Lead generation remains the lifeblood for any company that depends on serious contact sales for its income. So, finding and cultivating leads to the point that they commit and take action via a sale is a critical marketing function that needs to be supported for an ongoing income stream to be dependable, allowing company growth. Most in business leadership won’t argue this point because they depend on leads to create steady sales. However, how one goes about B2B data providers lead generation, especially in the business-to-business arena, generates a lot of variation as well as best practices (and not so best behaviours to avoid).
What Your B2B Lead Generation Should be Doing
The most critical step for a B2B marketing program is to be strategic and have a directional plan. Just going on and doing whatever seems right for the day is simply going to turn into a big waste of a lot of time, resources and valuable funding. The research on who or what is an “ideal” lead via B2B contact data should already be done, whether it be by demographics or other metrics, and a full plan of approach should be in place, including where, what targets to achieve, by whom and how. This might seem to be getting into the weeds and irksome marketing teams who stress the freedom to be creative, but the creative part was in crafting the plan. Now it’s time to make leads happen and produce once the strategic plan is completed.
A lot of energy gets spent trying to find leads, but a huge gap can occur if there is no response protocol in place on what to do with a lead once secured. Just hand it over to sales and go? If that’s the response, more work needs to be done fast. Solid B2B lead generation involves cultivating and supporting the lead conversion to an actual sale versus dropping it off on another team. The leads generation team and sales team should be working in tandem versus each other.
Lead generation has to be clear and strong in communicating value to potential leads. There should be no question what the business’ product or service provides and how it is done. This might seem the work of sales but lead generation is literally the first contact many times with a prospect and the sales start as soon as the conversation begins. So, a leads team should be versed in everything sales will follow up on, is the beachhead to the prospect that sales will reinforce later.
Lead generation teams also need to be visible, proactively available, and connected with prospects, even if business consumers aren’t immediately needing a value solution. But networking and connecting, the leads team is that much closer to respond and make a lead a reality versus a business consumer having to look blindly for help. That means being present at networking events, conferences, on search engines, in help forums and similar online, and regularly increasing awareness. Where the prospects exist, the leads should be there all the time every time.
What Not to Do and Avoid in B2B Leads Generation
Too often teams get into competitive mode and think everything they do is about their performance. It is not. Lead generation is about generating income prospects for the company by solving consumers’ needs, period. Leads generation teams need to be clear their work is not an ego trip. This can be a hard challenge because so much of traditional marketing and sales tend to focus on individual performance producing connections and conversions.
Creativity often opens doors to new opportunities and markets, so leads generations folks should be allowed to experiment and try new ways to connect with prospects. Being on the front lines of initial contact, they are more likely to see new ways to convert prospects than a manager in the backroom or a salesperson working an existing account. Don’t shortchange the creativity of folks’ observations from leads. Be willing to experiment instead.
Don’t get distracted trying to be a big box store player providing everything to everyone. Stick to your strategic plan and focus on generating leads with your targeted prospects and area of networking. This might seem a contradiction to the paragraph above about experimenting, but it’s not; still, be creative but stay on track with what your business value provides and who best benefits from your product or service.
Don’t fall victim to high pressure leads to activity or being desperate. Good leads that generate healthy, valuable accounts take time to grow, develop and convert.
Don’t make it impossible or challenge to make contact with your leads team. There is a myth that somehow automatic contact points with webpages, email or messaging, and third-party phone support will make it easier and more efficient to handle generic contacts. This is a mistake. Many very good B2B leads happen when prospects can connect quickly and find an answer from a live person, even in the middle of the night. Adapt your response accordingly.
Don’t be invisible online when businesses search for a solution. Your business and leads team should have a fully-developed platform of websites and social media online embedded with real content and search engine optimization terms (SEO). At least a third of new leads happen from pure search engine triggers, so it matters. Ignoring this channel means literally leaving sales money on the table for the rest of the market to take at your expense.
Get Everyone Connected as One Team with One Goal
Your B2B sales lead generation approach and program has to be a coordinated effort between leads and sales under the shared umbrella of a completed strategic plan. Trying to piecemeal out functions and parts, or letting your leads operate in a competitive position with your sales team only forces your people to work against each other versus each other. By focusing on the best practices above, your teams will produce better and work more cohesively with your company goals versus just their silos, resulting in better conversions and higher sales.
