LEAD GENERATION

Transcription

1 1 LEAD GENERATION

2 LEAD GENERATION 1 2 WHY YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON LEAD GENERATION There is no such thing as too many sales leads. Sales leads are what determine your success in business. The number of viable sales leads directly determines how much money you can charge for your services (think Law of Supply and Demand). More sales leads helps you achieve revenue goals, sleep better at night, and plan for future growth. There is such a thing as bad sales leads or under qualified sales leads. There is such a thing as an undeveloped sales lead. There certainly are a lot of opinions on what a sales lead is or what it should be. Defining what makes a good sales lead and implementing the right tactics to achieve more of them will lead to higher closing percentages and less time wasted by the sales team. In this e-book, we will touch on a number of things to consider when defining a lead generation strategy for your small business or medium sized organization. who is iconic digital marketing? Iconic Digital is a strategic marketing firm that focuses on branding, lead generation, web design, creative services and marketing for companies looking to aggressively grow their business. The difference between Iconic Digital and virtually every other marketing firm is that we maintain a sales-first mentality with all marketing efforts. Our background is sales and lead generation. We did not found our marketing company solely on a graphic design background and then convert to an inbound marketing firm when we found out people wanted leads. We knew sales leads were the defining characteristics of successful marketing from day one. We consistently leverage marketing tools like excellent design, outbound tactics, content marketing, and social media to create efficient sales lead generation programs for our clients. We hope you find the information below valuable. Please feel free to reach out if you have questions or you would like to schedule a free consultation. Also, don t forget to follow us on your favorite social media channels for more tips to help you build a lead generation process that helps you achieve your goals.

3 what is a lead? A lead is different from organization to organization. The information needed from the client to classify a contact as a lead is determined by the complexity of your sale, length of your sales cycle, and how educated the target market is of your offering. A lead IS NOT someone that visits your site once. Generally, a lead is someone that is familiar with your offering and takes a step towards purchasing in your sales process. Sometimes, in the case of a well-known or simple buying process, this can be achieved with minimal effort. We see this a lot with consumer products like home security systems or heating and cooling service calls. On the flip side, selling a new energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system takes a significant amount of education and will likely take several steps to convert from first contact to viable lead. the needs of your sales team Assessing your sales team (even if is just you) is the first step in identifying what makes a lead a lead. Certain pieces of information are needed to have a good sales conversation. They vary from business to business. They also vary based on the sophistication of your sales team. Some sales teams are comprised of highly energetic and aggressive hunters. These types of sales reps generally need less information about a lead to start the sales process - they are fully capable of getting the information on their own through discovery activities. Other sales teams are more farmers than hunters. These types of sales reps generally develop great relationships but are limited in their ability to close business without a significant amount of interaction and a lot of information about the client. Attaining success in lead generation activities first requires an internal assessment of what a good lead really is to your organization. The sales team HAS to be involved in helping determine those pieces of information. Know your sales process. Know your sales team. Know the difference between a good lead and an under developed lead or a simple contact. a contact is not a lead In the movie Glengarry Glen, Ross Alec Baldwin pulls out a list of contacts and tells the sales teams how great the leads are. That was Contacts are not leads anymore. They are simply contacts. They may someday 3

4 LEAD GENERATION 1 4 turn into leads, but they are contacts right now. Just because you know their name does not make them a lead. A lead is a known contact that takes a step in the buying process. That step varies in importance from a direct request for a sales meeting to a simple request to join a newsletter, blog, or a download of a piece of content. Three mistakes many companies make is assuming that a) the only good leads are those that are ready to buy, b) contacts are already ready to buy and should be pursued by the sales team, and c) visitors coming to your site will readily fill out the contact form on your Contact Us page and fill out your encyclopedia of information that you request with very little understanding about how you can help them or how capable your organization is at solving their problem. the buying process already changed. has your sales process? This is incredibly important: 60-90% of the buying process is now done by consumers in the form of research. This huge part of the sales cycle does not involve your sales reps. It involves independent research by your target market. This is much different than it was, 5, or even 2 years ago. Most businesses are only involved in the last part of the buying process when the potential client is picking a vendor and negotiating prices! YIKES! Ever wonder why people call you and ask for a price right off the bat? It s because they already know what they think they want. Ever wish you weren t in the position of constantly competing on price? Maybe you need to start affecting the buying process when opinions are formed, needs analyses are executed, and education of your target actually happens. Hint: you need to nurture leads, foster a relationship through educational information, and provide value in the beginning stages of the buying cycle instead of trying to change already formed opinions, arguing your worth, and justifying your cost vs. competitors. the problem is that this all happens without you...or does it? Gone are the days of knowledgeable sales reps being the keepers of information and being a valued part of the initial needs analysis for an organization. All of this information is free. It s easy to find. Often, it s better organized, more informative, and more polished than the average salesperson. Do you know what else? If you are not currently providing it, your competitors likely are! Who do you think has the upper hand in winning that client? Is it your competitor that educated the buyer over

5 the entire course of the buying cycle thus assuming the role of thought leader or your sales rep that got called in to provide a quote? Chances are, that quote is just a tool needed for them to negotiate better pricing with the thought leader. mql vs. sql An MQL or Marketing Qualified Lead is a contact that has taken some initial step in the sales process. Perhaps they have requested more information, signed up for a free newsletter, or downloaded some sort of content and provided more information than you already had in your contact list. Maybe they didn t increase the amount of contact info, but they did show interest in some part of your offering (thus, you now have the information that they are somewhat interested in you). MQL s are not sales ready. In fact, reaching out to them with a sales pitch would likely scare them away. Tap the brakes. You want to nurture these leads. If done right, they will ASK you to call or meet with them. They won t need to be talked into a meeting and your meeting will be much more of a negotiation than a sales pitch. MQLs are nurtured to extract the amount of information you need from them for them to be sales ready while at the same time educating them to be informed of your offering when the time comes to speak with them. This happens in stages. Each sales cycle is different so the steps will vary. The important difference between MQLs and SQLs is that MQLs still need to be educated and nurtured. SQLs are ready to meet and make a buying decision. mqls exist right now. who will educate them? As you read this, there are MQLs lurking within your reach. They are so close to entering your sales pipeline, but they may never do it unless you have a plan to help them find you, alert you that they exist, and allow you to start moving them from MQL or SQL. They don t want to be sold yet. They want to understand what to buy, how to buy, and eventually where to buy. traditional lead gen vs. new lead gen - how have things changed Traditional Lead Generation is heavily dependent on promotional tactics and sales representatives carrying the bulk of the load. Cold-calling, telemarketing, radio advertisements, trade shows, pay per click ads, direct mail, bulk SPAM s, banner ads, etc. are all traditional forms of lead gen. Traditional means of lead generation generate quick 5

6 LEAD GENERATION 1 6 results but are especially expensive and are becoming less effective. Notice we said less effective, not ineffective. They still have a place in the lead generation process, but they cannot be the only means of lead generation. Why? Because people generally hate them. Traditional means of lead generation are, by nature, interruption marketing. You interrupt somebody doing something else with a marketing message. You interrupt their favorite TV show with commercials. You interrupt their meeting with a telemarketing call. You interrupt their responses with a SPAM . You interrupt their day with a drop-in to their business to drop off literature. You get it. While there is a chance you catch them ready to buy, the likelihood is small. Additionally, consumers (B2C and B2B) actively invest money in eliminating these messages. They hire gatekeepers. They buy DVRs. They buy SPAM filters. They buy No Soliciting signs. They spend time getting on no call lists. By the way, 4 out of 5 people (80%) say they will never knowingly click on a paid advertisement. New technology and a desire to avoid marketing messages result in traditional marketing becoming less effective. Remember that if you are in need of immediate leads and have not developed new methods to generate leads, you are pretty much stuck with the high cost and inefficiencies of these methods. Do not dismiss these tactics as old and worthless. Understand their strengths and weaknesses and incorporate them as part of your lead generation activities, but not the only lead generation activities. You could effectively lump this traditional style of lead generation under an umbrella called Outbound Lead Generation. Essentially, your company goes out and finds prospects. Despite what your inbound-only marketing firm or software company tells you, this is not a dead form of marketing. Although, it is safe to say that it is sick. new lead generation tactics Hopefully, you remember the most important paradigm shift that you must make: MOST of the buying process is done without you being directly involved. Outbound tactics are, by design, best used to influence the last part of the buying process. The difference between yesterday and today is that when the target gets to this point they are better

7 informed about options and have already formed opinions. Therefore, the direct sales conversation is much different. It s now about your capabilities and price vs. a chance to discover information, cultivate needs, probe for information, present the right solution, and close. This all still happens, but not the same way. so how do you influence the buying process in the opening stages? Timely, relevant, honest information that can be easily found is the key. It s not altogether different than a good sales rep. Iconic Digital s belief is that your website is your sales rep and you will reap huge benefits once you see your site this way. Your website needs to be able to prospect, convert, nurture, and progress leads from MQLs to SQLs with automated processes - more on this later. Think about how you buy. Right from the start, do you pick up the phone and call a sales rep to schedule a meeting to be educated about your need and present options. Not anymore. Your first step is probably to jump on Google (in the U.S., it can be said In Google We Trust ). You probably type in a search like how to generate leads, you click on the first page of Google results after you skip the ads. You ll scan for the most relevant content based on the page title and description. You ll go to those sites and read the first couple of sentences deciding whether to scan the rest of the headings on the page. You ll look for visual clues to decide whether to continue with info from this site or click the back button and find a better site. You might download an e-book if you think it might help and you will use that e-book to assess the credibility of the company. If you think we are credible you ll go back to our site after receiving a few s that are informative and relevant to your needs. You ll investigate how to start the process. You probably won t start the process right there, but you will figure out how to initiate when you are ready. You might find some more good info and download it (perhaps it is a tutorial on How to Choose a Lead Generation Solution ). You are probably still not ready for a sales conversation, though. You ll probably do more searches for like Best Lead Generation Tactics. At some point, depending on how timely, relevant, honest and easily accessible our information is, you might decide to contact Iconic Digital and schedule a free consultation to test the waters. Honestly, that was pretty close, right? You are not alone. The process that you will go through to choose a vendor for lead generation is just like nearly 7

8 LEAD GENERATION 1 8 EVERYBODY and EVERY BUSINESS decision maker buys EVERYTHING (minus low-value, commodity products). You did almost everything on your own. Sort of. The process to address the buying process that you and everyone else now goes through on the Internet is called inbound marketing. While outbound is about finding you, inbound is about you finding us. Our goal is to give you all of the information that you need to at least give us a chance to be evaluated as a potential vendor when you are ready to buy. We ll provide really great information. We ll tell you exactly how we can help and you ll determine whether we are a potential fit. At some point, if you decide to contact us, we ll probably have a really good conversation about how we can work best together. This is the type of lead generation model that you need to start building right now. inbound marketing is NOT a silver bullet Despite what some of our competitors say, inbound is not the only answer and it may not be the best answer for you. Primarily, this is the result of the time it takes to implement, refine, and fine-tune the process. Here is a very honest fact about inbound marketing: you need to understand that ROI will not happen for about 6-9 months. Many agencies that have embraced inbound marketing as the only option do not communicate this well. It s not the agency s fault that it takes longer. It s simply an inherent part of inbound marketing. If you cannot stomach the investment and embrace patience, inbound will be a waste of your time and money. At the same time, if you do not have working strategies that generate leads right now to sustain business, concentrate on outbound tactics. When you are ready to expand, dominate, and drive down lead costs, it s time to look at inbound. another inbound miscommunication There are a million software companies that want you to believe that purchasing their software on your own and watching tutorials will make you an expert in marketing. Unfortunately, this is unlikely. It s similar to why you can t buy a copy of Quickbooks and fire your accountant. Do not look at software as the only solution. If you have minimal inbound skills in the company currently, it is unlikely these will be suddenly exposed and utilized properly with a $500 a month software program. inbound IS an insanely powerful lead generation tool that fits today s buying process Building a website that can be found, directs visitors to good information, converts those visitors to Marketing

9 Qualified Leads, Nurtures them to Sales Qualified Leads is a huge opportunity to expand lead generation. Over time, you can also cut lead generation costs by 50-60%. If you would like basic information on how to set up an inbound program, much of it is outlined in our free e-book here: FREE E-BOOK steps for setting up a lead generation program: Here is a quick setup overview of how you might go about organizing lead generation strategies: 1. Define what a good sales lead is for your organization. What specific information do you or your sales team need before having a good sales conversation. Hint: sales NEEDS to be involved in this step. 2. Define what is the minimum amount of info that you need to start marketing to visitors that may not be ready to buy. Usually, this is a name and an address. Make it minimal. You likely don t need a ton of info to start marketing efforts. The more info you require, the fewer leads you will convert. 3. Set a SMART goal for the number of leads you need to generate to achieve current revenue goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Based. Take into account your closing percentage and sales cycle when determining how many leads you need. 4. Evaluate your current website. Your website is the most critical piece of the puzzle. It attracts visitors and converts them to leads. Do you have the tools needed to reach your goal? How much traffic are you receiving? How many leads are you currently converting? What tools do you have on your current site that you can leverage to capture information? Are you relying strictly on a single contact form? This is a bad strategy. Is your site set up as a sales funnel? A sales funnel has specific steps that you want traffic to your site to follow - or do your visitors show up to your homepage and choose their own adventure with no specific direction? You do not want to be in a spot where you are not providing direction. Review the voice of the website. Is it an accurate reflection of how you want your product/service to be perceived? If your website was a sales rep and you were evaluating their sales presentation, would you be happy with its effort? 9

10 LEAD GENERATION 1 5. Take an inventory of content that can be offered in exchange for information about prospects. 6. Evaluate traffic strategies. Review analytics, blogs, social media strategies, keyword optimization, links, and paid ads. The first step to generating leads is traffic. 7. Determine what your lead nurturing strategy will be. What s will you send? What will the progression of messages be? Will you use software to nurture or internal resources? 8. Define what good looks like. Set up a time to evaluate. This is a marathon. Regardless of how much time you spend setting this up, there will need to be constant monitoring and refinement to maximize efficiency. need help doing this evaluation? contact iconic digital for a consultation. Lead generation has changed for the better. It will require a different approach than it used to. With the right strategy, you can generate more leads. The important takeaway is the understanding that 60-90% of the buying process is done before contacting your company. You have to develop a strategy to deal with your buyers tendencies to do their own research. You have to realize that what worked yesterday may not work today. Constantly evolve. If you don t have the resources internally to shift your lead generation capabilities, consider outsourcing or at least seeking assistance from experts. It is urgent that you start to develop new strategies. Remember, if inbound marketing is a fit, it takes time to implement. Don t wait. Get on this immediately! Success is determined by the moves you make or the ones you miss. This is your move: will you make it? You might also like: Internet Marketing E-book Inbound Marketing E-book Social Media - Join Us

11 Success is determined by the moves you make or the ones you miss. This is your move. will you make it?