How to Use B2B Telemarketing for Lead Generation

How to Use B2B Telemarketing for Lead Generation

Telemarketing services have long been utilized to develop qualified leads. Lead generation is the key to business growth, and with telemarketing, lead generation services provide the quality and the quantity to succeed. Business-to-Business or B2B telemarketing focuses on developing leads among clients rather than consumers, and this can have a profound impact on strategic business growth. B2B telemarketing is an effective and cost-efficient solution to enhance your sales campaigns — one that produces real results. In this guide, we will share best practices for leveraging the power of B2B telemarketing in lead generation for your company.

What is B2B Telemarketing?

Telemarketing is the practice of reaching out to customers or individuals using the phone. Traditional practices include so-called “cold calling“, where telemarketers attempt to connect with people for sales purposes. Cold calling often utilizes prepared lists of people, such as phone book directories.

B2B telemarketing is different, and far more advanced, than traditional telemarketing practices. In a typical campaign, experienced telemarketing experts are not making sales calls; rather, they’re connecting with stakeholders to generate quality leads. The team in B2B marketing allows sales personnel to focus on what they do best: to close sales and to drive revenue growth. By funneling sales leads to the sales team through this critical pipeline, conversion improves. Lead generation is efficient and powerful for companies that want to expand their footprint. Ultimately, a B2B lead generation program identifies qualified clients, reinforces the processes of decision-makers, and saves both time and money in unlocking new business opportunities.

What is Lead Generation in B2B Markets?

In simple terms, lead generation is the practice by which marketing experts and the sales team identify individuals most likely to make purchasing decisions. Whether these individuals are consumers, sales prospects, or business partners, qualified leads are what businesses need to succeed. B2B professionals use a broad range of tools and strategies to identify target audiences — those most likely to take the next step in becoming customers. Rather than trying to complete sales through telemarketing, B2B teams are more concerned with providing relevant information to interested individuals; the sales professionals then follow up with tailored sales calls or other communication tools.

Best Methods for B2B Telemarketing Lead Generation

To get the most from lead generation campaigns, B2B professionals rely on numerous strategies as they help their clients achieve success. The experience and skill these telemarketing services professionals need can also vary, depending on the industry niches they work in or the needs of individual clients. Marketing skills are critical, as is the ability to share relevant information with stakeholders. What each B2B lead generation services client needs can differ greatly; flexibility and effective communication skills are some of the most critical aspects of this marketing tool.

Work in this marketing field begins long before the phone rings. Success is dependent on a careful analysis of potential leads. Demographic information and details on related business interests are collected. The team then prepares a list of prospects to call. Unlike traditional telemarketing, the focus is on stakeholders rather than consumers. For example, an insurance carrier may wish to expand its roster of independent agencies or brokerages — and selling insurance products and services to these agencies is not the goal but instead, new partnerships are being forged. Lead generation is not just about sales, but rather about exploring new opportunities.

Best methods for lead generation include:

  • Using remarketing practices in campaign materials.
  • Testing processes and initiatives.
  • Creating opt-in opportunities for stakeholders.
  • Rolling out superior offers by illustrating partnership benefits.
  • Using technologies to more accurately identify those most likely to make critical business decisions.
  • Improving the quality of ads and other marketing materials.

Whether you are seeking one lead for your business growth, or want to have your telemarketing team bring in thousands of quality prospects, this innovative telemarketing approach can provide the tools for success to help you grow your B2B business.

B2B Lead Generation Services

Now that this impactful telemarketing strategy sounds like a viable solution for your business prospects and growth goals, how can you assess the experience and skill of a given lead generation service provider?

The answer consists of several components. First, while it may be helpful if the telemarketing company has previous experience within your given industry, it is more important that they have tenured outsourced sales performers. Set up and specialized training in best practices is also part of this component. The best service providers work closely with clients before the telemarketing campaign begins so set a solid foundation, such as adopting brand guidelines and agreeing on sales goals. If a client has specific needs for its qualified leads, the team will incorporate those into any initiative, long before the first call, the campaign takes shape through this partnership.

Next, budgets are taken into account. Advertising is expensive, and companies naturally want to get the best results for their investments. Through a careful process of identifying both financial and time limits, real results are more cost-effective and impactful than possible with other marketing practices.

Finally, the contact between marketers and stakeholders is critical. The service company knows that in order to help unlock opportunities, pre-written scripts are often inadequate for every potential client. These teams create custom language and materials to reinforce the message before the first marketing call takes place.

While not every business needs this specialized form of client outreach for those industries that want to improve their revenue, their service areas, and their growth, B2B telemarketing represents a powerful tool in their marketing arsenal.

Writing your own copy? Here are 3 things to consider.

Writing your own copy? Here are 3 things to consider.

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

In the competition between quantity vs. quality – quality wins every time.

 “In years past, a copywriter was someone who wrote ad copy to sell a product or service. Today, customers want education, inspiration and satisfaction.” – Neil Patel

 In the 1970s, CBS News reported that the average American saw between 500-1,600 advertisements each day.

Thirty-some years later, the Yankelovich marketing research firm estimated the average person then saw 5,000 ads per day.

In 2017, according to Forbes, the average American was exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements every day. And that number is likely only increasing with the evolution of technology and the passage of time.

What that means as a collective, is that we are becoming savvier about what ads we ignore and screen out of our awareness, and what ads we pay attention to. And our children are even more discerning, at even younger ages than we. We are much pickier about what we will give our attention to.

To capture the attention of your audience, your copy shouldn’t sound just like everyone else’s. We’ve seen it all and are easily bored. You must put in the work to get anything out of your copy.

Clarity is your friend.

 “So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” – Dr. Suess

 Your audience has other things to do besides reading advertisements and ad copy.  Before they give you their time to consider your offer, you have to provide them with a reason to read in the first place.

You need to know what you want to say. Good copy uses specific language with clear, concrete details. Your content should have purpose and direction and contain all the critical information required.

Remember that unnecessary words can dilute your message, or worse, lead to confusion. The easier your content is to read, the easier it is to be understood and acted upon.

Authenticity and resonance are kings.

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.” – Ernest Hemingway

Copywriting is the art of persuasion through the written word, compelling an audience to take action.  Persuasion is mostly a matter of education and building trust. When you write like a robot and use dry, uninteresting content, it’s difficult to build trust.

Nobody enjoys boring, stale content they can’t connect with.  “You don’t get me or my life!” Nor do they enjoy reading material that seems to be written by a machine.

Human beings are naturally wired to desire connection with other humans. No reader can be forced to consume content they don’t want to consume.

Take the time to put humanity, feeling, and personality into your copy. Your copy should add something positive to your audience’s experience, evoke emotions, and create a connection.

It takes experienced copywriters years to master their craft, but you can easily improve your copy by keeping these points in mind as you write.

Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!


Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
Attending To Marketing

Attending To Marketing

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

“The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.” – Seth Godin 

While they do go hand in hand, marketing is not sales, and sales is not marketing. For your business to be successful at making sales, marketing is crucial.

Too often, small businesses focus on the sales aspect of their business but spend inadequate focus and resources on their marketing. They may consider marketing to be an expendable entity, or an afterthought when revenue seems good. With such anemic marketing efforts, businesses that don’t take their marketing seriously can hardly expect to reap many rewards.

Marketing isn’t just key to your business success–it’s a responsibility. It’s a vital vehicle for developing and maintaining long-lasting relationships with your customers. During your busiest times, during your most uncertain times, schedule and keep a regular chunk of time set aside exclusively for studying your audience, discovering opportunities, and future market planning.

What should go into your marketing budget? 

Here are some of the most common marketing expenses (depending on your industry) that you’ll need to include in your business’ marketing budget:

  • Website (design, security, hosting, and maintenance)
  • Newsletters
  • Email marketing services (Aweber, MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, ConstantContact, etc.)
  • Social media management services (i.e., companies that manage your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts, etc.)
  • Online advertising (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media ads, Google Adwords, LinkedIn ads, geotargeting, Yelp ads, etc.)
  • Online directories that you pay for (depending on your industry)
  • Network referral memberships, public relations
  • Referral and Affiliate programs (perks or pay offered to customers or affiliates who refer your business)
  • Business cards (including design)
  • Birthday and holiday cards
  • Promotional materials on the business premises (posters, sales signs, educational material, sound system announcements, pamphlets, etc.)
  • Direct mail (postcards, letters, etc. – including design, printing, and postage)
  • Traditional Advertising (including phone books, TV, radio, billboards, etc.)
  • Appointment reminder services
  • Booths at local events, (home shows, open house, art fairs, city events, etc.)
  • Sponsorships
  • Welcome bags or “goodie bags”
  • Branded promotional “swag” (t-shirts, pens, hats, mugs, etc. with your logo or other marketing on it)
  • Raffles, prizes, or giveaways

How much should a small business budget for marketing?

It’s a mistake to base your marketing budget on just whatever is left over once all other business expenses are covered. Instead, the investment should be a percentage of your company’s gross income set aside every month. What the percentage should be can vary depending on the industry.

Both the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Entrepreneur.com agree that companies that have been in business for five years or less need to invest more funds into their marketing budget than established companies that have been in business longer. 10 to 20 percent of your gross (or projected) revenue if you are ramping up a new business and 6 to 12 percent for more established companies. For slim operations, no less than 3 percent is recommended.1

A healthy marketing budget is one that balances short-term and long-term needs. Focus on creating a calculated, focused marketing strategy for your brand that invests your money wisely.

1 U.S. Small Business Administration, 2013. (https://www.sba.gov/taxonomy/term/15051?page=37)

Entrepreneur.com, 2015 (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243790)

Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!


Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
Create Magnetic Calls To Action Using A Personalized Touch

Create Magnetic Calls To Action Using A Personalized Touch

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

A “Call To Action,” a.k.a. a CTA, is a specific image, element, or phrase on a webpage that guides a visitor to take a specific action.

The purpose of a good CTA is to catch the attention of potential leads and existing customers and guide them towards taking a specific action. Hence the term “call to action.”

If you think of a visitor who is visiting your website as someone who is taking a road trip, the calls to action on your website act as traffic signs along a highway. These signs are there to guide the user to the right onramps and exits that help them to reach their final destination.

Calls to action help the user find their way and navigate through your website, sales funnels, ordering process, etc. by telling them what to do. Most simply, good CTAs provide direction and drive conversions.

Typical calls to action are often recognized as webpage buttons with short quips stating something like “Buy Now,” “Join Now,” “Click Here!” and the like.

However, a good call to action should highlight the benefit that the user will gain by taking action.

A case study cited by Unbounce demonstrated that swapping out a single action verb, “Get information” vs. “Order information,” resulted in a conversion rate increase of an impressive 38.26%. The verb “get” helped users to see how they would benefit, whereas the verb “order” simply gave them a task to complete.

Words mean things, and being selective with your language and vocabulary can make or break the final desired outcome. Strong action verbs are essential to the overall picture.

While short, two-word CTAs can be useful, even sometimes important, they can also be rather nebulous and boring. A website full of only this kind of call to action will get old fast.

The most effective call to action phrases will be more interesting, personalized, and will speak directly to the user. Good CTAs use strong action verbs and give your visitors a reason to take the desired action.

Which would you find more attractive and likely to drive conversion? “Join here,” or something more creative and personal like, “Discover the tribe that has been waiting for you!” A “click here” button, or “Get my playbook if you want to be better at copywriting.” Which one is better at telling the user where they are going and why?

Hopefully, these examples will inspire you to evaluate your current CTAs and start optimizing.

Focus on:

  • Writing compelling, engaging copy
  • Prioritize the action verbs you use
  • And place your CTAs on your website strategically

Following these tips will help motivate your audience to take action.

Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!


Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
It’s Not About You…

It’s Not About You…

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

“Consumers are statistics. Customers are people.” – Stanley Marcus

What are you focused on? Your benefit, or your customer’s?

Whether business-to-business or business-to-consumer, it’s essential to interact with the real world of your customer. Get to know their challenges. Get to know their prospects. The moment your focus is self-centered is the moment you begin to lose your capacity to serve your customer.

According to a McKinsey survey, 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.

Marketing is not just about advertising—It’s about listening to your customer, tuning in to their responses, and developing more profound insights into your client’s behaviors, needs, and aspirations. It’s about finding better ways to help your customer and deliver results.

Keep your friends.

Instead of preparing for what you will sell and what you will say next, pay attention to what your client is saying and be a steward for their ideas. Be conscious of your next encounter. Don’t assume you know best – let your customer tell you.

When you partner with clients to design and deliver the solutions they want, you can nurture a growing relationship with a loyal audience who welcomes your increasing success.

According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, loyal customers are worth, on average, up to 10x as much as their first purchase. Paying attention to your customers’ needs is more than just a feel-good methodology. It has the power to increase customer loyalty and reduce your marketing costs while driving engagement and profits.

Active listening improves strategy and magnifies results.

When you’ve taken the time to get to know your clients better and understand their point of view, you clarify efforts and reap more focused results.

Your marketing efforts must be relevant and up to date. Your audience won’t trust you if you don’t speak their language. Develop a strategic marketing plan, so you don’t waste money advertising the wrong message in the wrong place to the wrong audience.

To improve insights, smart marketers glean from consumer feedback, interactions, and experiences. Excellent listening and observational skills contribute to better quality marketing— and better marketing leads to improved relationships with customers. ­­ 

Serve your people. Solve their problems. 

There are few things more valuable than trust. It’s not enough to just get your product out there: focus on making real connections and developing deeper relationships. Trust takes time to build.  Understanding the needs of your clients will go far to help you create win-win relationships that lead to mutual success.

Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!


Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
Marketing During Times of Uncertainty

Marketing During Times of Uncertainty

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

 “When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you MUST advertise.”
– Association of Business Information Companies 1

Unless you sell facemasks, hand sanitizer, or toilet paper, you may be concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on your small business. During uncertain times, many small companies become discouraged by a sudden drop in revenue and start eyeing their marketing budget to reduce expenses. However, this is precisely what businesses should not do.

If you stop marketing now, you risk becoming invisible.

Businesses need to maintain an image of stability and connection with their customers to survive uncertain times.

McGraw Hill Research’s Laboratory of Advertising Performance (LAP) conducted a study on marketing during recessionary periods. They discovered that firms that maintained or increased their advertising budgets during a recession “could boast an average sales growth of 275 percent over the preceding five years.” 2

It may seem counterintuitive to spend resources on marketing when the world feels in chaos. Still, it has been studied and proven time and again through many national and international events: businesses that continue to market and advertise through tough times, and times of uncertainty, will be stronger than those that don’t.

In fact, businesses that continue to market outpace those that don’t.

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, The Clark Company published this bit of historical advice:

“In the 1920’s advertising executive Roland S. Vaile tracked 200 companies through the recession of 1923. He reported in the April 1927 issue of the Harvard Business Review that the biggest sales increases throughout the period were rung up by companies that advertised the most. After World War II, Buchen Advertising, Inc. decided to plot the sales of a large number of advertisers through successive recessions. In 1947, it began measuring the annual advertising expenditures of each company. When they correlated the figures with sales and profit trends before, during and after the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961, they found that almost without exception sales and profits dropped off at companies that cut back on advertising. Their studies also revealed that after the recessions ended, those companies continued to lag behind the ones that had maintained their advertising budgets.” 3

 Your customers need to hear from you.

Marketing is a crucial investment that should be a continuous part of every business strategy. It may need to pivot and refocus, based on circumstances, but it should never be cut down or worse, cut out.

By not advertising, businesses lose momentum, which is hard to pick up once the downturn passes. Just as wise investing in the stock marketing never involves buying high and selling low, abandoning your marketing efforts when you need them most doesn’t make good business sense.

Be the oak in the storm.

While other businesses will play it safe and hide, strong businesses are bold. Reliable companies display confidence; they know how to be flexible for their customers, and they know how important it is to be seen. As a result, their return on marketing expenditure will be amplified after making their voice heard when many went silent.

“All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move backward.
The dumbbells cut back on advertising. Smart people don’t.” – Ed McCabe, founding partner of Scali, McCabe, Stoves Advertising Agency

 1 American Business Media 2008– “The Importance & Value of B2B Advertising During Times of Economic Uncertainty.”

2 McGraw Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance (LAP), 1985

3 The Clark Company, 2001 (http://www.clarkadspr.com/jobarticles/111501.html)


Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales