B2B Lead Generation Blog

9 1/2 Ways... to Generate and Follow Leads

Often people are looking for a single superior tactic to give them all the leads they need. Instead, I've found it's better to think of lead generation as a portfolio and use multiple tactics.

In his article for Fuel Marketing writer David Ward shares 9 ½ techniques to generate leads without spending too much. I was interviewed for this short article along with Bob Bly, Tino Buntic and Guy Maser.

If you're involved in a complex sale, I'm sure you'll find a few of the 9 1/2 tactics on lead generation relevant.

Here's a quick summary of Ward's 9 1/2 points:

1. Get on sales and marketing the same page.
2. Don't ask for too much too soon.
3. Learn from your success.
4. Pitch the problem, not your product.
5. Act swiftly.
6. Diversify your approach.
7. Give so you can get.
8. Don't buy what you can build.
9. Know when to hold 'em.
½. Be consistent.

Read full article on Kiplinger's: 9 1/2 Ways... To Follow the Leads

Inquiry management and search marketing strategy

BtoB Magazine's Carol Krol interviewed Kevin Lee, executive chairman of Did-it Search Marketing on "Effective Search Strategies." I first met Kevin as a fellow speaker at MarketingSherpa's first Lead Generation Summit.

I liked what Kevin had to say when Krol asked him this question, "What are the top three things a marketer should be wary of when evaluating a search marketing strategy?" I think Kevin's points serve as a good reminder for web inquiry management.

I've summarized Kevin's three points:

1. Don’t be too Web myopic. Don’t focus exclusively on Web-based leads because typically in a b-to-b environment, a prospect may choose to communicate with your company by telephone or some other channel.
2. All leads are not created equal. This is true offline and online. Don't oversimplify. Qualify the leads first.
3. The velocity of inquiry follow-up matters. Your response time say's more about you then you realize. If your competition takes 24 hours to respond and it takes you days to respond, you’re in big trouble. And don't just send a canned response either.

BtoB Magazine: Effective search strategies

Early Stage Leads are too important for Sales People Alone

The management of sales leads is critical to generating Return on Marketing Investment.  Sadly, sales leads often land on the scrap heap because marketers throw leads over the wall and then expect sales people to catch them.

Last year, I linked to a David Meerman Scott's post, Sales Leads Are Too Valuable For Sales People Alone. He just wrote (round two) and I think it's worth checking out.

David writes, "...Salespeople may argue with me, but I think it is better at the early stages of the buying process NOT to pass names to sales unless the buyer is absolutely ready to move forward..."

I agree. The key is to match readiness of the buyer with expectations of your sales team. Otherwise you'll have a serious disconnect. You need to examine each lead ask if they are "sales ready" meaning they are ready to speak to a sales person.

Often when prospects have an identified need, they can spend months researching and seeking information on solutions that may satisfy that need. They are seeking education and information but would rather not talk to a sales person yet. This is why I think marketers should hold back and nurture early stage leads (with a human touch) on behalf of their sales team.

The goal of lead nurturing is to maintain a relevant and consistent dialog with viable leads - regardless of their timing to purchase - until they are sales ready. A key aspect of lead nurturing is the ability to provide valuable education and information to prospects up front, so that you become more than an expert; you become a trusted advisor.

Lead nurturing is a multi-touch process. Without lead nurturing program in place, I've found that early stage leads receive just 1 or maybe 2 touches before they are handed off to sales people. And that's not enough, especially if you have a complex sale. At InTouch, we’ve found early stage leads may require 8 to 12 (or more) meaningful nurturing touches before they are truly sales ready.

In cases where your experience tells you that a lead is sales-ready, or would best be in the hands of a salesperson, you should create an exception code or status. I recommend asking the following question, “Can marketing continue to nurture this opportunity until they are more sales-ready or is this a situation best handled by a salesperson?” This is why communication and cooperation between sales and marketing is so important.

Off-Topic: On Selling Ideas in 1776

Fellow blogger Tom Pick, over at the The WebMarketCentral Blog tagged me to write something off topic, interesting, seasonal and non-work related this week. I liked Tom's off topic post (great pictures) chronicling his kid's deluxe tree house that began "innocently as a tree deck." I love learning history so I'll see if I can meet at least a few of the above conditions in my off-topic post.

In the past, I've written about giving away ideas. But lately I've been wondering about selling ideas. So yesterday – somewhere between family, food and fireworks – I had a chance to think a bit about the Fourth of July and how it came to be. I believe history provides us a valuable lesson on how to sell an idea.

While historians may debate about the controversies and motives behind the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they all agree that it represented two fundamental ideas; freedom and liberty.

But before the declaration letter was drafted and signed those two revolutionary ideas had to be sold. Here’s a story you may not know… I’ll give you a hint: before there was “voice of the customer” there was “voice of the people.” 

Before he was president, Thomas Jefferson was the chief writer of the Declaration of Independence letter. But despite being brilliant thinker and writer, historians say he was extremely afraid of public speaking. At times, he would even avoid speaking in public by faking illness!

Despite his fear, Jefferson was getting ready to sell a new and remarkable idea inspired by Thomas Paine’s work “Common Sense” that asserted America’s Independence from England. But little did he know that his fear of speaking would help him develop a powerful new approach to selling an idea.

I came across an interesting article by Greg Oriancant that explains how some historians believe Jefferson developed his “voice of the people” writing style. Jefferson's writing style evoked a sentiment that identified with the desires of a people who were unhappy with English rule. It is believed that this style enabled him to sell the idea of independence at the continental congress.

In his article, "How the Declaration of Independence Could Have Been Declared Out Loud", Oriancant notes the following about Jefferson's writing, "...he [Jefferson] put careful consideration into eliminating any indication of individual opinion in fear that the people would ultimately balk at going independent from England. Instead, he made powerful, persuasive arguments that would be irrefutable by the people--plus making the people part of the process.”

In the book, Declaring Independence: Jefferson And The Art Of Public Speaking author Jay Fliegelman writes, "Jefferson was saying there are certain universal truths about the public good and political rights that are re-articulated over the length of history, from the classical period onward. To him, the point is to recover these truths rather than to invent something new."

Fliegelman also asserts that Jefferson drew his inspiration on how to write persuasively from the writings of Homer (the thinker not The Simpson's guy), and even emerging ideas of music theory. Jefferson was a violin player and he read an influential music theory essay by Mozart's father. That eassy taught how to bring an group of musicians with different styles together (soon to be people and ideas) to make an audience believe in what you were playing.

As I look back on how these powerful ideas were sold, I realize how little has changed about the collaborative process of selling ideas. The variety tactics we use now different but the overall process of selling ideas is virtually the same.

Here's some "on-topic" resources for selling your ideas in the workplace:

How to Sell an Idea is a concise and well written guide on selling ideas.

Selling your ideas: A critical executive skill is another good resource on selling ideas.