Sales lead generation is a technique that nearly every business relies on for continuing to produce customers and sales. Because it is used by so many businesses across the country, generating sales leads techniques change and evolve rapidly. Hence, why we are sharing the most up-to-date and effective tips in the industry today.
What Are Sales Leads?
A sales lead is defined as either a person or business that could potentially become a client or customer of your business. The person or business will need or want your company's product or service, and they will meet the criteria for a qualified candidate to purchase.
How Do You Find Sales Leads?
Sales leads are found and determined by their level of interest and whether or not they fit your company's criteria for a potential customer. This lead might be found through referrals, product trials/demos, inquiries on your company site or social media pages, or other marketing/networking techniques to attract customers.
How Do You Generate New Leads in Sales?
Generating new sales leads requires knowing your ideal market. You must know who you are targeting and why. Who typically buys your product and who needs/wants your product? Furthermore, can they afford it? Is it the right time for them to purchase?
Once you know the answers to those questions, you will be able to market and network to these specific individuals or companies. Part of networking and marketing for your targeted audience is knowing where to market and what promotions to use. It is very important that you have a good understanding of your audience so you can successfully target them.
Of course, there are very ‘in-depth’ ways to generate sales leads, but once you know this information, you should focus on reaching out to them via social media, email, phone calls, etc. Creating new sales leads requires knowing who your leads are AND reaching out to them. This lets them know that you are an option and that you are wanting to connect. Now you know how to generate new sales leads and hopefully, you have done a thorough job of targeting and promoting, so that the lead will be receptive!
Unqualified vs Qualified Lead Generation
People tend to think that anyone who inquires or responds to your company's promotions is a qualified lead. However, that is not always the case. As said above, there are more aspects required to call a lead ‘qualified’.
For instance, that individual might request a trial for your product but have no intention of buying it afterward due to time restraints or lack of funds. It doesn’t mean that in the future they can’t become a qualified lead, but you cannot deem them a qualified lead in the present. It would be wasted time and energy if they didn’t meet all of your criteria for a sales lead.
However, marking them as an unqualified lead can keep them in the sales pipeline with other techniques that will keep them connected until they are qualified. This allows you to focus on qualified leads. Using telemarketing business tactics like segmenting qualified and unqualified leads helps immensely in saving time and optimizing your marketing strategies for each.
8 Ideas for Generating Sales Leads
Looking for generating sales leads ideas or do you find yourself asking ‘how to generate more sales leads’? Well, then we have the perfect ideas and answers for your frequently asked questions about sales leads!
Buy High-Quality Leads Lists
In general, your results will only be as good as your starting point. This means that you must use a high-quality list of leads if you’re going to conduct a sales campaign over the phone. When you use a quality leads list, it’s easy to couple your verbal sales campaign with a direct mail or email campaign.
By doing that, you have two touchpoints that enable you to engage the members of your target demographic. This makes it easier for you to guide people through the various points of the sales process. While you may know you need high-quality lead lists, finding them isn’t always easy.
Read Online Reviews
FAQ: How to generate sales leads online?
Today, word-of-mouth advertising often takes the form of online reviews. The vast majority of consumers consult online reviews before making a purchase, especially if they’re unfamiliar with your brand. You can boost the success of your sales campaign by asking people who’ve purchased from you in the past to review your company or your goods and services online.
After you’ve accumulated a significant number of online reviews on trustworthy review websites, you can refer prospects who are unsure about purchasing to the websites where your business is listed. Encourage them to read the posted reviews and set a time when you’ll call again with a clever follow-up strategy.
Utilize Different Types of Content
FAQ: How to generate more leads for sales?
Getting your cold leads' attention by using different types of content can benefit your business and generate leads by promoting the product and the company. Some types of content your company might use are blogs, ebooks, whitepapers, webinars, case studies, snappy videos, etc. By knowing your ideal audience for the products you offer, you will be able to predict which type of content will bring the most value to the company, and therefore, attract the attention of the prospect.
Hardly anyone in our society is a stranger to social media. It is a source for entertainment, marketing, networking, information, and… YES, generating leads. Using social media to promote your goods or services can be a highly effective way to boost your sales. A few things you can do with your company's social media are:
- Post videos introducing new products or services
- Share tutorials
- Host contests
- Respond to your followers’ inquiries and comments
The key to using social media effectively is to remain active and involved without overwhelming your followers. Once you strike a balance, you’ll see the value that social media can bring to your sales campaign. Another way to find balance is by finding out what content performs the best and then prioritizing the creation of the most valuable content.
Build Relationships
This idea is far more than just an idea. It's a business principle.
You will not keep a business going for very long if you don’t build relationships with the customers. Think about situations in your own life. There are likely places you return to again and again simply because you know the people who work there and you know they will cook your food a certain way or you know that your mechanic will give you the best price.
The point is customers are more likely to purchase and return when they feel like they know the person on the other side of the phone. Building a relationship with your leads is as simple as being consistent, being hospitable, and always thinking of the customers' needs.
Ask Your Existing Customers for Referrals
This is one of the easiest and cheapest ideas for gaining new leads. Your existing customers more than likely know other people or businesses in the industry in need of your product. After all, they do their own networking in your industry. Also, having a referral program in place helps to incentivize the existing customer to offer more referrals because it will benefit them in some way. Although they are not always necessary, it does help to retain more leads.
Use an Email Marketing Strategy
No lead is the same, therefore, segmenting leads into small groups for email marketing ensures that you have emails better suited for each lead to receive. For instance, a company might have email scripts for cold leads, warm leads, and hot leads. They wouldn’t send a cold lead an email asking for feedback on the service quality of the product, rather they would send an email with an insight into the company and product.
Email marketing, if possible, should be automated to send these emails to designated groups. This helps to keep leads in the sales pipeline and it helps to generate sales leads by using promotions and incentives.
Attend Networking Events
The year 2020 changed a lot of the way we do everyday life and networking is one of them. Virtual events have become widely popular for networking. Finding virtual networking events specific to your industry or attending in-person events are helpful in meeting people to connect with and potentially sell to. Of course, you can do this through LinkedIn, but getting to speak with people face-to-face creates familiarity and trust quicker than your profile on a site.
You could also host virtual/in-person events and interact with live chat users. This is a great way to engage with potential leads and determine whether or not they are qualified sales leads. By hosting events and interacting with live chat users you are giving them the opportunity and time to ask questions that they might not have otherwise asked from your company.
Develop a Word of Mouth Channel
Don’t get a word-of-mouth channel confused with referrals. Referrals are asking the customer for contacts of potential buyers so the agent can reach out to them. However, a word-of-mouth channel is letting the existing customer do the advertising for you by letting their friends, relatives, coworkers know about the company's product.
It can be hard to tell how effective it is for your business, but it is free!
Now, how do you create a word-of-mouth channel? You give exceptional customer service, you give quality products, remain consistent, and cater to the customer. Then leave the rest to the customer to share their experience online or in person. You will eventually gain more customers who can continue the chain.
By using these 8 techniques, you can widen your pool of potential candidates and promote your business more effectively. However, it’s also important to know how to make the most out of your lead list. Don’t miss out on this.
Works Cited
Brandon, L., 2021. Successful Telemarketing Campaigns | Telephonelists.Biz. [online] Telephonelists.biz. Available at: https://www.telephonelists.biz/blog/what-makes-a-telemarketing-campaign-successful/ [Accessed 12 August 2021].
Montgomery, J., 2021. How to Generate More Telemarketing Leads | TelephoneLists.Biz. [online] Telephonelists.biz. Available at: https://www.telephonelists.biz/cold-calling/telemarketing-lead-generation-make-the-most-of-your-lead-lists-with-aidas/ [Accessed 13 August 2021].
Montgomery, J., 2021. Telemarketing: A Guide for Beginners | TelephoneLists.Biz. [online] Telephonelists.biz. Available at: https://www.telephonelists.biz/telemarketing/guide-to-telemarketing-for-beginners/ [Accessed 11 August 2021].
