The IT industry has not only grown over the last few decades, but has become a lot more complex. And for those within the industry, particularly in sales, successfully communicating complex IT services to non IT prospects in a large and competitive market can be quite a challenge.

When you’re selling something that can change the way your prospect currently operates (even in one business division), the decision to buy will be considered and involve all of the stakeholders that take up will involve. This can mean long sales cycles and multiple conversations and meetings. You need an approach therefore that is designed to engage several prospects over the long haul. So, the mere idea of outsourcing a company to cold call for such complex services seems crazy. Even those adventurous souls who’ve used a telemarketing campaign probably only saw a few leads generated.

In ‘It’s a Hard Drive Drumming Up Clients’ an article written for the Age by journalist Janine Perrett, featured a company called BackUp Systems. They provide secure, offsite data backup and restoration for SMEs, aimed at prevention rather than trying to solve the problem after the disaster has already happened. They tried numerous strategies to market their business; leaflet drops, community radio ads, and also telemarketing. “We gave an original list to a telemarketing firm which followed up with phone calls,” Harold Graycar of the company said, “But they only got a handful of leads. The problem is that it is a very hard service to sell across the phone by a telemarketer.”

But what if an IT company was offered a team of specialists who loved, and were great at cold calling, but whose system ensured an informed, intelligent, and professional presentation of their complex service so that qualified leads were generated consistently and easily?

IT services companies launching campaigns with lead generation specialists are becoming a lot more confident that their offer will be effectively presented to their target market.

The difference between the type of basic call centre “telemarketing” campaign and well researched, highly targeted business-to-business lead generation, is that lead generation specialists are not focused on churn and burn; they are more about building strong relationships with decision makers, knowing that complex sales involve longer sales cycles and engaging decision makers, influencers and stakeholders. Professional lead generation companies embark on a discovery process so that both parties feel really comfortable that there is a strategic fit between the company they represent and the prospect.

To maintain an edge when engaging in complex sales, strategies need to be continually tweaked and methods tailored. Scripts must be adapted and reviewed on an ongoing basis, and the sales representative must be skilled and have an ability to think on the spot when asked complex questions.

In ‘Entrepreneurial Selling: Mastering the Complex Sale,’ an e-article on the Gaebler Ventures site, it was stated that “in many selling situations, the presentation is the key to a successful sale. However, complex sales are different. Sure the presentation is important but decision makers will also be looking for substantive input throughout the long selling process. If you place your entire focus on the presentation and neglect the less glamorous aspects of selling your product, plan on going home early in the process.”

At lead generation companies such as Harvest Management, the first part of the campaign process is gathering the right information, tailoring scripts etc. in order to bring around the best possible sales leads; to ensure that its clients’services are seen as being beneficial to the key decision makers. Outsourced companies must be able to determine the right communications tools to carry the right message to each and every prospect. David Lewis, a Business Development Consultant at Harvest Management stated that, “telemarketers are simply given a spiel; they deliver the spiel to numerous people and get x-amount of leads. The difference with our company is, we will be fully educated into the clients business. We will have gained an understanding and knowledge by the time we pick up the phone, so that we will be able to deliver a precise description of the services. We have a strong belief in the client because we have become a part of their teams – we speak of their services with the same passion and enthusiasm.” He also said that the fact that they have people with extensive backgrounds in IT is an advantage, “We understand Business to Business selling requires expertise in the field, and we try to ensure the right people are assigned. Our clients always have to feel comfortable in who is representing them.”

Regardless of how complex you think your service offer is, Harvest provides the intelligence, professionalism and creativity to present your service so that qualified leads are generated quickly, and easily. If you are looking to meet with C-Level decision makers – CEOs, CIOs, Managing Directors and Sales Directors - well, we don’t have to tell you that telemarketing isn’t going to cut it. Speak to Harvest Management; have a team of professionals, experienced in delivering complex service offers, work for you.