Outbound vs. Inbound: Why Reach Out if B2B Buyers Are Coming To You?

Many companies get inbound inquires from buyers interested in their products or services. So why reach out if possible buyers are already coming to you?   Good question. The best way to answer is to share why some of our clients have chosen B2B focused outreach with us.

1. Reach out to your real target market. One company had received many inbound inquiries and webinar sign ups. The company reached out to these inbound inquiries and attendees.  But these contacts did not represent the company’s target audience.  Leads were not ready and qualified to enter the sales pipeline.  This company decided to reach out to their prime target audience and build a strong sales pipeline through our focused outreach service.
2. Connect sooner and fill your sales pipeline faster. Another company had a steady stream of inbound inquiries from whitepaper downloads through their website. They wanted to interact with the higher qualified potential buyers who downloaded the whitepaper.  They also wanted to begin building relationships, take care of immediate needs, and determine next steps. This company delivered a large percentage of highly qualified leads to their sales team faster through our focused outreach efforts
3. Reach out to target accounts in a consistent, focused fashion. Another company already had a strong inbound team.  They had implemented marketing automation software to nurture, develop and qualify inbound inquiries to fill their sales pipeline. The sales force concentrated on nurturing and developing opportunities.  But the sales force did not have the time to plan and conduct a focused outreach effort to penetrate target accounts or additional departments in accounts. This company worked with us to plan and implement a focused outreach initiative to profile and penetrate additional target accounts and departments in their territory.
4. Nurture and penetrate second tier accounts while sales focuses on the first tier. Another company had field representatives selling a niche product to a niche market. They focused on nurturing and developing leads in a few, large key accounts.  They had little time to devote to a consistent effort to profile and develop opportunities in other accounts in their territory.  Their complex product was geared to high level C executives in major corporations. The company worked with us to profile and penetrate second tier target accounts in their territory.

Today, the Internet, social media and recession are speeding up the rate of change and innovation in lead generation.  However, companies still find value in building a strong, immediate sales pipeline from focused outreach efforts.

If you want to see how focused outreach can benefit your company, learn more in our eBook, Focused Outreach Lead Generation:  a 10 step strategy guide, free to subscribers.

Tune in next week to hear my thoughts on social media for the coming year.