Culture has always been a factor for marketers and that includes B2B ones. So when employing telemarketers for B2B lead generation, make sure they have experience communicating with business cultures across a wide variety.
As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life. However, it can be too spicy when it makes it difficult for your lead generator to predict and understand too many different cultures at the same time. You need to organize, even if it comes at the risk of stereotyping and pigeon-holing.
In the following are three basic traits that can help classify culture in the B2B world:
- Culture based on country - Different countries naturally have different attitudes towards work as a result of their national culture. Attitudes towards budgets can even be reflected by popular stereotypes. National culture also has more direct effects like the best time of day to call or if there are any holidays to take note of. The possibility of encountering accents and foreign language, while minor, should also be considered.
- Culture based on industry - This trait is most exclusive to B2B when it comes to being a high priority concern. Work culture can determine many things like the interest of a whole company, the compatibility with what is being offered, as well as future attempts to qualify. Certain industries attract certain types of workers as well as levels of expertise. A company in a high-end industry will have a different cultural image compared to a companies with more generalized services.
- Culture based on size - It sounds unlikely at first but a larger company might have a more complicated culture compared to that of a small businesses. The reasons though are clear. The bigger the company, the bigger the number of employees, which results in a bigger community. It is generally understood that larger communities can be harder to unite compared to businesses whose smaller size allows for closely-knit groups. You also have the influence of budget (and that is not simply in terms of indicating rich or poor). As a more ethical approach, try using the culture to influence the price of your offer.
In all fairness though, these classifications are not perfect. But on the bright side, dividing these traits into categories can help break down the confusion. The technique is to first consider them one by one and then slowly connect them with each other. Furthermore, it is also an indirect way of fighting the temptation (and the accusations) of stereotyping. For example, when you put together the fact that one target company is small, works in manufacturing, and is based in China, you actually end up with a fairly unique picture of an individual organization.
Such a profile is more structured and better organized compared to analyzing from scratch and wasting numerous calls back and forth just to get a basic idea. Be it via outsourcing or in-house, the only telemarketers you should employ are those who are capable of analyzing cultures this way beforehand. It saves time and makes it easier for your business to establish connections for a smoother lead generation process.
Maxwell Stinson is a B2B Telemarketing Specialist and Marketing Expert that works for Kick-Start Sales Force. Max invites you to visit http://kickstartsalesforce.com/ for more details on B2B telemarketing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maxwell_M_Stinson
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