A business list might make or break company’s marketing programs. Yet the most exhausting thing marketers have to do is the maintenance of the integrity of contact data; the good business list is the updated business list, that is the simple rule. The rule comes true especially when it comes to B2B marketing.
When it comes to the B2B relationships we have to keep in mind that it has special nuances. And managing these relationships is a difficult process. The sales cycle, for instance, is always complex and at the same time it takes a long time. During sales cycle, the lead needs to be nurtured, communication with your prospect must be maintained in a consistent way that you have to ensure that you are reaching all the right people.
To close the deal is essential to manage leads correctly throughout the sale cycle. Remember that without the good business list, which is of course the updated business list, you put new sales revenue at risk and add unnecessary costs to marketing programs as well.
To manage your leads during the sales cycle you have to maintain the good business list. Make sure it is updated before you begin to market the contacts from the business market list. Having the updated business list requires from you to check following elements. Check whether contacts on the list are the right ones. Make sure that all necessary players involved in decision-making are on the list. Ensure that each business contact’s role and responsibilities are identified correctly. Check whether basic contact information including name, title, e-mail, phone number, etc. are accurate. The sale process needs additional information which helps you to facilitate it; ensure that you are in possession of it.
Those pieces of information are essential to build a good and updated business list. Remember that the good business list is the foundation of successful B2B marketing programs, which certainly you want to conduct.
What Is The Importance of Good Business Data
The updated business list with accurate contact information will definitely have a positive impact on sales revenues as well and closed deals. Remember that bad data will have a contradictory impact on your business and you will regret it. Regardless of how good your marketing programs are, if you do not have the updated business list, you are just wasting your budget on implementing them.
SiriusDecisions conducted a research that has thrown a light on the importance of a good business list and accurate data when it comes to B2B. According to SiriusDecisions’ findings, in a typical B2B company the amount of customer information in its database doubles each 12 to 18 months. In addition, data is not updated as regular as it should be; not to mention that typical database contains from 10 to 25 percent of contact data errors. The inaccurate data has a negative impact on marketing effectiveness and it becomes costly to manage as it remains in the database.
There is an evident tendency among marketers regarding their struggle with maintenance of a business list. To make and maintain a good business list more and more companies decide to use a professional lead management firms. Contact data acquisition can be obtained from the right vendor, which should have its own good and updated business list with accurate, recent and carefully maintained, at the same time, contacts.
Before deciding to make use of the professional lead management company, make sure you will be demonstrated with a way of collecting and refreshing data by them. The company should be capable of filtering list on wide variety of parameters such as revenue, industry, number of employees, etc. Check also the company’s reputation in the industry for providing solid data solutions.
The data management is a strategy that helps one to maintain a good and updated business list which is essential to succeed in the B2B world. Data should be managed not in a different manner from any other marketing components in one’s program. The good business list, which is at the same time properly updated, has the power to determine both your marketing costs and return on investment for marketing programs as well.
Read: Importance of keeping Business Contacts and Mailing lists up to date
