Lead generation is vital to the success of any business. Whether you generate leads through social media, word of mouth, or ads, you must create leads to continue selling services.
Recently, Adi Klevit of Business Success Consulting Group talked with Phil Smith, CEO of All in One Marketing. During their interview, Phil shared his outline for lead generation, which is also his specialty.
Read on for the summary of this conversation, and listen to the entire interview for more information on building your lead generation process.
Use This Outline When Developing Your Lead Generation Process
The outline below shares essential information about developing your lead generation process. If you already have a process (which I assume you probably do), use this outline to find holes in the existing process. If you do not have a process, use this outline and begin building!
0. Make sure you are following the appropriate laws.
If you plan to use email, text, faxes, or letters to promote your business, ensure your marketing team understands and will implement the appropriate laws, including spam and opt-in laws. This is fundamental to building your lead generation process, so we have made it step zero.
1. Determine what will qualify the lead.
Creating an automated system that filters out unqualified people will save your sales team time and increase sales percentages. This can feel counterintuitive as most salespeople say, “Just get me in front of someone, and I can sell to them.” However, they usually mean, “get me in front of someone qualified to buy our product, and I can sell to them.” That means you must filter out unqualified individuals before trying to sell to them.
Phil does this for his own business by having leads watch a 57-minute video and fill out a brief questionnaire before a salesperson talks to them. This video discusses what Phil’s company can do for the business and shares pricing information. All of the information provided in the video would be something a salesperson would share with a potential lead if they were to prequalify them over the phone. So, the video helps filter out companies unwilling to spend time and money on Phil’s services.
2. Find out where your leads “live.”
Next, you must determine where you will begin reaching out for leads. Often, we do this by finding out where the leads “live” either online or offline. You can create a long list and pick the top five locations to begin your outreach campaign.
Here is an example of five places where qualified B2B leads may “live:”
1. LinkedIn
2. Industry networking event
3. Industry magazine
4. Twitter/X
5. Downtown business district
This variety of online and offline places means that you should build specific lead generation plans for each location.
3. Set up the qualification/filter.
Now, it is time to set up your qualification system or filter. This may include a video, a series of questions, a phone call they have to commit to, a webinar they must attend, or something else that will help you filter unqualified leads.
4. Advertise, create conversations, write articles, network, or otherwise reach out in the spaces you’ve determined in step 2.
This is where you need to set up your lead generation system. It could include advertisements that go to a landing page on which the lead is qualified, networking events where people sign up for a newsletter that then qualifies and nurtures them, articles that invite them into a text/newsletter nurture sequence, or something else.
5. Follow up with leads immediately.
Sales ultimately follow lead generation. This includes follow-up, nurturing, and closing leads. Set up a follow-up sequence that is both automated and ensures personal contact so that the sales team can close the lead and convert them into a customer.
The above outlines what can ultimately be a very involved or relatively simple lead generation and nurture sequence. Building a fully integrated lead generation process – or any business process can be challenging when you have many balls in the air. Get in touch with Business Success Consulting Group to find out how to build processes and create automation sequences that will allow you to focus on your growth goals.
