XME Lead Generation 

Finally a way to get close to a decision-maker who is far, far away.

Outsourcing lead generation or inside sales to a third-party company is common and in the IT and technology marketplace and can deliver exceptional results. Companies use lead generation firms to provide their field-based sales people with suitably qualified leads and appointments with decision makers. Some high-end firms that specialise in lead generation for IT and technology companies, charge up to £1000 (or $1600) per qualified appointment and/or a monthly retainer fee. With the right lead generation partner, this investment is more than justified as sales people spend more of their time in the field, with prospective customers and do not have to prospectfor business. Most sales people hate the cold calling, information gathering aspects of selling. Effective prospecting is the most important component of the sales cycle. The more qualified leads and appointments with decision makers you get, the greater the probability for conversion into new business in the order book.

Prospecting for new business is equally challenging, if not more so, in the Middle East. The one major challenge you face in the Middle East is that the real decision-maker is very difficult to identify. Accessing that decision-maker is a battle in its own.

Not just ordinary leads. Red hot, viable leads that let your sales team hit the ground running.

XME Lead Generation is a service we offer to IT and technology companies that for strategic reasons may not want to outsource the entire sales function outside of their own organisation. You may already have your sales personnel flying to the Middle East on a regular basis. We can make sure their diary is always full of hot, well qualified leads.

You may simply want to handle the field-based sales cycle from your end, with your own sales team and secure the best possible leads for your sales team. You may have tried to generate leads in the Middle East yourself or through your existing outsourcing firm but have struggled to reach the right decision-makers and qualify leads properly. Maybe the other lead generation options you have explored are simply too costly. XME Lead Generation can provide you with access to the right decision-makers in the target companies you have selected as part of our high-quality, cost-effective service.

Finding qualified prospects can take up to 60% of the total time taken to secure a sale. It means that 75% of the time, your own sales team could be chasing what are effectively dead leads, speaking to the wrong people and making wrong strategic decisions. If a top, strategic sales person is earning £60,000 (or $100,000) a year, effectively flush 60% away if they don’t get the prospecting right.

Outsourcing Middle East lead generation can be one of the best sales moves you’ve ever made.

Beyond saving your sales staff time and the rigors of cold calling, there are many important benefits to outsourcing your leads. Did you know?

  1. On average, sales only follow up 10% of all leads generated
  2. 90% of leads do not get followed up correctly
  3. 47% of the 90% that do not get followed up by sales will eventually buy
  4. 69% of leads get no follow-up at all
  5. 67% are still planning to buy after 12 months
  6. Only 11% of response forms receive a sales follow up in person or by phone
  7. 40% of web form prospects receive information late and 20% never get sent any information or follow-up
  8. 78% of companies don't have a functioning lead nurturing programme, which can produce associated reporting
  9. More selling is required at executive level for high value/complex sales which require a minimum of between seven to twelve follow-up touch points before a sale is closed
  10. 80% of sales close after the eighth contact

(Sources: Aberdeen Group; Gartner Group; B2B Magazine; Chilton; Reed Elsevier; & Cahners)

XME Lead Generation – Leading by experience

When you select XME Lead Generation you secure the benefit our experienced, highly trained, Middle East business development team working for you to build a pipeline of leads that are:

  • Highly qualified - using criteria you have stipulated.
  • Relevant – with the right target company in the specified industry sectors
  • The correct decision-maker or desired point of contact
  • Bring a number of different business stakeholders from various departments, and multiple attendees together as a single audience as part of a large, complex, high-value sale.
  • Effective Databases – We can manage and develop your databases by adding, cleaning and enhancing data with prospect feedback.
  • Sophisticated reporting - you will have access to sophisticated reporting facilities, allowing you to track and analyse results by territory, product type etc. For example, you will be able to measure lead follow-up and ROI
  • Our talented and result-driven Middle East business development team are in the region, and are expert at connecting with the right people in the companies you are targeting.

XME Lead Generation: How it Works. How it Wows!

As with XME SalesXtend, collaboration is again a critical success factor in determining the quality of service we can offer you through XME Lead Generation. We engage with you through three distinct phases of business activity: 1) Discovery & Learning; 2) Planning & Preparation; 3) LeadXtend – Execution.

1. Discovery & Learning: We learn your business, your USP, you products, your customers

By collaborating with you to understand your business, your products and your services, we can develop the knowledge and credibility required to generate high-quality leads. We would typically spend around 5-7 days with key points of contact in your organisation to understand:

  • Your business – Why do you exist? What do you do? Your competition
  • Value Proposition – What needs to you address in your clients’ organisations. We need a crystal clear understanding of this in order to tap into the interest  of the key buying influences.
  • Who do you sell to? – Target account profiling; specific points of contact and decision-makers you want to reach out to and secure appointments with; understanding their buying behaviour and interest based on your previous experience.
  • Overall Sales Overview – A basic high-level overview of what products and services you sell; how they are sold; why they are bought; how do you deliver/implement; post-sales support.

2. Planning & Preparation: Hot leads begin with homework.

Once we have established a baseline of knowledge and an affinity to your organisation, we then go about planning how we will reach out to your prospective client base to qualify and secure appointments for your field-based sales team. Here we would again spend around 5-7 days working with you to develop and formalise and confirm:

  • Middle East Countries to Target – Which regions do we want to focus on and why?
  • Target companies – which industry sectors, verticals, and specific companies do you want us to target?
  • Target Points of Contact – Who do you want to secure appointments with?
  • Building a Contacts Database – A list of companies to call for the particular campaign.
  • Developing a Telephone Calling Script – crisply getting through to and capturing the imagination of the desired point of contact or decision-maker with a strategically developed telephone script with compelling ‘hooks’ that generate genuine interest.
  • Lead Qualification Criteria – What constitutes a suitably qualified lead? We work with you to develop a Lead Qualification Form that is used to capture all the information you need to ensure that a lead can be pursued effectively by your field-based sales team.

3. LeadXtend – Execution: High quality leads make it happen.

Lead generation in the Middle East requires skilled business development professionals with a keen interest and understanding of prospects’ business and industry. Moreover, a key to our success in Middle East lead generation is identifying the personal interests and ‘wins,’ and motivators of the specific individuals we are trying to secure your meetings with. This ensures high-quality leads are qualified with accurate and relevant information that is passed on to your field-sales team. Our experience suggests superior, qualified leads result in shorter sales cycles and better new business conversion rates.

The LeadXtend – Execution phase involves:

  • Desk-based research and information gathering on specific companies and individuals to be to be targeted.
  • Telephone-based ‘warm-calling’ based on research gathered on the specific targeted company’s strategy, priorities and needs; specific interests and motivating factors of the individuals and decision-makers being targeted.
  • Telephone based ‘cold-calling’ to reach decision-makers where relevant background information is scarce.
  • Capturing each client and opportunity information in the Lead Qualification Form accurately to ensure that your field-based sales team can pursue leads in the appropriate manner.
  • A Weekly Report followed by a Conference Call to review progress being made during the course of the LeadXtend – Execution phase and refine our strategy if required.

ome clients may require Xpand Middle East to carry out some field-based work as part of the lead qualification process. For example, in some cases, due to the nature of the IT product, service and technology clients sell; it actually requires a sales person to gather information from prospective clients in person, during a first meeting. This is quite common in the Middle East.

It’s simple: In the Middle East, there is no finer way to generate quality leads.

If you believe you have the time, budget and most importantly field-based sales personnel to sell into the Middle East directly, but need assistance with prospecting and generating hot leads for your sales people to work on. XME Lead Generation is the solution for you.

If you do not believe you will be able to service your Middle East clients’ demands during the sales process independently, then you should certainly consider our XME SalesXtend service.

If you are serious about attracting new clients in the Middle East, call us directly at: sales@xpandme.com for an informal, confidential exploratory discussion in the first instance to determine your needs.