B2B Demand Generation: Unlock Your Sales Potential With Incept
Your sales team is the driving force behind your company’s growth, and the challenges they face are increasingly complicated. B2B demand generation and sales have become a true balancing act. In addition to employing outstanding inside sales talent, the most successful businesses employ specialists who know the right tactics to drum up high-quality leads, use customer relationship management (CRM) software to manage a growing sales pipeline, and leverage digital campaigns to maximize interactions with potential customers.
Is your team great at closing deals, but they struggle to keep the sales pipeline full? Do you have difficulties converting leads as efficiently as you’d like? Do you feel overwhelmed by the complexity of today’s sales landscape, where the synthesis of technology, timing, and relationship-building is more critical than ever?
Proactively Supporting Your Growth
You may feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle, but what if you didn’t have to do it alone? B2B demand generation partners guide you through some of the most challenging growth obstacles, helping your team unlock your full potential and achieve the success you've been working so hard for.
When you're considering a partnership with a new sales and marketing firm, you likely have many questions. To support your decision-making process, we’ve compiled answers to the most common questions we hear from potential clients. This article will provide a clear understanding of how B2B demand generation supports business growth, what to expect from a lead generation partner, and key factors to consider when choosing a provider.
In this article, we’ll answer the following questions:
What does a B2B demand generation partner do?
How can a B2B demand generation partner help my business?
How much does it cost?
Why is Incept different from other demand generation partners?
How can your help me demonstrate potential ROI?
What do I need to have in place to start a B2B lead generation campaign?
Can I bring my marketing qualified leads with me?
How fast will I see results?
What Does a B2B Demand Generation Partner Do?
B2B demand and lead generation companies provide varying levels of services with significant differences in strategy, contract structure, and culture. Understanding the scope of what a B2B demand generation partner can do is crucial for any sales leader striving to maintain a competitive edge. By aligning your efforts with a partner who understands your unique challenges, you can ensure your B2B sales strategies are both efficient and effective.
Rather than diving into the specifics of each kind of partner you’ll come across, here is a general overview of what demand generation partners may offer:
B2B Lead Generation Strategy Development or Alignment
Effectively generating the right leads for your business requires ensuring you are reaching the right audiences, with the right messaging, at the right time. A B2B lead generation partner will collaborate to confirm your target market and your value proposition are perfectly aligned with your business goals.
Sales Pipeline Management
Successful sales organizations have made significant investments in CRM technology, and the right training or expertise to make the most impactful use of available features. The challenge to match this investment just does not make sense for many businesses, but not doing so leads to inefficiencies in management and missed opportunities. Lead generation partners often offer pipeline management through CRM technology that optimizes your funnel, keeping leads moving through and organized.
Time Management for Top Efficiency
Time for your sales team is at a premium, and you want to free up as much time as possible so they can focus on what you hired them to do—close sales. A B2B demand generation partner understands your priorities. Partners perform management tasks like compiling weekly analytics and updates, running analysis to make recommendations on your next move, following up with your sales team, and more, to keep your projects on track and consistently improving.
Execution
Demand generation and lead generation companies typically offer all or most of the services listed below. This list is not exhaustive, and some companies offer unique services tailored specifically to your needs. So make sure you ask each vendor specific questions about the services you are looking for to ensure their expertise.
Outreach Activities: Cold calls, follow-up calls, and appointment setting to engage prospects.
Relationship Management: Vendor management, customer relationship management (CRM), and customer retention initiatives to maintain and grow client relationships.
Strategy and Analytics: Strategy building, list-building, and analytics to inform and guide your efforts.
Marketing Campaigns: Social media, email, and paid advertising campaigns to reach your target audience effectively.
Actionable Insights: Providing data-driven insights to refine and optimize your sales approach.
Help Your Sales Team Thrive Doing What They Do Best—Closing Sales
By partnering with a B2B demand generation expert, your business gains access to a comprehensive suite of services that not only drive lead generation but also ensure those leads are managed efficiently through your sales pipeline. This holistic approach allows your team to focus on closing deals while your partner takes care of the rest.
Close more business, get your sales team the support they need. Download our brochure to learn how we can help.
H2: How Can a B2B Demand Generation Partner Help My Business?
A B2B demand generation partner can be the catalyst your team needs to achieve its growth targets while stressing less. Here’s how:
1. Develop and Implement Strategies
A demand generation partner collaborates with your sales team to create strategies aligned with your business goals. By identifying your target audience and crafting compelling messaging, they ensure your efforts are both effective and efficient.
2. Increase Your Sales Pipeline
Using advanced resources, a demand generation partner fills your pipeline with high-quality leads. Their rigorous qualification process means your sales team receives leads primed for conversion, saving time and effort.
3. Expand Your Customer Base
To stay competitive, expanding your reach is essential. A demand generation partner helps you break into new markets and target new customer segments, driving long-term growth.
4. Nurture Your Leads
Turning leads into loyal customers requires ongoing nurturing. A demand generation partner provides personalized communication and follow-ups, guiding prospects through the sales funnel until they’re ready to convert.
5. Enhance Sales Team Efficiency
By handling lead generation tasks, a demand generation partner allows your sales team to focus on closing deals, enhancing overall productivity and success rates.
6. Measure and Optimize Results
Success isn’t just about setting strategies in motion—it’s about continual optimization. A demand generation partner tracks key metrics, ensuring your campaigns stay effective and aligned with evolving business goals.
7. Provide Critical Market insights
By using an external organization to speak with your potential customers, you will gather unfiltered feedback on competitors, buying trends, and how economic conditions are impacting your customers.
How Much Does B2B Lead Generation Cost?
The cost of B2B lead generation varies depending on the level of service, expertise, resources required, and agency location. The pricing model you choose also impacts overall costs, which can range from $3,000 to $10,000 per month or more. Here is an overview of common pricing structures:
Pay Per Lead
In this model, you only pay for the leads you receive. It’s easy to manage your budget because you’re paying based on volume. However, it's crucial to ensure the leads are high quality to avoid wasting resources on prospects that won’t convert.
Monthly Retainers
A monthly retainer is like a gym membership—you pay a set fee for ongoing access to services. This model offers continuous support, such as campaign optimization and strategic advice. Since this is more of a relationship model that will directly impact your success, make sure you understand the company culture and approach, as well as the length and terms of the proposed contract before signing on.
Commission-Based:
With commission-based pricing, you pay a percentage of the revenue generated from leads provided by the service. It’s like sharing the rewards when you hit a sales home run. This model aligns the provider’s success with yours, making them more invested in your outcomes. While paying for leads on a commission basis ensures you are getting motivated services, it can also cut into your profit margin.
Key Considerations:
Regularly track lead performance to ensure ROI
Clearly define what qualifies as a lead in your agreement
Understand the commission structure thoroughly
Each pricing model has its pros and cons, and the best fit depends on your business’s unique needs. Testing different models can help you find the one that aligns with your growth goals and marketing strategies.
Is your sales team driving your revenue as efficiently as it could be? Get tailored insights for improvement now!
The Cost of Incept’s Demand Generation Services (Base Package)
We offer a flexible pricing model based on your specific needs and the scope of the campaign. The cost of our B2B lead generation services, based in Ohio, is centered around the basic cost of a mid-level full-time sales employee (FTE). We deliver access to expertise, resources, and services provided by an entire team of sales and marketing experts on a fractional basis, without the expense and commitment of hiring someone new.
All Packages Include:
A dedicated employee with a college degree or two years of sales experience
Executive-level management with ample experience in sales and marketing
Weekly feedback and insight into the week's results
Daily activity reporting
Ability to adjust plan monthly
Setup Fee ($3,000) Includes:
Executive consulting
Program setup
AGS training
Market intelligence gathering
List building
Technical setup (CRM, dialer, etc.)
1 FTE = 160 Hours/Mo
$6,650 per month
Everything a ½ FTE includes + competitive summary
½ FTE = 80 Hours/Mo
$3,850 per month
Daily feedback and insight into the day's results
Monthly summary report
Access to all audio recordings
“Incept has helped our sales efforts by providing consistent, professional outbound phone calls. They are truly a part of the team that is invested in what our company does and works with us to ensure we are moving forward in the right direction.”
An Ohio-Based B2B Lead Generation Partner
For over 30 years, we’ve been committed to providing personalized, scalable, and results-driven B2B lead generation services in Ohio. Unlike many firms that love long-term contracts that start with building your strategy from the ground up, we listen to our clients’ needs and align with their goals. We offer flexible engagement models, allowing you to scale services up or down as your business evolves.
What truly sets Incept apart is our focus on measurable success conducive to long-term relationships, while providing flexibility for shorter-term engagements. We don’t just generate leads; we nurture them through the sales pipeline, optimizing every touchpoint to maximize your ROI. With transparent reporting, regular feedback, and the ability to adjust plans monthly, you’re always in control. We’re a vested partner in your growth, ensuring you achieve lasting success.
How Can You Help Me Show Potential ROI?
Your ROI is going to vary depending on a number of factors, including your average customer value, the length of your sales cycle, and your conversion rate. However, there are a couple of viable ways to frame your potential ROI that paint a clear picture of the benefits of working with a demand generation partner.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
Usually, by the time you are feeling the crunch to get more leads, it’s because revenue is already down. You need results now, and you need a partner to jump in right away. The cost of doing nothing at this point is high-stakes, including lack of business growth, and possibly business failure. When you look at it from this perspective, ROI becomes obvious.
The Cost of In-House Expertise
Managing your entire sales operation in-house has its benefits, and there are definitely situations where this is ideal. If you have a set strategy, for a stable offering of products and services, with known results—and the team to execute it—then you’re in good shape to keep your operations as-is.
However, if you are switching up your strategy, entering a new market, adding new products and services, or if your sales team is stretched thin, it’s time to start considering the benefits of hiring a demand generation partner. You’ll eliminate spending on hiring yet another full-time employee, as well as the long-term risk and commitment.
The most successful companies are investing significantly in building beefed-up powerhouses of talent technology. You won’t avoid being outspent by the biggest players. But you can stay competitive by hiring fractional sales services through comprehensive demand generation partners. When you do this, it’s like having a full team of experts at your service, without the expense or risk.
“Super-charged lead generation efforts”
Our client, a premier on-site corporate restaurant management and catering company with clientele across the US, was looking to expand its qualified prospects. We got to work quickly learning their best practices, conducting account-based marketing (ABM) research and competitor analysis, and discovering the reasons for their lost business.
We then developed a multi-channel, personalized lead generation strategy that included outbound phone calls, personalized emails, and personal social media outreach through LinkedIn InMail. Our firm grasp on prospect pain points and goals helped us drive in-person appointment-setting for our client.
Throughout our first year together, we refined our strategy, which led to a 5x increase in lead output. As a result, our client closed several deals, with one deal valued at $2 million.
“Working with Incept has supercharged our lead generation efforts! They have been able to use their systematic approach to consistently deliver high-quality leads for our sales people. They have an uncanny ability to get in touch with key decision-makers and discover critical pieces of information. I look forward to seeing how our sales will continue to grow as a result of their efforts.”
What Do I Need to Have in Place For My Demand Generation Campaign To Be Successful?
Ensuring these key elements are in place before starting your demand generation campaign will help set you up for success.
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
A well-defined ICP focuses your efforts on the most promising leads.
Ideal annual business revenue
Geographic location
Other relevant traits that align with your target market
Compelling Value Proposition
A compelling value proposition is key to attracting and converting leads. You know the true value of your products and services. A clearly-defined value proposition helps your customers understand the unique features your offerings deliver to help them resolve their biggest challenges.
Strong List of Company Contacts
A solid contact list is crucial for reaching the right people. You’ve got an excellent start with your existing database, trade show lists, inbound leads (people who have filled out web forms, downloaded assets, or reached out to you for help), and other handraisers. If you don’t have a list—or you need to expand it—you can generally find services that can help build a custom list tailored to your campaign’s goals.
Campaign Materials
The final pieces to a successful B2B demand generation campaign are the assets you plan to use.
Email templates
Marketing collateral like brochures and ebooks
A comprehensive call guide (this should include details on target prospects, qualifying questions, strong CTAs, and strategies for effective interaction and follow-up)
With these elements in place, your demand generation campaign will be well-positioned for success.
Can I Bring My Leads with Me?
Your demand generation partner’s primary objective is to enhance your sales and marketing efforts, not just replace viable connections that you've already established. Integrating your existing leads into your B2B lead generation campaign often accelerates the process and yields better, more personalized results.
You may already have warm prospects in your pipeline that just need a nudge to start moving down your sales funnel, and bringing them along for a fledged-out campaign can only contribute to your success. These prospects include contacts from trade show attendee lists, inbound marketing efforts (website form fills and contact requests), newsletter subscribers, and anyone who has previously reached out to you with questions.
How Fast Will I See Results?
The speed at which you'll see results from a demand generation campaign depends on several key factors: your brand recognition, your average sales cycle, and the specific targets you choose.
Brand Recognition
If your brand is already well known in the market, you'll likely see faster results because prospects are more familiar with and receptive to your company. However, if your brand is less established, it may take longer to build trust and generate responses.
Average Sales Cycle
Understanding your average sales cycle is crucial. Many businesses calculate their sales cycle based on all types of leads, including referrals and existing relationships. For demand generation campaigns focused on outbound leads, you should expect a longer cycle. To set realistic expectations, a good rule of thumb is to double your average inbound sales cycle.
Targeting Strategy
Who you target plays a significant role in the results timeline. If speed is a priority, focusing on retention campaigns (keeping current customers) or reactivation campaigns (re-engaging past customers) can deliver quicker results. These approaches often uncover low-hanging fruit, helping to generate revenue faster than targeting entirely new customers. Results from this type of outreach can sometimes even entirely offset the cost of the first campaign.
By carefully considering these factors, you can set realistic expectations and optimize your campaign for quicker results.
Ready to Strengthen Your Sales Team? Here’s How We Can Help.
Your business’s success hinges on your ability to generate quality leads, nurture them effectively, and convert them into loyal customers. The biggest players in the market are investing heavily in expert sales talent and cutting-edge pipeline management technology to make the most of every opportunity. But that kind of investment doesn’t make sense for most budgets.
For over 30 years, we have been partnering with businesses to build the sales powerhouses their teams deserve. As your Ohio-based B2B lead generation partner, we’ll deliver tailored strategies, expert insights, and a dedicated team focused on driving your growth, all for around the cost of one full-time employee.
We serve short-term clients as well as engagements lasting several years, and we are obsessed with seeing our clients succeed. What’s more, we are known for our honesty and our ability to integrate seamlessly into your team without disrupting operations.
“They do not overpromise in the sales process or during the engagement. If they cannot do something, they tell you, and if they are not sure, they tell you. You can just take their word for it – you don’t have to filter their answers or guess the real meaning.
Their operations staff and agents are dedicated and excellent. They will accept your approach if it makes good sense to them, and often make recommendations to improve your approach.
Their client services are the best I have seen, and their IT team is responsive, careful, and knowledgeable. Billing is accurate and pricing is reasonable.”
Whether you’re looking to fill your sales pipeline, expand into new markets, or strengthen relationships with existing customers, Incept is committed to helping you achieve your goals. We don’t just offer services; we offer a partnership built on trust, transparency, and a shared commitment to your success.
Contact us today to learn how to drive more revenue and unlock your full potential!
Change Your Workforce Systems and Prepare Your Business for the Future
The business landscape is evolving faster than ever, and it takes an attitude of continuous growth in order to stay competitive as we adopt new technology, new processes, and new workforce systems. Sam Falletta, our CEO, keeps Incept at the forefront of workplace progress in Ohio. In his 2023 talk with The City Club of Cleveland, he highlighted how rapid workforce transformations are influencing businesses and employees alike. He delivered a powerful reminder of the responsibility of business leaders to build a dynamic workplace prepared to respond to future disruptions, and he shared insights about how Incept is adapting.
Watch Sam’s full presentation:
Is Your Business Prepared for the Future?
Are you struggling to manage your remote workers or finding it difficult to hire enough employees to keep your business running smoothly? Does rapidly changing technology leave you scratching your head more often than not? Is your definition of employee engagement still stuck at the water cooler? It’s time to either adapt your workplace systems or get left behind.
Take our Future of Work Readiness Assessment to discover where your business stands and get tailored, actionable feedback on how you can propel sustainable growth.