Imagine this sales scenario…
Current State
- Let’s say, theoretically, you have two experienced salespeople on your staff who cost you $10K/month each (total of $20K + benefits each month)
- Both salespeople are scheduling their own pitches and setting 20 pitches/month (a total of 40 pitches for your organization)
- They spend 50% of their time prospecting in order to set these pitches
- Your close rate is 25%—so, out of the 40 new pitches set each month, it’s resulting in 10 new clients for your business each month.
Goal: you want to increase to 15 new clients per month.
You now have two options.
- Option #1: Hire another salesperson.
- Unfortunately, your new salesperson’s ability to schedule pitches and close deals will not match your existing salespeople’s numbers (it will realistically take 6 months to a year for the new salesperson to maximize performance).
- Even if the new salesperson performs, you’re now paying $30K/month + benefits for 60 pitches and 15 new clients.
- Option #2: Hire a B2B appointment setter.
- A dedicated B2B sales resource can find and set pitches for your existing salespeople so that they can just focus on selling, not prospecting. Salespeople know how to sell, not how to schedule pitches.
- A new resource costs less than hiring a new salesperson. Typically, you’ll pay $5K/month for a dedicated resource who can set 40 pitches (as much as TWO whole sales reps!)
It’s simple math. To achieve your goal of obtaining 15 clients a month, you need to get 60 pitches within that time-frame. You can do that in one of two ways:
A. Hire a new salesperson and pay a total of $30k/month + benefits. Although this new resource will be able to prospect and close business, they will not be able to do either at the level of your existing salespeople for at least six months.
OR
B. Hire a dedicated appointment setter and pay $25K/month + benefits (the cost of two salespeople is, theoretically, $20K in our scenario, plus the $5K for partnering with an appointment setter). This partner will focus exclusively on setting appointments so that your current salespeople can continue closing business at their current close rate.
The more favorable option here is obvious. Yet, so many companies make the mistake of hiring a new salesperson when they need more pitches. Finding a pitch and selling are very different. Salespeople know how to sell and how to deliver a pitch. But getting a pitch in the first place? That’s a whole different ball game. If you need more pitches, you don’t need another salesperson, you need a proven B2B lead generation solution.
Here’s how you can get more pitches for less money with a B2B appointment setting partner.
Why Hiring a B2B Appointment Setting Partner Is the Best Way to Hit Your Sales Goals
If you’re setting very ambitious sales goals for your B2B business, how are you planning to achieve them? You may have a number of ideas in your head, but we’ve proven that B2B lead generation is the way to achieve your sales goals. It’s much more cost-efficient and effective than hiring another salesperson.
Here are a few reasons why B2B appointment setting is the fast path to B2B sales success.
Have Your Best Hitters Go to Bat (Baseball Analogy)
When you partner with a B2B lead generation company, you can let your best salespeople go on more sales pitches instead of hiring a new salesperson who likely won’t perform as well.
Hiring a dedicated resource to generate more pitches puts your best hitters in the position to score runs. Essentially, when you hire a B2B appointment setting partner, you can have your best salespeople go to bat for you and focus solely on hitting good pitches.
Think of B2B sales like the Home Run Derby. You want the best lineup of hitters, right? In B2B lead generation, your best sales reps are your power hitters. Would you rather have some great hitters and some average hitters and lose the entertainment value of the Home Run Derby? Or, would you rather have all strikes thrown at a bunch of stud batters? In B2B sales, an inexperienced sales rep is like an average hitter. They can’t hit as many home runs (or close as many deals). If your goal is to hit more home runs, you don’t need more hitters, you need more strikes. Once you have a great pitcher who can throw you all strikes (a B2B lead generation partner who sets appointments), your star batters (experienced B2B sales reps) can knock them out of the park (close deals).
This analogy isn’t perfect because a baseball organization can’t control what a pitcher on another team is doing and they certainly aren’t the ones paying them. However, the takeaway here is simple: more pitches = more revenue. You’ll get more pitches by hiring an appointment setter than you would if you hired more salespeople; plus, it will cost you significantly less.
More Pitches for Less Money
Salespeople are good at selling. Appointment setting companies are good at setting appointments. When the two work harmoniously together, they’re unstoppable. A B2B appointment setting partner can get you the pitches that you need to increase revenue for less than the cost of adding one full-time salesperson. More revenue for less money? Seems like a no-brainer.
Let’s take a look at the following example:
You own an HVAC company and have an employee named Bill who has worked there for 20 years. He’s an incredible salesman who can close every customer. You decide as a business owner that you want to increase your sales goal. Do you A) hire a brand new salesperson to learn the products, build their own pipeline, and get up to speed to be as good as Bill EVENTUALLY? This could take years. Or, B) do you find a way to get more pitches for your star sales rep, Bill?
Give your stellar sales reps more opportunities to pitch instead of spending a ton of money to hire a new salesperson who may or may not perform. A company that specializes in B2B lead generation for HVAC companies can help you achieve success faster than a new salesperson would.
Give Your Salespeople More Time to SELL
Imagine that—a salesperson actually being able to SELL. When you have a dedicated B2B lead generation partner, your salespeople can spend less time finding and scheduling pitches and more time selling. In your current scenario, your salespeople have a lot of responsibilities. Their time is spent doing all of the following activities:
Prospecting. This activity alone could very well be taking up more than 50% of your salespeople’s time currently. To find qualified prospects who are the right targets for your business, you need a dedicated person who spends 100% of their time prospecting. A B2B lead generation partner can provide strategic prospecting services as a part of your appointment setting program.
Scheduling Pitches. Once you have a solid list of prospects, your salespeople still have another task: actually scheduling pitches. Scheduling pitches is a tough task. Sometimes, it takes several months of nurturing before a prospect even agrees to meet. A B2B lead generation partner can produce more appointments for you so that your salespeople can spend 100% of their time selling.
Pitching and Selling. This is the activity your salespeople should be focused on. The problem is that right now they’re spending part of their time prospecting and part of their time just trying to get pitches. Why not free up their time and have them just focus on the one activity they’re good at?
When salespeople can JUST focus on selling, your close rate increases. Selling is what they’re best at, it’s what they’re trained to do. They know your product or service like the back of their hand. They know how to close. So, give them pitches and allow them to close so they can focus solely on what they do best.
Whether or not you meet a certain sales goal depends entirely on how many pitches you have. If you already have sales reps who are trained and good at what they do, you just need more pitches, not more salespeople. Take prospecting and scheduling pitches off of their plate, let your sales reps sell, and watch your sales numbers skyrocket. A B2B lead generation partner who can set appointments is the way to go if you want to reach your sales goals.
Don’t be the company that says, “I need more pitches, so I’m just going to hire another salesperson”
This is the biggest mistake most companies make when they want to produce more. Hiring another salesperson is not the way to go when you need more pitches. Salespeople know how to sell, not how to find a pitch. If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to get your best and most talented sales reps more pitches, B2B lead generation services are the answer.
If you’re a small to medium-sized business that’s wanting more opportunities to pitch so that you can grow, contact Abstrakt Marketing Group. We can get you more pitches for less than the cost of one full-time salesperson. Reach out today to learn more about what an outbound lead generation program would look like for your business.
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