How Leads Are Qualified
Many businesses find B2B sales lead generation to be a complicated, time-consuming, and sometimes expensive struggle – but keeping a steady flow of B2B sales leads in your pipeline is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your company’s success. Too often, B2B sales lead generation gets talked about like it’s a mysterious process, or like it’s a “black box” that requires a secret formula or advanced technology.
The truth is much simpler. Not every B2B sales lead generation company will tell you this, but: B2B appointment setting and generating B2B sales leads doesn’t have to be complicated or mysterious or secretive! To get great results with your lead generation, it’s often more important to apply simple tactics and consistent effort.
Getting new, highly-qualified B2B sales leads doesn’t happen overnight, but if you do the right things and use a smart approach, you will successfully build trust, spark interest, and create longer-term sales relationships with prospective customers.
Let’s take a look at some of the best tactics to help you generate more and better B2B sales leads.
Know your audience: do your B2B lead generation market research
Before you start calling people, emailing people, or reaching out to prospects via LinkedIn, it’s important to do your market research, know your audience, and have a clear view of which prospects you want to reach.
A few questions you’ll want to answer:
- Who is the ideal target market for what you sell?
- What size companies do you sell to?
- Which industry/sector/vertical do you serve?
- Who are your biggest competitors?
- Who are your key decision-makers?
- What buyer personas do you want to sell to?
- What problem does your product/service solve?
Before you can start contacting prospects and doing the larger work of B2B lead generation, you need a clear understanding of your market.
Strike a balance of inbound and outbound B2B lead generation
B2B lead generation involves multiple types of marketing activities, including inbound and outbound lead generation.
- Inbound lead generation: this includes any tactics that help bring sales leads “in” to your organization – such as your company website, content marketing, SEO, Pay Per Click (PPC) ads, and traditional advertising. When you get a new inbound sales lead, such as a phone call from a new prospect, be sure to use inbound lead qualification to nurture the new leads, sort and rank the prospects, and figure out which ones are most ready to buy – and which ones need more time to build trust and answer questions.
- Outbound lead generation: this includes activities that are directed “out” at your prospective customers, where you contact your customers with outgoing messages and marketing tactics. Outbound lead generation includes: cold calling, direct mail, email marketing, social media, and more.
Depending on which B2B lead generation company that you work with, some experts might recommend an approach that is more heavy on inbound vs. outbound. There is no one right answer; it depends on your industry, which prospects you want to reach, and your company’s own marketing strengths and preferences. But it’s a good idea to diversify your marketing mix, so you do not rely solely on just one kind of B2B lead generation activity.
Warm up your B2B lead generation emails with personalization
Email marketing is an important part of B2B lead generation, but you don’t have to just do mass email blasts; look for ways to personalize your emails. There are ways to use email marketing software to include the first name of each prospect or the name of the prospect’s company in the Subject line; people often respond better to an email that mentions them by name.
Or depending on which prospects you are contacting, especially for high-value, high-ranking executives, don’t send “mass” emails at all. Make each email individualized for the recipient. Test multiple Subject lines to see which ones get the best open rates.
Sometimes the most effective emails are the shortest; remember that in the early stages of B2B lead generation, your goal is to get a conversation started with the prospect and support your appointment setting outreach. You’re not trying to close a deal with the first email message; you’re just trying to get on the radar of the prospect and invite them to set up a meeting or attend an online demo so you can show them how you can help their company. Remember, especially in the early stages of lead generation, you’re not just a sales rep, you’re a problem solver.
Optimize your website for B2B lead generation.
Not every B2B sales organization needs to have the most expensive, complex website with advanced bells and whistles. But with a few simple steps, you can make your website a lead generation machine:
- Make it easy for prospects to contact you. Make it frictionless for people to call your company, email your company, or fill out a fast online form that gets them contacted ASAP by a sales rep who can answer their questions. Inbound sales leads are a gold mine; don’t let them fall through the cracks.
- Boost your SEO with better website landing pages. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t always have to be complicated and expensive. Pay attention to which search keywords are getting traffic, which search keywords you would like to rank highly in, and then focus on a few highlights on your website, such as dedicated landing pages for your products and services, and using SEO keywords in the headlines and subheaders.
- Use a Call to Action (CTA) on every page. Make it clear that you want your website visitors to take a next step to learn more and to deepen their relationships with your company: “request a demo,” or “watch our webinar” or “sign up for our email newsletter.”
- Offer a “quick quote,” free download, or online chat. What’s the shortest, simplest point of entry that you can offer to get a new business lead to engage with your company? For example, our website at SSM offers a “Quick Quote” button, encouraging prospects to click through and request a quote for services. Another tactic is to offer a free download to your prospects, like an eBook or webinar or other premium content, in exchange for their email address or other contact info. Think of Amazon’s famous “Buy” button – they want to make it as easy as possible for people to start the process of buying from them. Your website should do the same.
Get on the phone for B2B lead generation cold calling
One of the most important tools in the salesperson’s toolkit is from the pre-Internet era: the telephone. Business owners and executives get bombarded with email and online ads all day. It can be hard to break through the clutter. But if you have a prospect’s phone number, sometimes the simplest way to start a conversation with them is to just pick up the phone and dial.
Here are a few reasons why phone calls are still an important part of your B2B lead generation outreach, especially for rock star appointment setters:
- It’s personal. With a phone call, you can directly get access to the person you want to reach. Emails are easy to ignore, but many business executives are still using the phone every day.
- It’s nuanced. When you’re on the phone with someone, you can understand the subtle aspects of voice communication. You can hear their tone of voice, you can sense whether they’re reluctant to talk with you or eager to learn more.
- It’s adaptable. If you’re on the phone with a business executive and you discover that they’re not the right person to talk with, it’s easy to ask them for a quick favor: “Can you tell me who else at your company might be a better fit for this discussion?”
There is a lot of great marketing automation software nowadays that can help B2B lead generation teams get better results – but some of the best results still come from picking up the phone and building relationships, one person at a time.
Bottom line: B2B lead generation doesn’t have to be complicated. If you find the right blend of inbound and outbound marketing activities, get smart about optimizing your website, personalize your appointment setting outreach via email, and remember the time-tested tactic of calling people on the phone, you will be more likely to achieve long-lasting results.