The Executive Suite: Five Ways to Generate More Leads

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Five Ways to Generate More Leads

The goal of any business is to be successful and to turn a profit, but in order to do that, you have to have sales leads. And a lot of them. While it may seem like dull, repetitive work — especially when you got into this business for the excitement of closing a deal — constantly generating leads is the key to the success of your sales and the survival of your business.

But how exactly do you generate those all-important leads? In this day and age, no one is going to be flipping through a phone book or has the time to sift through hundreds of Google searches. If you’re struggling with ways to consistently generate more leads, these tips may help.

1. Outsource your lead generation.
Generating leads isn’t what you come to work for. You’re best at building the relationships, closing sales and making money — and outsourcing your lead generation frees up more time for you to focus on what you do best. Lead generation companies work with you directly to streamline your sales pipeline and consistently generate leads that turn into sales. With someone else doing all the legwork for you, your team is free to focus on what’s really important.

2. Give (correct, updated) information to get information.
We all know the majority of your leads aren’t going to come from people reaching out to you, but that doesn’t mean you won’t ever have customers looking for companies just like yours to fill a void. Make sure the information you have on your website is correct and updated constantly. Not having full contact information or leaving important details about you and your company off your website can all stop potential customers from reaching out to you. No one wants to give away their personal information to a company they don’t know is legitimate. Creating good contact forms is a good first step to generating more leads.

3. Make it obvious that you’re here to sell.
There’s nothing more frustrating than generating a long list of leads that aren’t really looking to buy. It’s important to create good relationships with your leads, but not at the price of sacrificing your sales. If you don’t make it obvious up front that you’re here to sell them something they need, there’s a higher chance of the lead backing off as soon as you bring up money. By stating your end goal from the beginning, you have a better chance of creating a list of successful and profitable leads.

4. Utilize social media
Setting up a Facebook and LinkedIn page and having a Twitter account, and updating all of them regularly, is an absolute necessity in today’s market, and many businesses are creating blogs as well. All should be customized, provide great content and have a call to action. Social media is a great way to share strong content (mentioned in the next tip), drive new customers to your website and build relationships with a whole sea of potential leads. Platforms like Instagram or Pinterest may not seem like the best fit for your company (and they may not be), but it’s always worthwhile to consider ways in which any platform could drum up more business, and, most importantly, to be consistent in updating and posting to it.

5. Create and share strong content
Creating strong content that’s truly valuable to potential customers can generate an endless list of leads. Try to make your content useful and relevant, but also timeless. Content that doesn’t get stale can continue to generate leads long after the original publications, especially if you encourage people to share it with others. Give your content a strong call to action (give contact information, like, subscribe, etc.), and you’ll be surprised how many leads you’ll get.