Doing better at sales is always a topic at our Alternative Board meetings. It is what drives every business. Yet despite the countless books, weblogs, and articles written on lead generation most companies do not take a systematic approach to handling them. Here are some tips:
1. DEVELOP A CONCRETE DEFINITION OF A LEAD - Before we call them leads, we should call them suspects. Define what a quality concrete lead is. Just think of all the wasted hours the sales force can spend on companies or people that will not generate business. sales and marketing should jointly develop the right questions for every new lead to help qulify them into a prospect.
2. ITEMIZE WHERE MOST OF YOUR LEADS ARE COMING FROM - Referral marketing, direct marketing, cold calling, e-mail marketings, blogging, advertising, trade shows, and social media are all legitimate forms of lead generation. Do you have actual numbers of where your leads are coming from? Can you come up with at least 5 strategies, actions, and deadlines to improve each lead generator? Are you focusing on the strongest lead generator? Can you measure how many leads turn to sales.
3. INSTALL AN EFFECTIVE CRM TOOL AND USE IT - ACT, Salesforce, Goldmine are great tools to use for the salesperson, but they are even better for management. Most companies fail to use the data to improve and implement better lead generation. With these tools, its easy to gather the information mentioned in point 2.
4. RESPOND TO LEADS WITHIN 24 HOURS OR SOONER - You snooze, you lose. If you are not showing interest within this time period, another company is.
5. LEAD GENERATION MEETINGS - Have your sales and customer service deparment meet on a weekly basis just to discuss what leads there are and how you can make them into sales. Refine the questions being asked, and your companies benefits. OPENLY discuss failures, and learn from them. Do not punish them.
6. KEEP COMMUNICATION WITH ALL PAST LEADS - People and companies are taking much longer to make a decision. Your qualified leads are a potential goldmine. Because they did not buy today, does not mean they will not buy tomorrow. Develop programs to keep in contact like newsletters, monthly calls, sending out white papers and other educational information.
If you are interested in having some further discussion or want to have a free sales analysis, please do not hesitate to contact me.
