You didn’t toss out the telephones when you went online, did you? Neither did your business prospects and customers. Indeed, Americans have more phones now than ever before. The potential for message clutter and deception online means that marketing and selling by phone — especially in business-to-business — is enjoying renewed interest. Here’s how to make your phone initiatives effective and profitable.

Make calls that are relevant and timely. No more “mass marketing” by phone. The era of “one call fits all” and “blitz days” (when one product or service is pitched to everyone on a list) is over. Instead, insist that your callers invest the time to prepare each of their calls. Visit the prospect or customer’s Web site to find a relevant event in their business life that your product or service could enhance. For example, discuss a new government contract, a merger, a new product line…anything that can provoke a dialogue based on the customer’s needs so you can explore a possible solution.

Manage the media mix and contact timing. Online marketing has added a whole new realm of communication complexity. But “e-” is not an end unto itself…it’s an additional medium. Marketers have to determine how and when to apply the new medium together with the old, and vice versa. For example, do we call first and merely confirm our message with an e-mail? Do we send an e-mail to preview the content of our intended phone conversation or invite them to our Web site? Should we continue to cold call? The point is not to dispense a pat formula, but to suggest you carefully consider all the options. Ask your customers and advisers for their opinions, and test diligently, as astute direct marketers always do.

Conduct conversations, not interrogations. Cops and prosecutors ask strings of closed-ended questions. Marketers shouldn’t do that, but too many do. That’s because we all have contact management or CRM software with a gazillion data fields. But prospects hate being cross-examined.

Lead generation and qualification are about identifying genuine opportunities, with data capture a distant second objective. Train and direct your callers to ask open-ended questions first, and to follow with “tell me more” queries to learn the whole story. Ask closed-ended questions to clarify, confirm and close.

Also, help your callers communicate at “business parity,” which means speaking and listening as an equal of their contacts, regardless of how different they may be in age, experience or position. The ability to do this separates the genuine phone stars from the second-stringers. My best advice? Practice! Also, invite customers at various levels to brief your callers about how to interact with people like them.

What about resistance to phone-based marketing? It’s quite real…150 million numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry prove it. Yet in business-to-business, the phone remains essential for customer acquisition and retention.

To clear the resistance, make calls that are so good, they merit acceptance and consideration. Whether you conduct phone business in-house or outsource, put only trained, well-spoken reps on the phone. They should exhibit confidence without arrogance. They must sell the value of having a conversation before they start making the case for your product or service. They need to convince the prospect or customer to take the next step forward. And they must have the ability to convert inquiries into business.

Michael A. Brown ([email protected]) is president of Business to Business by Phone, Austin, TX.

You didn’t toss out the telephones when you went online, did you? Neither did your business prospects and customers. Indeed, Americans have more phones now than ever before. The potential for message clutter and deception online means that marketing and selling by phone — especially in business-to-business — is enjoying renewed interest. Here’s how to make your phone initiatives effective and profitable.

• Make calls that are relevant and timely. No more “mass marketing” by phone. The era of “one call fits all” and “blitz days” (when one product or service is pitched to everyone on a list) is over. Instead, insist that your callers invest the time to prepare each of their calls. Visit the prospect or customer’s Web site to find a relevant event in their business life that your product or service could enhance. For example, discuss a new government contract, a merger, a new product line…anything that can provoke a dialogue based on the customer’s needs so you can explore a possible solution.

• Manage the media mix and contact timing. Online marketing has added a whole new realm of communication complexity. But “e-” is not an end unto itself…it’s an additional medium. Marketers have to determine how and when to apply the new medium together with the old, and vice versa. For example, do we call first and merely confirm our message with an e-mail? Do we send an e-mail to preview the content of our intended phone conversation or invite them to our Web site? Should we continue to cold call? The point is not to dispense a pat formula, but to suggest you carefully consider all the options. Ask your customers and advisers for their opinions, and test diligently, as astute direct marketers always do.

• Conduct conversations, not interrogations. Cops and prosecutors ask strings of closed-ended questions. Marketers shouldn’t do that, but too many do. That’s because we all have contact management or CRM software with a gazillion data fields. But prospects hate being cross-examined.

  Lead generation and qualification are about identifying genuine opportunities, with data capture a distant second objective. Train and direct your callers to ask open-ended questions first, and to follow with “tell me more” queries to learn the whole story. Ask closed-ended questions to clarify, confirm and close.

  Also, help your callers communicate at “business parity,” which means speaking and listening as an equal of their contacts, regardless of how different they may be in age, experience or position. The ability to do this separates the genuine phone stars from the second-stringers. My best advice? Practice! Also, invite customers at various levels to brief your callers about how to interact with people like them.

• What about resistance to phone-based marketing? It’s quite real…150 million numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry prove it. Yet in business-to-business, the phone remains essential for customer acquisition and retention.

To clear the resistance, make calls that are so good, they merit acceptance and consideration. Whether you conduct phone business in-house or outsource, put only trained, well-spoken reps on the phone. They should exhibit confidence without arrogance. They must sell the value of having a conversation before they start making the case for your product or service. They need to convince the prospect or customer to take the next step forward. And they must have the ability to convert inquiries into business.

MICHAEL A. BROWN ([email protected]) is president of Business to Business by Phone, Austin, TX.