Why preparation makes the difference between activity and results.

Preparation and consistency for a reliable sales pipeline

The best campaigns aren't won in the first week of outreach. They're won in the planning that happens before a single call is made or message is sent. Good preparation is what separates a campaign that generates genuine pipeline from one that simply generates activity.

At Next Call, every client campaign goes through a rigorous planning phase before it starts, so our consultants are fully briefed on your messaging, your target accounts and your goals from day one. That discipline is built into our tried and tested process methodology, refined across years of business development consulting: define, measure, action, improve and review.

It's this methodology, applied consistently, that helped one client generate £14 million in pipeline across a single fiscal year, and another source over 1,000 new contacts and 13 new opportunities from a single ABM campaign. Here's how it works.

Define

We agree the scope of the campaign upfront: the target accounts, the ideal job roles and the key messages and propositions that will resonate with them. Nothing starts until this is properly understood, because a campaign built on a fuzzy brief rarely produces sharp results.

Measure

Before outreach begins, we establish exactly how the campaign will be tracked, by whom, and how results will be reported back to your sales and marketing teams. Clear measurement from the outset means you get honest, actionable feedback throughout, not just a summary at the end.

Action

This is where the campaign goes live. We source data using industry-leading tools including LinkedIn, targeting the accounts most relevant to the campaign proposition, then begin outreach to develop accounts and test messaging and assets in real conditions. Throughout this phase we're monitoring engagement closely, particularly on LinkedIn, where InMails and direct messages give us a fast, clear read on what's landing and what isn't.

Improve

Action and improvement run in parallel. We continually build and refine the data, analysing what's working and adjusting messaging and approach in response, rather than waiting until the end of a campaign to make changes.

Review

A campaign doesn't end when the final call is made. We use this stage to take stock: analysing performance, refining messaging and data, and feeding those learnings back into the next phase of activity. It's this cycle of review and improvement that keeps campaigns performing at their best throughout, not just at launch.

LinkedIn in particular continues to prove itself as a rich source of high-quality contacts, provided it's backed by the kind of diligent research and targeting that turns a name on a list into a real conversation.

The proof as the saying goes is in the pudding, and we are always pleased to get positive feedback from clients on the success of campaigns we have worked on with them.

We have been very pleased with the work that Next Call is doing for us. We recently introduced a new process to gather new data from existing users. Next Call took a very proactive and flexible can do approach and we have seen huge success with this project. We have already seen a major jump in meetings being booked from this activity. As a result we have doubled the Next Call staff to help us. I would have no hesitation in recommending them.

Geoff Hornsby, General Manager EMEA, iManage

This is what our process methodology is designed to deliver: not a one-off spike in activity, but a repeatable approach that keeps generating quality leads and meetings, campaign after campaign.

If you've got a campaign planned, or a goal in mind but no clear route to get there, we'd welcome the chance to talk it through and show you how this approach could work for your organisation.

Get in touch to talk to us about your next campaign, or find out more about how we support business development and lead generation from planning through to delivery.