As I hear bits and pieces of campaign-related conversations at the Direct Marketing Partners contact center, I’m realizing more and more the importance of customer/team meetings with respect to our B2B direct marketing endeavors. This is a very simple matter – but one which evidently needs promotion. Whether the campaigns are lead generation, profiling, list build-out, AMB, invitational, follow-up or customer service,THE TEAM NEEDS TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THE CUSTOMER regarding acceptability, corrections, insights and results. Recorded calls should be shared so that the customer can hear objections and obstacles to delivering the message. Conversely, the customer needs to be apprised of list and campaign productivity analysis in order to affect changes and enhance results.
Nuances
One of the primary reasons we rate team meetings so highly is because of the nuances that can be learned and conveyed by our reps. Nowadays, the more specifics we know and can offer on the product, the better it goes. Product specifics come from client; market response and campaign challenges come from us and they, too, need scrutiny and agreement on how to proceed.
Rapport
Once the door is opened and rapport is established between the customer and DMP team, more dialogs take place sharing successes and concerns, thereby improving the productivity of the campaign. List problems can be identified and tackled, objection takeaways can be explored, role-played and implemented as they crop up. We also find that the more interchange between the lead development reps and the client, the better the information flow and trust, which in turn creates a much stronger campaign.
Closed Loop
And…if we are really lucky, clients will share sales information and feedback, thereby closing the loop and providing definitive insights into closed sales and best prospects.
It’s a Two-Way Road
Popular sentiment dismisses meetings as time wasters. I hope to have dispelled this myth in our lead gen world. The contact center needs direct customer input and visa versa, as together they better navigate through lead generation waters.
