Articles

Top 5 Reasons Why Lead Generation Programs Fail

There are basic component parts to a lead generation program, and one or all of these items can cause your program to fail. To get a lead generation program working effectively all of these components must work together seamlessly. So how do you know when your lead generation program is broken? If you are not producing leads at all this is pretty hard to miss but if it's not completely broken; thi.... Read more »

Top 3 Reasons Why Prospects Are Not Responding To You

Every sales professional has experienced this scenario: you’ve talked on the phone with a prospect, sent follow-up e-mails with additional information, and perhaps even reached the point of preparing a formal sales proposal. The prospect has a definite need and seemed close to being ready to talk about closing a deal and purchasing your solution. Then all of a sudden, the prospect stops respondi.... Read more »

Part 2: 80/20 Sales Rule: Implementing the Cure

The much-maligned “80-20 rule” seems to be an inescapable fact of the sales world. Many sales teams have high performers who bring in the majority of the business, while other sales reps struggle to keep up. Although most sales managers feel like they have to learn to accept the 80-20 rule, the fact is that if 20% of your sales team is writing almost all of your business, then the res.... Read more »

Part 1: The 80-20 Sales Rule: Searching For A Cure

The 80-20 rule, also known as Pareto’s Principle, was named after Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), an Italian economist who observed that for certain economic conditions, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. For example, during Pareto’s time, he observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population, and 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of the pea p.... Read more »

Mystery Solved: Where Do Sales Leads Come From?

Where do good B2B sales leads come from? Are business leads always just out there waiting for you to find them? Are sales leads lying dormant within a company waiting for some sales rep to come along and harvest them? Or are sales leads created when the forces of business change come together and create new needs, like when a company expands or moves their offices or launches a new produc.... Read more »

Top 5 Appointment Setting Closers

Lots of lead generation companies claim to have special expertise in helping companies get bigger sales results from their B2B sales leads and lead generation efforts. Although there are a lot of different lead generation services that could potentially help your company’s sales results, sometimes the simple things make the biggest difference. One way to get better results from your.... Read more »

3 People You Will Meet on a Cold Call

B2B lead generation is all about dealing with objections, clarifying expectations and overcoming initial resistance or confusion about what you are offering to the prospect. Every cold call is an opportunity to learn more about a prospect’s business, build relationships and earn their trust. Even the standard “problems” of cold calling can be used as an opportunity to get closer to a sale. .... Read more »

Top 5 Excuses Why Your New Business Appointment Was a “No Show”.

When developing your lead generation processes, you may need more than fresh cold calling techniques or a mailing list of prospects; you need insights into “how” and “why” the sales process works like it does, and fresh ideas for how to make it better. When you’re dealing with lead generation for B2B sales leads, you need to keep in mind that the sales cycle can be a long proces.... Read more »

3 Reasons Why Good Leads Die Young

For many sales organizations, lead generation is the place where sales and marketing combine and too often, collide. Dividing responsibilities between the “marketing” and “sales” teams can often be a cause for confusion, especially when the marketing team is taking on additional lead generation responsibilities that used to belong to the sales team. If your organization is trying .... Read more »

Confirming Sales Appointments: Are You Asking For The Cancellation?

"Hi, this is Bob Jones. We have an appointment tomorrow at 10 a.m. Would you like to cancel?" It sounds ridiculous, right? No one would intentionally call a prospect as part of an appointment setting call and set themselves up for a cancellation. However, if you take a closer look at your appointment setting process, if you aren't careful when calling to confirm your sales appointments, y.... Read more »