Business to Business List - Televerde

1. Why You Need to Start with Good Data Business to Business List

2. Business to Business List A business to business list can make or break a company’s marketing programs. But maintaining the integrity of contact data is one of the most grueling things marketers have to do. This is especially true when it comes to B2B marketing.

3. Business to Business List The B2B relationship has special nuances. Managing these relationships during the sales process can be tricky for a number of reasons. For example, the sales cycle is almost always complicated and usually long. During this process, you need to nurture the lead, maintain consistent communication with your prospects, and make sure you’re reaching all the right people.

4. Business to Business List Managing leads correctly during the sales cycle is absolutely essential to closing deals. It takes considerable time, effort and marketing know-how. However, if your business to business list is off-target, you could be spinning your wheels. You’re not only putting new sales revenue at risk, but you could be adding unnecessary costs to your marketing programs.

5. Business to Business List So how can you best manage your leads during the sales cycle? It starts at the very beginning with your business to business list. You must ensure the contacts on your list are correct before you begin to market to them. Several elements must be checked:

6. Business to Business List • Are the contacts on your list the right ones? • Do you have all the necessary players involved in decision-making? • Have you properly identified each person’s role and responsibilities? • Is their basic contact info, like name, title, e-mail, address and phone numbers all correct? • Have you collected other essential information to help facilitate the sales process? For example, if you’re selling a technology product, do you know the company’s current technology install base?

7. Business to Business List The above information, at a minimum, is absolutely necessary for your business to business list. And since your list is the foundation of your B2B marketing programs, it’s critical to your overall marketing success.

8. Business to Business List What’s the Cost of Bad Data in a Business to Business List? A B2B list with accurate contact information can have a major impact on closed deals and sales revenues. On the flip side, bad data can cost you dearly. Regardless of how good your marketing programs are, you’re wasting time, money and effort if your business to business list doesn’t reach the right targets.

9. Business to Business List According to SiriusDecisions research, the following represent some eye-opening findings: In a typical B2B company, the amount of prospect and customer information in their database doubles every 12 to 18 months. Even if the data is accurate when initially entered, it tends to break down over time. Databases contain between 10 and 25 percent of serious contact data errors.

10. Business to Business List • As incorrect data remains in the database, it becomes increasingly costly to manage. SiriusDecisions estimates associated costs at $1 for record verification, $10 for record cleansing, and $100 for unmanaged records. • In the latter situation, the effects of wrong information surface regularly and continue to negatively impact marketing effectiveness.

11. Business to Business List Marketers regularly struggle with increasing the performance of their lists and making them easier to manage. A good option is to use a professional lead management company that uses best practices for business to business lists. The right vendor can provide critical help with contact data acquisition. They should own their own high quality database of accurate, recent and meticulously maintained contacts.

12. Business to Business List In addition, a list company must be able to demonstrate how they collect and refresh data. They should be able to filter lists on a wide variety of parameters, including revenue range, industry, number of employees, and more. And, they should have a well-deserved reputation in the industry for providing solid data solutions. In today’s complex B2B world, marketers must look at data management as a strategy. You need to manage it just like you would all the other marketing components in your program. And, it’s important for your organization to recognize the costs involved of not properly maintaining a business to business list.

13. Business to Business List You incur an opportunity cost of lost revenue and you rack up hard costs associated with marketing to the wrong contacts. The contact list has the power to determine your marketing costs and your return on investment for marketing programs. And, these things measure your success as a marketer.

14. About the Author • Larry Fleischman is Director of Marketing for Televerde, a leading B2B provider of sales pipeline development solutions. For more information about a Business to Business List, visit http://www.Televerde.com today.