In today’s uncertain environment, medtech and B2B companies are cautious about unleashing “business as usual” sales calls. Not every product or service is suitable for a pitch right now. Some decision-makers, especially in healthcare and retail, are focused on more pressing concerns. Sales and marketing professionals are right to be sensitive.
However, that doesn’t mean completely idling your inside sales callers or putting all your marketing campaigns on hold. There are other ways to use your resources—or an outsourced call center. Organizations can still connect with customers and prospects, but for now, it’s better to focus your resources on building relationships.
Here are five ways to put your outbound callers to work with medtech customers and B2B prospects:
Relationship management
In times of uncertainty, proactive outreach goes a long way. This is a good time to reach out to current customers and ask how they are doing or how you can help them.
You can even host a virtual town hall session where your experts and your customers share and learn from each other; you don’t have to have all the answers in order to show you care and add value. Your callers can issue the invites beforehand, or make follow-up calls after your event for added service.
Customer service
With so many people working remotely and using technology differently, this is a good time to assess and step up your customer service efforts. Have your callers reach out to new accounts and offer one or two tips on using your product or service. For more tenured customers, ask about new users who may need extra help. Listen to their needs, direct them to helpful resources and let them know that you are there for them if they need anything else in the future.
Training
With normal business cycles disrupted, many B2B and medtech companies have staff working on atypical projects. That opens the door for training opportunities. Do you have a product feature that’s under-utilized? A topic of interest to a hardhit industry or market segment? Tips to help customers grow or weather dynamic situations? Your outbound callers can provide one-on-one help to customers, schedule appointments for company trainers or even invite customers to a training webinar or other virtual session.
Market research
Marketplace insights drive strong medtech and B2B marketing. The more you know about your target customer’s needs and challenges, the more relevant you can make your communications. Even when restrictions lessen, most organizations will need to pivot their sales pitch. Consider using your outbound callers for market research to get ahead of the curve. By profiling key prospects or audience segments, you’ll gather details to customize your messaging and improve your results. You can also use these calls to assess how ready your market is for normal sales efforts.
Database cleanup
Studies show that marketing and sales data degrades as much as 70% each year on the high end and 30% on the low end. An outdated database can negatively impact your prospecting efforts and sales conversions. In slow times, focus your B2B and medtech callers on collecting and updating records in your sales database or CRM system. You don’t need to reach the final decision-maker to identify buyer names and titles, correct phone numbers or opt-in email addresses; all it takes is a little effort. With this information in hand, you’ll rebound more quickly when it is time to launch your next lead generation campaign or sales effort.
Putting sales calls on hold doesn’t mean ignoring customer and prospect relationships. Especially for those working from home, extra outreach and personal conversation show your value beyond a product or service. Learn how Volkart May can help facilitate calls that grow relationships.
