Sales team generally rely on marketing to generate quality leads. But unfortunately, they often lack the support of a dedicated marketing team in small business. To succeed in spite of all these issues, they are forced to do their own sales prospecting. In fact, B2B sales representatives must find one way or another to generate their leads and meet their targets with little external support. That said, we have listed some of the lead generation techniques for the sales team, which they can use themselves with no excuses.
The sales professionals must invest some of their time to learn their target market instead of draining their energy on the leads that do not fit the niche. They must be capable of identifying the best and worst customers for their business, their attributes, demographics, the industry they belong to, and other critical information. A simple phone call is sufficient to generate useful information about clients. You can ask your customers why they chose your brand or are they happy with your service and many more. Utilize this user-generated information to identify more leads who are best for your business. Later you can tailor your email or script based on the customer needs to solve their issue.
You must always be sure about your sales objectives. Do you want new sales-ready leads to your business? Are you planning to grab 100 more leads this quarter? Do you want to generate some extra dollars as revenue this year? Be clear about such goals. Once you are sure, you can begin with the creation of prospecting engine. You can use marketing methods such as email, direct mail, phone calls, or other online campaigns. But, not to forget, don’t involve your business in making irrelevant pitches. Instead, map out your B2B sales activities for each week and follow it accurately. Create a plan that provides real value to the prospects with relevant resources.
Now you know your customers and sales objectives better than others. It’s time to be effective at social selling by spending some time on social media. Listen carefully and find out what your customers are talking about on their favorite networking platform, be it any current trends or the products they are interested in. Use this data to strike up a conversation and raise awareness of your brand. Sometimes, you may require to train your team in this area. That is, how to use the right language or phrases and also to stay up-to-date about your industry trends.
For instance, if a person has posted a question related to your industry on any social media platform, make sure your team is wise enough to provide a relevant answer. By engaging your potential clients with genuine and helpful conversations, you can build a rapport and also gain trust.
Make a note of all the critical events in your niche during the year, be it conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, awards, or dinners. Networking at such events is the best way to generate leads for the sales team as they are already experienced at building swift rapport with the audience. You can close the deals quickly and also know your market better by partaking in such events. Besides, you can also spend some time talking to event delegates to understand what people think about your brand or competitors, which will be of great help to tailor your future pitches. So, find out what’s happening around you locally, and start getting quality leads by networking. Most of such B2B events are free or reasonably priced for individuals.
Referrals are another great way to generate more leads that only a few B2B sales professionals master. Although buyers are happy to give references, only a few companies ask for them. So, start tapping into your client base and ask for referrals. Prospects trust referrals from people they know, and most of the final purchasing decisions are made with such recommendations. Although it’s challenging to get the references from the friends or peers of your prospects always, at least make sure to ask for the introduction of the person who gives a referral. It will increase the trust among the audience and also helps in sparking productive conversation with the clients.
It can make a massive difference to sales teams when executed appropriately. And the best part of this tactic is it costs your business nothing but good communication skill and a gentle smile on your face.
Marketers are usually concerned about building and maintaining the mailing list to generate leads. But, salespeople can also create one to target their ideal prospects with additional information. You can successfully execute email campaigns with this information. Setting the right tone for your message with tailored content is vital for any lead generation technique. With appropriate research and knowledge of your market, you can reach the prospects more precisely. Hence, don’t underestimate the importance of outbound emails. It naturally tends to have a high response rate than any other sales strategy. So, perform this well, and your effort will pay off.
During the database building phase, make sure your list fits your ideal customer profile. Don’t waste your time or money on creating the biggest database possible. Instead, come up with the database that has only the most relevant records with the right information. In the beginning, you may find it really tricky to get all the data you need to run the email campaigns. We advise you to stay patient, and you will build an accurate profile over time.
Most often, people think of automation as a marketing tool. But, when used correctly, it can be a great time-saver for the sales team as it requires less human touch to produce results. You may find a lot of automation tools online with varying costs. Pick the one that best suits your sales requirement such as to automate follow up emails to social media connections or guide leads through the sales funnel. Check your budget and determine the tasks that consume more time. Work together with your team to identify such areas that require automation within the set budget. Automation option saves both your time and effort while generating leads.
No matter how busy you are, take some time to execute lead generation process, especially if there is no marketing team supporting your strategies. Also, it’s highly unlikely that you will close the deal in a first shot. Hence following up your leads is crucial to boost your sales. It can be a phone call or email where you ask specific questions to understand your prospect’s needs and problems. Once you learn their requirement, send them a brochure, white paper, or tailored materials as a reply. Make sure you reply to their questions as quickly as possible. Keep following your prospects at reasonable intervals until you are confident about closing the deal.
Remember that timing is crucial for sales activities. For instance, the leads may not be receptive to your call at the moment as they are running short of resource or budget. In such cases, you can help them with a plan that fits into their budget. Some studies have shown that it may take up to 5 calls to get a ‘yes’ from a prospect. Hence be persistent about your B2B sales plan. Don’t give up on the initial stage. With follow-ups, you can get closer to your next sale quickly.
After a lot of thought and research, we have come up with these tips for sales professionals with no marketing support and a limited budget. The methods mentioned in this blog are not as hard as you think, but it takes a little effort to generate a reliable flow of high-quality leads. Hence, without wasting your time any further, use these steps in your sales strategy, and see the result you are after for so long.
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