5 Tactics To Generate B2B Sales Leads A practical guide for your businesses
Tactic 1 Getting a lead via PET (Personalised email technique) Example Subject line: Your comments on your Coaching Style Management Programme Dear David, I noticed that your organisation is investing in management skills and that you are devoting 5m to developing effective and inspirational managers through a coaching style management programme to meet your ambitious three-year growth strategy. I wondered whether those responsible for your coaching programme at might be interested in giving managers undergoing this training additional support in the form of an intensive leadership programme developed by YOUR COM- PANY NAME that guarantees to turn your managers into exceptional leaders. This programme has already been used by organisations been used by organisations like (here you put in OTHER COMPANIES YOU HAVE WORKED WITH) to support to individuals who need to develop lasting leadership capability. Perhaps you would kindly let me know who I should contact to discuss this programme further? Note This tactic assumes you have the email address of the CEO, Chairman or another influential person you are targeting. Find something of interest or relevance that the CEO (or Chairman, etc) has said or done that you can link to your product or service. This might be from the company s annual report or from a article in the press or something they have said during a conference. Reference this event or comment in the subject field of your email. Use the body of the email to link the event or comment to your product and include a benefit. And you keep it VERY short. At the end of the email, ask for a referral within the organisation. If the CEO replies with the name of a member of his staff, call that person immediately. In the call you reference the CEO; this will enable you to get the attention of the person you are calling. Then ask for a meeting to demonstrate your capability and go to the meeting! Thank you, etc Expertise from Tangled Oak Consulting
Tactic 2 Proving value with an evidence based letter (Direct Mail) 1. Research your market (target audience) and understand the needs, wants and problems of your potential buyers; understand the competition. *The attached document should contain up to 7 or 8 quotes from other satisfied customers in the same area as the customers you are targeting. If you want to produce a glossy document and have the funds to do so then you can. However, if you want to keep costs low (below 10!) then invest in some high quality paper and simply reproduce all quotes on one sheet of paper. (Use this for your letter too.) It s the content that your potential customers are going to be interested in, not the gloss. 2. Segment your target audience into groups by their particular need for your product or service (and by their buying style if relevant) 3. Be clear about why each of the different groups need your product or service 4. Decide what benefit your product or service has that will solve a problem or need they have 5. Have some supporting evidence of this benefit 6. Write a personalised letter to each individual i.e. Dear Mrs Smith My product or service can do this for you (solve a problem, fulfil a need) I can prove my product works for your problem (or need) and here is the proof... quote from satisfied customer with quantifiable evidence (x amount saved, best quality of all previous suppliers, fastest turnaround in x days, etc) Provide more evidence of satisfied customers in attached document* or invite them to visit your website Mail in batches of 25 per week After one week, call each recipient. Calling all recipients after direct mail increases the likelihood of getting new business by up to 30%. If you don t get hold of them after the first call then try again. Use the opportunity of the follow-up phone call to refine your messages for the next batch of 25. Ask if your introductory offer was tempting. If not, why not? What could be done to make it more attractive? Ask what would make them buy from you in the future. Ask why they buy from your competition. Check you have understood their needs. 5 Tactics to Generate B2B Sales Leads
Tips for Writing a Press Release Tactic 3 1.Decide what you want to say then think about it from the reader s perspective. What about your story will interest the journalist and his readers? 2. Identify the angle or hook of your story. This must be newsworthy. If it isn t, no-one will be interested. Present the hook at the beginning of the release in both the headline and the first paragraph. And make the headline stand out 3. Create an attention grabbing headline. Keep it short. 4. Put FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top. And date it 5. Write in the 3 rd Person. Stories must be presented objectively. Don t use I or We or You or Us. 6. Always include a quote (which you write) from someone influential or of interest to add weight to your story. Journalists like quotes and will often use them in full if they publish your story. 7. Include any additional information after the end of the story and don t forget your contact details. Getting leads by proving value with case studies (Direct Mail) This tactic is identical to Tactic 2 but instead of sending a letter to potential customers, you send them case studies of current customers. The case study should highlight the benefits of your product or service and demonstrate how it has helped other customers with compelling evidence. (If you don t have case studies, then you should make it a priority to get some, and as many as possible) Tactic 4 Getting leads through 3 rd party endorsement via press coverage This aim of this tactic is to use press coverage to position your product or service. The steps to follow are: Write a press release and send it to the media Look out for coverage and collate all coverage received Write a letter to each target group of potential buyers. Reference the press coverage and link what the articles say to the benefit of your product or service Mail in batches as Tactics 2 and 3 and follow up. Expertise from Tangled Oak Consulting
Tactic 5 Using a Free Offer to entice potential new customers 1. Decide on what kind of offer is most likely appeal to your target audience. Make the offer as attractive as you possibly can. Selling to organisations means you need to offer something of value that only you have. This might be: Research - a survey you ve done or research you ve undertaken using the internet. How to... guide or Top 10 Tips. (Most people respond to tips) Your expert advice or commentary on a recent issue/legislation, Free Offer - Do s and Dont;s DO... make your offer as strong as you can. If it isn t a strong one, you won t get many people wanting to take it up and filling out their details so it s worth making your offer as strong as you possibly can.... think very carefully about what is likely to appeal to your target audience...make sure you can fulfil your free offer. Make it for a limited time... Or state that it s available until stocks last. DON T... oversell the free offer; make sure it worth having. It s a showcase for your company and if it s of poor quality or low perceived value it will reflect badly on you and your organisation.... Give up if your free offer doesn t attract the interest you want. Try another type of offer or increase the perceived value. 2. Feature the offer prominently on the front page of you website. Include as many words as possible about the benefits. 3. When you are clear about your offer promote it through the following ways: Write a press release about the offer and send to all relevant newspapers and magazines and include your website address (see the chapter on PR and template at the back for how to do this) Send a letter or an email to potential customers highlighting the offer. Tell them they can get the offer via your website If you are using research, send a synopsis or executive summary of the research with the letter or email to potential customers. Once again, let them know they can get the free information from your website When visitors get to the site, make them fill out a form that includes the following compulsory information: their name: their email address: their postal address: phone numbers (few people like to include their phone number so if you don t plan on calling these people, don t make it compulsory.) When someone signs up for the offer, make sure you respond immediately by sending them the information. Make a follow-up phone call the next day to check that it s been received. 5 Tactics To Generate B2B Sales Leads
CONSULTING EXPERTISE ADVICE At Tangled Oak we specialise in helping businesses grow. We know your time is precious. And that you have limited resources to spend on lead generation and marketing. But we also know that when it s done properly, marketing can have a huge impact on the success of your business. We offer a range of services to support you with your marketing and make your business grow: One-off health check of your current activities with advice on how to increase their effectiveness One to one marketing coaching to help you to design and implement your own successful programme Design and delivery of a marketing and lead generation programme tailored to the unique needs of your business CALL US NOW on 01483 750380 And help your business grow 5 Tactics To Generate B2B Sales Leads Tangled Oak Consulting Brampton Down Woking GU22 7UL Phone 01483 714430 email info@tangledoak.co.uk