Lead generation is crucial to the success of any business, I know that and you know that.
Excuse me for stating the obvious here but what are the 2 key actions required to grow a business successfully?
- Win New Customers; and
- Retain Existing Ones
Correct?
Now think, what did you do yesterday, last week and indeed today, which addressed the above top priorities and was the time and budget you invested proportionate to the level of priority. What is the current state of your sales pipeline?
Are you spending too much time in the business and not enough time working on the business?
The solution is simple i.e. delegate and/or outsource sales!
Many SME businesses employ less than 5 methods of lead generation regularly, even some corporate organisations. They rarely review or change their tactics.
If you want to build and maintain a successful business you need to utilise as many methods of concisely targeted and contextualised lead generation as you can. You need to monitor the success of these lead generation methods, measure their results and tweak your strategies until you find a mix which truly works spanning a management and affordable number of channels.
Once you have this mix you need to keep on shaking it up and trying other methods as well.
Here is a list of possible lead generation channels to get you started. I am not saying that all of these will work for your business because every industry and situation is different. But, what they will do is set you off on the right track, get you thinking creatively about lead generation and, perhaps most importantly, they will remove the biggest barrier to your sales success, “But I don’t know what to do next”.
Please let me know about other sales lead generation methods that have been successful for you and which are your favourites of the proposed options below. Here are just 90 lead generation ideas to help you grow your business…
- Sales letters to decision makers
- Classified advertisements
- Catalogues in venues
- Flyers
- Leaflet dispensers at targeted locations
- Special reports
- Online catalogues
- Telemarketing
- E-Newsletters
- Social Media (LinkedIn & Twitter)
- Traditional newsletters
- Viral marketing
- E-books
- Magazine and paper inserts
- Associates and affiliates
- Introducers
- Family and friends
- Joint ventures
- Radio ads
- TV ads
- Position yourself / your company as an expert
- Internet adverts (PPC)
- Press releases
- Sponsor an award
- Chamber of Commerce
- Public relations (PR)
- Attend industry seminars
- Gather and use testimonials
- Offer a free consultation
- Offer a free trial
- Organise an open day
- Promote an industry event
- Give endorsements to prominent people
- Write articles online
- Form alliances with your peer group
- Create a give away e.g. calendars, mugs, posters…
- Write for the local newspaper
- Syndicate a column
- Write letters to industry magazines
- Conduct industry research
- Send articles to clients
- Advertise on buses, bill boards, cabs
- Speak at the local college
- Panel at professional seminars
- Write a how-to pamphlet
- Offer a finder’s fee
- Do pro bono work for charity with industry links
- Sign your car
- Make up t-shirts
- Perform a stunt (e.g. Richard Branson)
- Cross-promote with other businesses
- Enter a contest
- Create a contest
- Direct mail new clients
- Post card promotions
- Business cards
- Networking offline
- Networking online
- Trade shows
- Referrals
- Speeches
- Cold calling – foot
- BNI
- IOD
- Trade shows
- Franchise shows
- Blogging
- Social networking sites
- Christmas cards
- Birthday cards
- Thank you cards
- Add value notes / paper cuttings
- Promotions
- Article writing
- Online forums
- Bill boards
- Freebie pens / t-shirts / mugs
- Teach a class
- Send letters to papers as expert
- Local radio interviews
- Loss leaders
- Free tele-classes
- Webinars
- You-tube
- Ebay
- Church
- Masons
- Golf club
- Press release
- Creation & sharing of quality content (e.g. white papers)
For more ideas to help towards increasing sales through sales lead generation, lead nurturing, market research and sales training, visit www.salesaccelerant.co.uk or contact us now on 0845 3058145.