CASE STUDY: IT Services Firm Builds Demand By Outsourcing Lead Generation

San Jose, CA-based CenterBeam, an IT firm that provides services to large and small firms in health care, property management and other industries, has turned to an outside “opportunity management” firm and is seeing some impressive paybacks in its sales pipeline.

”We had considered building a larger inside sales team, but ultimately decided that would take too much time,” says Kristin Burke, VP of Corporate Communications at CenterBeam. “We opted to find someone who already had the expertise and could provide the kind of professional outreach we required.”

CenterBeam partnered with Atlanta-based PointClear on a “lead farming” sales nurturing campaign, which is already producing 25% of the company’s prospects and accounting for 50% of its new sales. Last year alone, these nurtured prospects were converted into deals worth $4.5 million.

MULTI-TOUCH MARKETING
The prime target for CenterBeam’s IT security, compliance and other services is typically the CFO, a hard to reach title within most organizations. To overcome this challenge, PointClear provided CenterBeam with a multi-touch campaign designed to engage and qualify CFOs before turning them over to the CenterBeam sales team.  

“The multi-touch strategy is critical for us. We know that it typically takes between 9 and 11 touches to engage a c-level executive,” Burke says. “Working with PointClear, we have found that if we can hit our prospects with messages that are creative and relevant to their business issues, we have a much better chance to build a relationship. If we can get them to keep an email message or save a voice mail, that will ultimately lead to a larger conversation when they encounter a specific situation to ask if we can help.”


The multi-touch, multi-media contact strategy consists of telemarketing, voice mail, email and direct mail, often over a period of several months before a conversation with a sales person occurs.
By the time a prospect has been qualified and is turned over to the sales team, critical historical information about the individual and organization has already been complied in the company’s database. CenterBeam’s sales team then uses the information to build on the emerging relationship in addition to be prepared and positioned as a knowledgeable advisor.

Burke points out that the emphasis on multi-touch marketing has also demonstrated the value of long-term leads. For example, of the 17 deals closed last year, 60% were leads that were originally classified as long-term leads.

While outsourcing the functions normally handled by an inside sales department might cause friction between the sales and marketing department, CenterBeam’s structure of a single executive managing both departments helped create immediate alignment. Karen Hayward, CenterBeam’s EVP/Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, was involved in all phases of buillding the lead farming program and stressed that both departments should be able to easily measure the results.

“PointClear’s business model is so transparent, there is no where to hide. The results are right there for everyone to see,” Burke says. As an example, Burke says CenterBeam can track that at least 70% of its closed deals have been touched by PointClear.