Generate Leads in Sales to Drive Business and Revenue Growth

The question B2B companies must ask themselves – are they empowering their employees to close sales by providing the proper lead generation strategies, tools, and resources? If your salespeople are not receiving a great number of high-quality leads, it makes it difficult to close the deal over and over again. And if your marketing team is not given a robust, realistic budget so that they can create a successful marketing strategy, the lead generation that is needed to reach the right target audiences will suffer and likely fall short.

B2B marketers know that consistent efforts and smart marketing campaigns require a great deal of time, human resources, tools, and multiple channels to succeed. Your sales team knows that if they do not see new leads, highly qualified leads, and continuous outreach efforts to prospects within the target audience, their jobs will be more difficult than it needs to be.

There are 2 ways to approach sales lead generation – manual outreach and digital/content initiatives. Each of these approaches and its activities should complement each other. Equally important is having the right technology and tools available to your employees.

Manual B2B lead generation outreach efforts must take into consideration many elements of planning:

• Lead generation process – a proper sales process must be created and developed to determine who manages the different steps and actions in the sales funnel. At this time, it is essential to define the resources needs. For example, if your company is going to implement both inbound and outbound strategies, there are different tools, human resources, and methods of execution that must be planned.
• Pain points – in the planning process, define how your team will address the daily challenges your prospects face and how your company can solve these issues. The company, as a whole, should be consistent across multiple departments.
• Cold calling – the creation of a sales process should help determine which methods will be used and should be effective with your target audience. Many companies still find picking up the phone for a cold call to be effective. Define who, in your company or an outside resource, should perform this task.
• Potential customers – the planning process must include how your company will determine who your prospects are, how to reach them, and then create consistent messaging for this particular audience.
• Existing customers – do not forget about your current customers! In some companies, these can be referred to as subscribers. To retain or reactivate them should always be a priority. Remember, customer retention or reactivation is far less expensive than new customer It is worth the effort to build and maintain a relationship with your existing customers.
• Referrals – as an extension of existing customers with whom you already have a relationship, a warm lead is far better and far less effort than starting from the beginning and developing a new relationship. A leading rule in sales – always ask for the referral!
• Sales leads – nurture those leads! Your sales process should include multiple phone calls as part of your sales system as you score your leads and determine if they need to be nurtured. It is time consuming, so resources must be planned.
• Lead scoring – define a predetermined set of values to rank your prospects to understand where they are in their decision-making process, and what further efforts need to be executed to keep them as a viable, potential client. The goal is to get them to the point in the process where they can be converted to a paying customer.
• Follow-up – you must allow for time and resources for multiple phone calls. A great plan will include the optimal time frame in which to follow-up plus the correct, relevant information to provide at each step in the sales process.
• Marketing qualified lead – like a well-oiled machine, your sales and marketing teams must work closely together to pass qualified leads to the proper person/people. An MQL still needs some nurturing, but they have engaged with your company and do show an interest in making a purchase.
• Sales qualified leads – again, sales and marketing teams working closely, a lead is now at the point of being passed on to your company’s sales reps. The prospect is now ready to purchase.

 

A focus on every element of your lead generation planning will best serve your sales team. How well prepared and well planned your company is will guide the success of your salespeople.

 

Digital/content initiatives that are important elements of an overall lead generation plan, executed by the marketing department:

• LinkedIn and other social media platforms – be where your customers and prospects are. And be sure to provide them with the valuable content they are seeking. Information is at their fingertips. Be the company to provide it!
• Content marketing – relevant content is what customers and prospects need as they do their research before they make a decision to engage with your company and make a purchase. If you and your company can be the best provider of the information they need, you will earn their business.
• Email marketing – contrary to popular belief a few years ago, the email channel is still one of the most important channels for B2B businesses. One of the most important aspects of lead generation is having and obtaining accurate email lists with correct, updated contact information. It is the difference between a successful campaign or an unsuccessful one.
• Case studies – showing real examples of the success achieved by your customers as a result of their engagement with your company through a product purchase or a service you provide, there is no better testimonial you can display. Be sure to amplify your company’s success and the success of your customers.
• White papers – information is power and the prospects in your target audience are thirsty for knowledge. Especially in the B2B world, it is imperative they make the right decision when they are making a large investment in a product or service that will help solve their daily issues and remove their pain points. White papers provide a wealth of necessary information to help a prospect make their decision.
• SEO – optimization of search engines and understanding buyers’ behaviors is specialized knowledge, and attention to these activities are the upper hand you can gain over competitors in a crowded field of industry rivals. Simply stated, your company must be able to be found online.
• Landing pages – digital ads and other SEO campaigns bring the need for specific website landing pages with focused calls-to-action (CTAs). This helps your lead generation efforts so that you can steer prospects directly to their product or service of interest. This also helps you determine what campaigns have been successful so that you know and understand what marketing activities should continue and which ones should end.
• Webinars – in the quest for relevant content and information, webinars are one of the best, interactive methods of providing the information your prospects are seeking. Often, they are “non-salesy” in nature and strictly informational. This is your company’s opportunity to be seen as an industry expert and it has wide reach. You can reach far more than one prospect at a time.
• Influencers – this is no longer a B2C method of marketing. Influencer marketing takes advantage of experts and well-known people who have a following. They are deemed trustworthy and can help lead prospects to your company.

 

Couple your online and content initiatives with your manual lead generation efforts, and the expansiveness of your omnichannel marketing will give your sales reps an honest, real chance for success.

 

Technology and Tools:

High-quality leads is the goal and to accomplish the task, give your team the best opportunity for sales success. These tools will help your sales system tremendously.

• Do you have a CRM platform like HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and Nimble to name a few?
• How about marketing automation platforms like Marketo, Eloqua, HubSpot and ExactTarget/Pardot, among others?

 

What is important to generate leads?

Planning is essential for your company’s sales success. Teams working together is equally important. Covering both manual and digital methods of lead generation strategies is the best way to create and develop a full, comprehensive sales plan. Adding innovative technology and tools to the mix is the last piece of the puzzle. And determining if you bring these functions in-house or outsource to an external vendor is a vital choice to make. Often, the overhead for these time-consuming activities are too great for a company to bear, and the investment in an expert vendor may be the best choice.

 

How can B2BAppointmentSetting.com help you with your lead generation efforts and free your sales team from time-consuming tasks so that they can focus on closing sales and generating revenue? We are a skilled, expert B2B appointment setting services company who deploys only the highest quality, experienced B2B appointment setters. We have a full suite of services that complement lead generation services that include B2B appointment setting, customer retention, customer reactivation, lead qualification, CRM data cleanup, B2B telemarketing, surveys, and inbound call center services. Contact us today!