According to the Harvard Business Review, it costs from five times more—to as much as 25 times more—to win a new customer than to keep a current one. For savvy B2B companies, outbound calling is a smart and cost-effective way to keep your existing accounts smiling—and your sales pipeline full.
Too often, however, marketing and inside sales overlook the potential residing within a company’s B2B customer base, instead focusing resources entirely on new prospects. While it does take consistent effort to win new sales through cold-calling and lead nurturing campaigns, engaging current customers is also well worth the effort.
Make time for warm calling
We call these outreach programs “warm” calling. Why? Because you’ve already done the hard work to create a relationship and win the B2B decision-maker’s trust. Now, it’s time to build even greater rapport and strengthen the ties to your brand. That means the contact is far less arduous than cold calling at the top of the sales funnel
Outreach to your current customers is one of the most powerful campaigns you can launch right now. All it takes to generate immediate opportunities is your customer list and experienced B2B conversationalists like those at Volkart May. Every day, we make calls on behalf of leading B2B and medtech brands, finding ways to listen, qualify and convert both customers and prospects into new sales opportunities for organizations.
5 revenue opportunities with B2B customers
Here are some B2B customer campaigns to consider:
- Upgrades. As your customers grow their businesses, your solution should also expand. Find out who’s ready to step up to a bigger system, more user licenses or expanded services. You can also target businesses with outdated equipment or soon-to-be-obsolete versions of your systems. These campaigns are particularly useful for technology and manufacturing companies, as well as equipment distributors and resellers.
- Extended warranties. Put service first and remind customers to safeguard their all-important equipment and systems. A warranty campaign can stand on its own, or bundle well with an outbound call for upgrades. With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), numerous B2B products now carry technology components that make warranty protection worthwhile.
- Workforce safety. Help your customers meet new COVID-19 requirements for social distancing, disinfection, automation or remote work. Highlight protective features, new ways of doing business or how your solution supports work-from-anywhere models. Nothing beats a call that carries new information and helps your customer solve an urgent business challenge. Segment your customers by business type, industry or geography, then customize a message for each group’s specific needs. Using a call center gets your message out quickly with high-velocity calls that retain an individual touch.
- New locations. Share your customer successes stories beyond your immediate decision-maker. This strategy works well in medium and large companies that make purchase decisions locally. We’ll help find new contacts in other departments, locations or franchises of the same organization. If your current contact will serve as a reference (or let you use their name on calls to peers), your outreach grows that much stronger.
- Timely reorders. It’s all too easy to miss a deadline, especially in the current environment. Proactive outreach to remind customers will keep reorders on track. A promotion or discount on popular items ties in nicely with this approach and incents more sales. You can also leverage these calls to identify upcoming budget and contract cycles, to coordinate future efforts.
Need more proof? Check out our Trane case study. We helped the HVAC manufacturer reach 42 percent of target customers for a 72:1 ROI on their campaign investment. Let us know how we can help you maximize opportunities and strengthen your customer relationships.
