Lead Generation is one of the most important processes aimed at guaranteeing the success of the business of any company. It develops in a whole series of touchpoints that the consumer touches on his journey towards the purchase of our product or service.
This is valid for both B2C and B2B, but it becomes even more complex for the second because the competition is high and winning the potential customer’s attention is more difficult. No wonder that the main objective of companies that sell a product or service to other companies is to improve the quality of their leads, rather than their quantity.
I would like to clarify that a well-fleshed out sales pipeline is always necessary to keep one’s income high, but the operation that can be more effective is to give up a small percentage of contacts to ensure that the rest are much more in target.
What is and how to do Lead Generation
Lead Generation is the process that identifies, selects and attracts potential customers for our product and service.
Each business is unique, so it is not possible to identify a single category of Leads for all businesses, but each will have its own. There are many channels we can use to attract “the right one”, through two main types of activities:
- Inbound Lead Generation: in this case we work on the content that we communicate to the user. They are used by companies to capture the customer’s attention by offering something of value in exchange of information, which will help guide them through the sales funnel. This type of Lead Generation is the one that develops Touchpoints capable of bringing the right customer, increasing the compans value in his eyes and making us acquire more credibility. Inbound activities such as Content Marketing, SEO and Lead Nurturing are included.
- Outbound Lead Generation: with outbound we use specific channels that we need to reach our Leads. It does not serve to maximize our visibility, but to ensure that certain commercial / promotional information reaches the right people directly. Some useful tools for this purpose are Email Marketing, Digital Advertising and Telemarketing.
The combination of the parts is often the best solution for everyone, but we must be aware that even the most “beautiful” message does not work if we are not able to use the right means to communicate it and analyze the results in a timely manner.
Lead Generation is like a machine: made up of many parts and whose gears are the data we need to understand who we are talking to, what they need and at what specific time. To get and read this data, you need modern software that combines CRM with Artificial Intelligence and Marketing Automation.
5 ways to improve the lead generation
By implementing a Lead Generation system and using the right software, we learn to evaluate the Lead based on the preferences it has shown in the purchasing process. The qualification starts with the selection of an ideal customer profile and, using the data available to the company, searches for behaviors, preferences and areas of greatest interest.
1- Optimize Touchpoints
If the consumer visited our site, added a product to the cart but did not complete the purchase, there was a problem. The questions to ask are many in this case: have we communicated our value well? Is there a difficult process for the user to complete? Is contacting assistance too complex? The quality of our touchpoints is obtained with constant analysis from which to obtain consolidated data, capable of giving us answers that will allow us to understand what actions to take. For example, integrate a Live Chat or open a Blog to get more conversions or activate a Customer Service that intercepts the potential customer who abandons the online purchase.
2- The CRM: our Best Friend
To get Leads we must treat users for what they are: real people who must be understood, understood and “pampered”. A good CRM intercepts opportunities and offers the right means to understand our customer on several levels: Customer Satisfaction, needs, loyalty, frequent problems and provides essential information for the Customer Service work. By choosing even just one of these “layers” of information, we can already improve our communication techniques and optimize all our Touchpoints.
3- Email Marketing: the right communication
Email marketing is still one of the most effective techniques for acquiring and cultivating leads. It is one of the best ways to get the right message to the right person, and thus become one of the protagonists of the Lead Generation. Integrated into a CRM and an analysis system, this technique will also highlight any communication problems.
4- Telemarketing: heat up leads
Compared to other forms of Lead Generation, telemarketing is probably one of the most effective techniques in many economic sectors. Several companies use telemarketing and telesales as the main sales channels and the collateral implication of these activities, even following a missed purchase, the prospect is “heated”, thus educated about the brand, the product and its potential.
5- Content is the king
This phrase has been repeated by many, very often regarding the positioning of websites on search engines. Another important reason to focus on content is precisely to start a conversation with the customer and show that we are the best prepared and authoritative to solve their problems or that we will consistently provide value.
6- Replace a sale with support
If we can solve customer problems as soon as possible, we have already created a Lead with a good evaluation of our brand. By taking advantage of CRM and automation technologies, understanding the issues to be addressed, optimizing the Touchpoints, what remains to be done is to guarantee customers with the support they need to understand if the product is the right one. The sale, at this point, will be the most natural consequence.
Conclusions
Most of the contacts that occur at some point in the Customer’s Journey between customers and sellers come from people who are already at 70% of the purchasing process (PDF). This means that a large part of the “journey” is done thanks to the content and strength of our Touchpoints, which are optimized using tools capable of collecting and analyzing hundreds of data in a very short time.