Magnus Marketing Blog

It happened again! I went for a meeting three weeks ago with a company that focuses in network security. The CEO whom I had called, called me back with interest and wanted to discuss my services and capabilities further. I had done a proposal which was good, because that led to the meeting. I met with the CEO and the Marketing Director.

The first words out of my mouth were, I am not a telemarketer - I do research based prospecting and inside sales. This means - no list, no script, very targeted lead generation. During the discussion, I mentioned the sales intelligence piece which the Marketing Director latched onto and wanted to know more about. I explained that the research helps to get into the accounts and uncover information that can push a deal along. Again, this is high quality prospecting and lead generation. She was interested, but kind of clueless as to where I fit in.

She said they would discuss it further and would call my references. I gave her a new set of references - combination of sales intelligence and biz dev. Mentioned that in one case, I ended the relationship - so I wasn't 100 sure of what the feedback would be. This client wanted quick hits and telemarketing, which I wouldn't do, and they were not satisfied with the quantity of opportunities - meantime the ones I did generate never closed! Anyway.

The CEO told me that they were using an outsourced higher-end telemarketing firm which wasn't producing the quality of leads that he wanted. He wanted to hire someone internally who would do the job and build a team underneath. He was willing to talk to me, as an outsider, because I had done this before. The high end telemarketing DID NOT work.

I get an email today saying "thanks, but we decided not to engage your firm" which I shocked by. I called her for feedback. I knew one of my references was very positive. She basically said, you are very good with the research and inside sales, but you aren't a fit for what we are doing. I pushed a little more - but, I do the sales intelligence and lead generation...that what was discussed. Then she says, I am being nice here - you aren't a fit, and what you do we have other vendors for, and you're references were less than stellar. I was shocked.

I followed up with my references. One she never called, a key one in fact - never shared any feedback. The other said nothing but positive things and discussed all the opportunities that were uncovered and how I engage key people quickly on the phone. The other was the middling client - who wasn't tracking my activity and had zero comparison point.

I asked about the questions: The questions that were asked centered around activity and sales results. In other words, how many calls were made, how many leads were generated, and how much business. In other words, telemarketing metrics which I could have easily told them. There were no questions asked about how much marketing support was available, the size of the deals, whether the sales reps closed any business, or what level the meeting was set at.

The fact that I get one or two meetings per month with VP level people at Fortune companies working 10 hours per week, is pretty good.

This particular company absolutely needs someone like me to help them find the key words and messaging that will create more opportunity. Let's see how many telemarketers they will go through before they realize that.