If you are a smaller company doing your first bit of research regarding lead generation techniques to improve your marketing results and increase sales then you’re in the right place. Let me give you a few basic things to think about as you continue your research. First, it’s important to know what we mean by lead generation techniques.
The term lead generation refers to converting people from just knowing or hearing about your company to actually inquiring a bit more. We first need to attract them to you and then get them interested in you. One of the best ways I heard it described was that we all start to buy something by deciding we have a need.
Let’s say you sell garden supplies and I need a new shovel. I start looking to see where I can buy a shovel. This represents the early part of research by the client. In the web world we call this traffic but we don’t call it a lead yet. People just might come to your website or store but they may not stay. I may come to your store to see if you have shovels but I may not stay or buy one from you. This is where lead generation kicks in.
If I walk into your garden store I need to decide that not only do I need a shovel but you have the types of shovels I want. You can actually fill my need. Then I become a lead. See that?
I first have a need then I look for options to fill my need, then I see you as being someone who could fill my need. That last part is the lead and you have to do something to generate that lead once they come to your store or visit your website. Part of it is advertising to attract people but what do you do when they show up at the store? That’s the other half of the lead generation. Because many people miss this is why we need to think through lead generation techniques. If you don’t you can loose the sale and the customer.
Once I come to your store or visit your website the specific lead generation technique that got me there might be a sign telling me how great your shovels are or great prices on shovels, or a salesperson actually talking to me. Once that happens you have a chance to further convince me that your solution is the best solution, which then lets you move into lead conversion or what most people call sales.
Maybe I came in to your store to buy a shovel but I didn’t know a square shovel existed and that was really what I needed. That extra help is what we all know can make the difference between getting the sale and not getting the sale. But I’m getting ahead of my self because getting to have the sale is actually were lead conversion happens.
Does this make sense? Lead generation is both the attracting part of marketing and advertising and earning the chance to talk with someone and who can truly fulfill my need. If you don’t know these things you can’t even begin to get more opportunities to be a good salesperson. If you throw everything we have talked about into just sales or just advertising then you will miss out on a lot of opportunity.
When my staff and I work with clients to increase their sales we often teach them this 3 step sales funnel.
- Attract
- Convert to Lead or Lead Generation
- Close the sale
There are methods and techniques to each one of those stages and there are techniques to transitioning potential customers from one stage to another.
If you know how to evaluate your lead generation techniques in your store or on your website you can find the gaps. If you know how to find the gaps in your system then your next step is to close those gaps with good techniques. My staff and I help people everyday improve their ability to generate more leads and in turn create more clients. It can be done and you can do it.
If you need any help in learning more lead generation techniques let us know. We would love to help.
