5 Signs Your Business Needs Lead Generation [INFOGRAPHIC]

Sometimes we get sick. Most of the time it starts small. A headache and sniffles here and there. Oftentimes they go away on their own after a good rest, but other times if we aren’t careful enough, it could escalate to getting extremely sick, and then we would ultimately have to go to the doctor. They say that prevention is better than cure and as it is true for our health, so is it with your businesses. If you’re experiencing aches in certain areas of your business, especially in lead generation, we have just the right medicine to ease them.

We’ll diagnose the different “common cold” symptoms of B2B sales and marketing and prescribe you accordingly.

5 Signs Your Business Needs Lead Generation [INFOGRAPHIC]

Not Enough Sales Meetings

If your sales calendar is always empty, then it’s high time you do something about it. There’s no better way for you to fill your calendar with sales meetings than appointment setting.

Important tasks such as finding and reaching prospects, pre-qualifying leads, and booking phone or face-to-face meetings are all part of the appointment setting process, so if anything, getting appointment setters for your business is an investment.

Leads Don’t Convert

Why lead qualification so important? Simple. It saves you a lot of time and energy. It doesn’t matter how good you are at sales talk, but if you are selling to the wrong audience, it’s like trying to sell a boat to a pilot when he actually needs an airplane.

We suggest that you segment each account into tiers, ranking them from top to lowest priority. To determine which tier they belong to is to evaluate if they are ready for your solution, willing to explore possible solutions you have to offer to their problem, able to make the needed commitment to implement the change, and their success potential, meaning that there is a high level of fit in terms of technical, functional, resource, competence, experience, and culture.

For a more detailed information on how to select and profile high-value accounts, read here.

Lapsed Leads (Prospects Have Moved On)

According to Marketo an average of 50% of the leads in any system are not ready to buy, but nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads. Since the marketplace today is predominantly buyer-driven, the most effective way to develop leads is by establishing and nurturing buyer relationships. Have a lead scoring system and pair it up with a thorough content marketing plan.

Losing Customers to Competitors

What is the emotion, imagery, and things people associate with when they think about your brand? Your brand is the personality of your business, don’t hide that from your audience. Every company strives for positive associations with their brand and for it to be seen, so they won’t hesitate to spend an extra coin or two to make that happen.

Of course professional brands are a tad different from consumer brands, as you focus more on creating a brand around your expertise rather than a product. However, the ways to maintain brand awareness are relatively the same. Here are some ways for you to maintain your visibility in the marketplace.

The power of keywords

When your potential clients scour the internet for possible solutions to their problems yet don’t exactly know who to turn to, you will be their hero. Identify the types of terms your potential clients are looking for and use that to optimize your website.

Ads Shopping Spree

Targeted ads can help improve your visibility such as short-term campaigns for newly repositioned brands. You can find available ads on social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter as well as search engine result pages such as Google Adwords. Just make sure that you do your keyword selections carefully and monitor them constantly to ensure success all while staying within your budget.

Social Butterfly

Don’t be afraid to jump onto social media. It’s a powerful tool for your brand to get noticed. Depending on what your company’s niche is, there are always corresponding platforms that will suit your brand. Corporate firms usually use Twitter and LinkedIn, while consumer and “quirkier” brands would use Facebook and Instagram. Determine where your clients are and make sure that your business is represented there.

Blogathon

Others may find this tasking, constantly coming up with new ideas to write about, therefore sweeping it under the rug. On the contrary, if you write keyword-optimized blog posts, your brand will be showcased when people are browsing the internet in search for possible solutions to their problems. Choose topics that will stay relevant to your brand expertise and soon lead generation will start rolling in.

Can’t Do Lead Gen On Your Own

What keeps a company’s heart pumping is sales, and in order to sell, you have to secure a good lead first. Of course, you can choose to generate your own leads in-house, but if you want to save time, money, and effort, we suggest that you look into outsourcing your lead generation. Instead of having to stress over hiring and training new staff, you can focus on growing your company while your outsourcing team will take care of your leads.

And there you go! Five simple solutions to your common business sales and marketing needs. In the end, it all boils down to one thing: Lead Generation. Don’t wait until you’re in too deep. If your company starts feeling any of these symptoms, try these remedies. They are tested and proven to help you back to your feet in no time.