No budding entrepreneur starts a business thinking they might go bankrupt. However, the sad truth is that only about two-thirds of them make it past the second year of operation, and about half survive to celebrate their five-year anniversary.
The reasons for defeat can be quite versatile, but the big probabilities are that most failures stem from the inability of companies (especially in the B2B domain) to realize the value of each new.
However, before engaging the services of B2B sales lead generation companies or trying to become some sort of in-house B2B lead generation agency and tackle the challenge on your own, you need to go back to the basics and discover the strengths of getting business leads.
What is a lead, and why do companies need them in abundance?
Companies wither if they standstill. To thrive in a niche as competitive as the B2B industry, you must constantly expand your customer base, reach an ever-increasing number of customers, and keep most of your partners loyal. Conquering new markets is possible by dint of finding new potential customers. In fact, this is the first stage in the sales chain that sets all subsequent sales processes in motion.
According to the book, a sales lead is a person or organization that shows a certain interest in the products or services you offer. This interest can take different forms.
Someone may inquire about your product after seeing an advertisement or hearing something they might find useful in their work. Or they respond to a call to action found in the text about the product or service they need. Or, they agree to communicate about the things you sell after you or a B2B lead generation company you hired contacted them and announced your proposal. Whatever paths bring them to you, it’s your initial look that you’ll want to make the most of to nurture them and convert them into prospects.
Of course, not all potential customers become prospects, i.e., individuals or companies that indicate their willingness to make a purchase. It is natural that some of them will never close the deal, as they are not satisfied with the price, functionality, or (God forbid) the quality of customer service. But without solid B2B lead generation, the influx of new customers will quickly dwindle from a torrent to a trickle.
Why is it vital to obtain new leads?
The overall goal behind lead generation efforts is to increase company profitability. This overall goal can be achieved through several benefits that go hand-in-hand with obtaining new leads.
The biggest revenue driver related to lead generation is the expansion of customer reach. Logically, the more customers you have, the more revenue you generate. But in addition to this direct impact, acquiring new leads generates benefits as a corollary.
First, each lead is another opportunity to get referrals. Thus, in addition to being the source of revenue, they themselves generate new sources of revenue. Such capacity triggers and maintains the sustainable growth of the organization, which is a sine qua non-condition for the survival of any company, be it B2B or B2C. In addition, the company’s evolution is driven by the sophistication of the marketing techniques it employs to attract and retain customers, which reflects positively on the firm’s progress.
Unfortunately, not all companies realize the importance of perpetual lead generation and tend to neglect it altogether or focus less effort on it once they have reached a certain level of development. This is a fallacious approach as the number of customers you have is not an immutable quantity. Inevitably, you will lose some of them (or even many of them), which means that your flock should be constantly replenished or, better yet, increased in every possible way and means.
How to get a new lead for sales expansion?
The arsenal of strategies is quite rich, but there are a few must-have elements you should adopt to take your lead generation to a new level. A few recommendation from Andrew Sorkin, CMO of https://www.paperhelp.org/:
1. Social media
In a world where companies and people lead two lives (one physical and at least one virtual), you won’t get very far in any business without leveraging social media. This is the place to be used to the fullest for any type of business activity, and lead generation is no exception.
A foolproof lead nurturing algorithm ensures that your efforts to get business leads through social media are not in vain. First, it finds relevant leads, then ranks and distributes them according to their scores. Finally, follow up with the most valuable leads. Ignoring this last step is likely to render your entire business useless, so make sure you follow all the steps.
Another crucial thing about social media lead generation is the choice of platform for your business. If your goal is the sheer number of individual leads, focus on Facebook and Instagram, but for finding B2B leads, LinkedIn is what the doctor ordered.
However, whichever platform you ultimately opt for (or, perhaps, put your lead generation eggs in several baskets), be sure to use the special optimization tools they provide for business purposes.
2. Referrals
This is one of the most fruitful strategies in the B2B arena, as it effectively targets qualified leads in your niche. But referrals won’t come in the numbers needed unless you encourage your corporate clients to recommend other companies to your business. You can do this in a number of ways, including issuing coupons and discounts for each referral or establishing referral partnership programs for the larger companies you cooperate with. However, the best incentive for customers to refer you is the high-end products and top-notch services you provide. They will surely share their excitement with other birds of your feather when they get them.
3. Personalized e-mails
Traditionally, this communication channel has been the favorite type of business communication. What can really make it shine is personalization to make potential customers feel valued and not just another guy.
The main bottleneck of this lead generation medium is the low deliverability of messages that can end up in the spam garbage can. To prevent such a development, we recommend taking advantage of spam checker software. By installing the spam checker, you will be able to track the progress of the letters you send, bypassing spam filters and blacklists.
4. Buying leads from a B2B lead generation company
This is the optimal strategy for companies that don’t like to bother looking for leads themselves but prefer to have a ready-made list of them. Of course, you’ll have to find a reliable company and shell out a dime for that purpose, but you’ll get a collection of leads designed specifically for your industry. However, once you have a list of leads in your hands, you should apply the nurturing strategy described above to ensure that the leads eventually turn into customers.
Conclusion
A healthy customer base is the foundation of financial prosperity in any business. To keep it vibrant, companies must pay close attention to lead generation. By leveraging a variety of strategies, B2B organizations can attract a good number of new partners who will become their loyal customers and stay with them for years to come.