B2B Lead Generation – Are You Pulling The Right Chords?
B2B marketplaces are excellent platforms for businesses to come together and pursue potential customers and clients. However, in order to leverage the full potential of a B2B marketplace as a lead generation tool, you need to play your cards right.
Here are some tips to help you successfully generate leads:
Communicate, don’t Campaign
One of the most important rules of the lead generation process is never to make the potential audience feel that you are only there to get their business. This sends them the wrong signal and makes them feel that you are just after their money and not interested in providing real value. Instead of blatantly campaigning for their business and advertising your products and services, try to communicate with them and create a dialogue. Rather than talking about how great your products or services are, try talking about the potential customer’s concerns, needs and requirements and tell them what benefits they might gain from a variety of different options. This will make them trust you as an industry expert. With a little bit of follow up, you can convert their interest in your products or services to a ‘need’ and turn them into your customer!
Streamline your Sales & Marketing Efforts
No matter how great your marketing strategies are or how smart your sales team is, if there is lack of collaboration between the two departments it can result into failure of both your marketing and sales strategies. Create common definitions for both teams and streamline their efforts in line with one another. When there is better coherence between the sales and marketing efforts, there will be improved lead conversions.
Define Your ‘Ideal Customer’
Though the most obvious, it is often the most overlooked step. Before you start with your lead generation process, define the profile of the ‘ideal customer’ for your business. This will help you target and focus your efforts on the right type of customers. In addition, it will eliminate scope for many issues and conflicts going forward. An idea customer profile is that of a company, business or individual that is most likely to become a long-standing and beneficial customer. While drafting the profile, keep in mind some key considerations, such as annual revenue, Standard Industrial Code, number of employees, level of contact and functional, local, regional or national business situation and psychographics aspects.
Plan an Effective Lead Management Process
It is critical to create an effective lead management program. Such a program should implement your ‘ideal customer’ definition and establish a clear process for handling and distributing inquiries and leads.
Maintain a Database for your Leads
You also need a well-designed database to store and keep track of all your leads. In fact, your bulk leads could be stored in the database that you can use to explore more business opportunities and communications. And don’t worry about overflowing the database. A little buffer supply never hurts a business.
Nurture your Leads
Once you get leads, you need to nurture them. The process of lead nurturing involves multiple steps. Focus on communications and marketing efforts that keeps up the dialogue with the lead, builds the relationship further and addresses other customer feedback issues.
Disclaimer : Sabra Easterday is the founder and managing member of MatchB2B. Sabra is also a lawyer with a special interest in business issues and e-marketplaces. Notwithstanding that Sabra is a lawyer, nothing in this article and no services of MatchB2B or its website are legal services and no attorney-client relationship exists between any reader of this article or user, customer or potential customer of MatchB2B, and MatchB2B, its website or Sabra Easterday.
Sabra Easterday is the founder and managing member of Match B2B, a that acts as a common platform for to come together and partner with potential service providers. The website also offers immense opportunities for business networking. Article Source: