Business to Business List - Televerde

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Business to Business List

• Why You Need to Start with Good Data

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Business to Business List

• A business to business list can make or break a
  companys 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.

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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 youre reaching all the right people.

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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. Youre not only putting new sales
  revenue at risk, but you could be adding
  unnecessary costs to your marketing programs.

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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

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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 persons 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 youre selling a technology product, do you
  know the companys current technology install
  base?

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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, its
  critical to your overall marketing success.

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Business to Business List

• Whats 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, youre wasting time,
  money and effort if your business to business
  list doesnt reach the right targets.

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Business to Business List

• According to SiriusDecisions research, the
  following represent some eye-opening findings
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• 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.

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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.

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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.

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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 todays 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, its
  important for your organization to recognize the
  costs involved of not properly maintaining a
  business to business list.

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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.

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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.