Sales Lead Generation

The purpose of sales lead generation, as alluded to above, is primarily for businesses to be proactive about winning work, customers and clients. In a competitive market environment, many businesses take the logical attitude that if they aren’t available to meet a customer’s needs, the customer will take his business elsewhere. A surprisingly large number of people will choose consumer goods and services based on convenience, rather than conducting a prudent investigation into the best service providers or the cheapest prices. This means that many product markets can succeed and benefit from provider opportunism.

Most leads are generated for the direct purpose of trying to win business, although this could be done in an indirect way. For example, a list of e-mail addresses of people who are interested in football could be a valuable resource to an advertising company which then has access to a target market. They could then sell advertising space in the e-mail to sports companies and generate a revenue stream.

Telemarketing and mass mailing: The traditional and most common method of sales lead generation is probably telemarketing calls. The success of this method and its ability to generate results is linked with the rise in the number of these calls and the associated irritant of the ‘cold call’. The marketing departments of businesses prepare information surveys and then, either using an internal team or by outsourcing their work to specialist telemarketing companies, make hundreds of telephone calls in order to carry out market research and identify specific people who might be interested in certain products or services. In some cases, the name of the surveying company is not disclosed and this protects it from the associated stigma of cold calling.

A slightly more passive approach is by using mass mailings, where contact is made by post rather than telephone call. Many businesses are better equipped to perform this task in-house and it can be seen as less irritating, with respondents choosing to take the time out to complete the survey. If contact lists are old or out-of-date there is still the possibility of causing embarrassment or (in the case of deceased addressees) upset or offence.

Referrals: This method is not suitable for use in every business but, depending on the quality of the referrer, it can generate high quality leads, alternatively known as ‘hot leads’. Referrers could be employees of the business or external business contacts. If we take the example of a general purpose law firm, a skilled lawyer will take the opportunity of getting to know their client properly. If they act on a real estate purchase the lawyer could ask them about their business interests or whether they have a will in place. This could lead to an internal referral to the company or probate lawyer. Similarly, a good company lawyer will take the time to befriend local accountants and corporate bankers, all of whom deal with business clients on a day-to-day basis. If the lawyer has a client in need of accounting advice, he can then refer him to the accountant in the hope and expectation that the favor will be reciprocated in the near future. This relationship provides the rationale for networking.

Seminars and open days: This is another method of sales lead generation which, if used correctly, can help a business to generate hot leads. A business organizes a seminar and invites prospective customers and clients to attend. The topic of the seminar is associated with a product or service which the business can provide.

This method can stimulate a fair amount of goodwill between businesses and their prospective customers. The prudent organizer will make the seminar free, laying on a good spread of food and drink with key employees on hand to speak with. Also, the prospective customer will have made a positive decision to come to the event so will probably not feel like they are being put in an uncomfortable sales position.

Remaining with the example of a law firm, a relevant seminar might be on the subject of forthcoming detrimental tax changes to owners who sell their businesses. By inviting local business owners and providing intelligent, engaging presentations from company lawyers, these could lead to sale of business instructions prior to the change in tax rules. A sales opportunity has been identified and a positive action has been taken by the business.  
Sales lead generation is a technique which, if used correctly, can have a positive impact on a business’s customer base and therefore its profits.