, designed a system that took the production of the Model-T Ford from an artisan creation which took a matter of weeks per car, to the production of a vehicle in a matter of days. Essentially Taylor removed the variability of output, so there was a ‘best way’ to do everything, and then he modelled all the processes around this ‘one best way’ hence the birth of the production line and all modern manufacturing. Coined the father of scientific management Taylor emphasised standardisation of design, to ensure a consistently high quality product was produced in the most efficient and effective way to ensure satisfaction, and price was optimised.

ISO 9001

As they did then, todays managers working on creating and implementing quality management systems, need to look at their different functions and decide on the best way to create the desired output. ISO 9001 is probably the most popular QMS in the services sector but there are others such as Kaizen, which is typically used in manufacturing. ISO: 9001 is an internationally recognised quality management system, based on eight quality management principles. These principles cover all areas of management including customer focus, leadership, continual improvement, mutually beneficial supplier relationships, and fact-based decision making. By adhering to these principles, organisations can ensure they’re constantly improving and driving standards ever higher. Defining a QMS can also help business leaders to focus on their company as a whole and move the entire organisation forward.

For any business looking to achieve excellence, not just in their B2B lead generation, but across all their routines and processes, a sound QMS is possibly the only way to sustainable growth. According to experts if a company is looking to strengthen its processes, increase customer satisfaction and grow revenue, ISO certification is a sound investment because it’s the brand potential customers recognise and trust.

The very basis of developing a quality management system is that it offers a business the opportunity to define what exactly it is that differentiates it and model a cycle of continuous improvement around those attributes

Developing a detailed QMS approach gives business leaders the opportunity to think carefully about the different elements of their organisation and how these come together to form a successful unit. Although the same basic elements are applied in each QMS, the way they’re implemented in each individual organisation will be unique. For example, a business that relies heavily on skilled, highly trained employees will respond differently than a business that works in tandem with its suppliers.

The process of examining every aspect of a business, and the way the QMS is implemented following development, helps business leaders to define what exactly it is that makes them unique. Understanding this in more detail can help managers to get the best out of their business model, their employees, and their suppliers.

To learn more about getting the best out of your business and maximising your organisation’s potential, explore our site or give us a call and speak to one of the expert members of our team.

B2B lead generation language faux pas

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B2B lead generation language faux pas

Few things expose a person’s lack of experience or preparation more quickly than cheesy language or jargon. Clichéd, repetitive and often meaningless buzzwords and jargon are irritants to senior executives’ who would far rather speak to people that are authentic and genuinely interested in them. We all have our own selection of irritating euphemisms, idioms or buzzwords, so we thought we’d name and shame some of the worst offenders currently doing the office rounds in B2B lead generation circles.

Win-win Situation (Sorry Mr Covey)

Annoying ‘management speak’ is often deployed in B2B lead generation by those attempting to impress. The Plain English organisation are campaigners for clearer communication. They say that apart from the usual business jargon and gobbledygook, offices up and down the country, and indeed across the world, resound with corporate ‘management speak’, or ‘marketing speak’. Last year, a survey revealed that many staff who work for big corporate organisations find themselves using management speak as a way of disguising the fact that they haven’t done their job properly. Their favourite examples included ballpark figure, a win-win situation, and take it to the next level – pass the bucket!

Think outside the box

According to a recent survey by the Institute of Leadership and Management, 57% of executives find the phrase ‘thinking outside the box’ to be the most infuriating of them all. A fairly unconstructive way of telling people to come up with a new, unique idea, the phrase should have been ditched from the B2B lead generation dictionary years ago.

Going forward

The survey showed that the next most annoying phrase was ‘going forward’ with 53% of respondents ranking it as an irritant. Though it may seem fairly inoffensive at first, repetition has made the words two of the most hated a B2B lead generation professional can hear (or use).

Touch base

A favourite phrase of networkers and people trying to show a light touch in management, ‘touch base’ has been winding up senior executives for a few years now. It’s recently been joined by the even more unnecessary ‘touch base offline’ which is a roundabout way of asking someone to meet face to face.

Reach out

A lot of people in the B2B lead generation business seem to think the phrase ‘reach out’ is friendlier and less intimidating than ‘contact’, ‘get in touch’ or ‘call’. This has led to the phrase finding its way into countless marketing dictionaries. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before it finds its way out again.

Idea shower

You’ve heard of a brainstorm, well, now it’s time to have an ‘idea shower’. Some managers believe this is a less threatening way to ask for input from their team. The fact that it doesn’t offer us anything new hopefully means it won’t be around for long.

Let’s action that

Instead of saying, ‘let’s action that’ at the end of a meeting or discussion – why not just say, ‘that’s what we’ll do’?

Synergy

One of the most meaningless buzzwords out there at the moment: ‘synergy’ seems to have a huge number of meanings in the world of business. From ‘balance’ to ‘combination’ and ‘collaboration’ to ‘cooperation, the word is thrown into the mix whenever someone wants to sound like they know what they’re talking about.

Going forward, whenever you touch base or reach out to your customers, you’ll be able to action removing buzzwords and jargon from your sales pitch. This should help to create synergy and allow your idea shower to flow freely. Now that is a win win situation.

To find out other ways to improve your communication skills, explore our site, or contact a member of our team.