Stats About B2B Appointment Setting for Software Companies

Software and marketing are two extremely fast-paced and ever-changing industries, so combining them into one can be quite the challenge. As you begin to develop a new lead generation strategy for your software company, let’s first consider the data.

Lead generation for software companies can include things such as website lead generation, social media lead generation, cold calling, email campaigns, and so much more. Every industry is different, every company is unique, and every customer is distinct—we recommend tailoring your strategy to be prepared to take on both warm leads and leads that require more lead nurturing and qualification.

B2B appointment setting is a must for software companies. In order to close deals with large businesses, there has to be a considerable amount of outbound lead generation efforts involved. If lead generation is the cause, appointment setting is the effect. Final goal? Closing the deal. We recommend doing a lot of research to set expectations for this; going in blind can be extremely costly to businesses trying to sell their products or services.

We know there is a lot to learn in the world of B2B lead generation. If lead generation is new to you or your company, the best thing to do is look at the data from businesses just like yours who decided to invest in lead generation. This will give you a foundation to build your strategy.

To get you started, here are the three statistics we hand-picked that may help you better understand what a lead generation program would look like for your software company.

Most Common Key-Decision Maker: CEO/Owner/President

Your time is valuable, and so you want to make sure that when you are reaching out to potential customers that you are talking to the correct people. A key decision-maker, or KDM, is the person(s) in an organization who is most likely to be calling the shots on whether or not to invest in your product or service. If you aren’t talking to the right KDM from the start, it’s going to be much harder to close a deal.

For the software industry, in particular, data shows you’re going to most likely be talking to the CEO/Owner/President of the company. This may sound intimidating, but remember, software is an essential part of a business system, and your software could end up being an integral part of their company if you’re able to sell it.

Typical time between 1st dial and 1st appointment (days): 47

Unpacking this statistic, it essentially just means that from the first time you call a prospect to the time it takes you to actually set an appointment set with them, it’s going to take you about 47 days on average. You might be thinking to yourself, “47 days? This is going to take forever!” but actually, the software industry has an advantage in this area. This is a considerably short amount of time compared to other industries in the B2B space. For example, lead generation for accountants takes an average of 585 days before a lead agrees to talk. Software is a new and exciting industry, so although a company might not know a lot about your software, it will certainly catch the attention of a lot of companies.

It’s also imperative to remember that in those 47 days, a lot is happening. During the initial nurture phase, a client is usually A) trying to learn about your product and understand what it’s used for or B) trying to collect enough information to make a decision. The software you sell is likely relatively complex, and for those outside of the industry, it can take some time for them to understand. Developing marketing collateral (brochures, sell sheets, graphics, etc.) can more effectively help you sell your product with impactful, digestible visuals.

Number of dials between 1st dial and 1st appointment: 9

The last important statistic to know is the actual number of dials it takes to set an appointment with a potential customer. It will take software companies, on average, nine dials before a lead agrees to schedule a meeting. Some of these calls might be voicemails; others may be discovery calls. As a software company, be prepared to ask the following discovery questions:

• Have you ever heard of a software product like this?
• Do you currently have a solution in place like ours?
• Could our software help solve a problem your business currently faces? (Ask questions to uncover if yourself if you could solve a problem they currently have with your software product).
• What is the size of your company?

The discovery questions you ask prospects are up to you; it entirely depends on what you deem important to know about a prospective customer. All in all, numerous calls in a B2B appointment setting program shouldn’t scare you. Instead, you should see them as a way to generate more interest in your company. The majority of prospects aren’t going to buy on the first call, that’s why you have to build a lead nurture process and keep at it.

For software companies, B2B appointment setting is a growth strategy that can’t be ignored. Calling, emailing, and developing relationships with prospects at scale is an excellent way to get the word out about your unique software product. Even so, is all of this activity something you have time to handle on your own? Or, do you even want to? As the owner of a software business with a unique product, you’re probably very dedicated to your mission and growing your business. And while B2B appointment setting can help you grow your business, it’s also a very time-consuming activity.

Abstrakt Marketing Group specializes in lead generation for software companies. We can take all of the busy work off your plate—cold calling, emailing, lead nurturing, and setting appointments. With our program, all you have to do is talk to interested prospects about your product. We’ll build you a sustainable sales pipeline that consistently generates appointments.

Ready to talk about an appointment setting program for your software company? Schedule a meeting with us today.