Three Ways to Improve Lead Generation Results
Over ten years ago a well-known software company and a well known business journal published the following statistic: 35 – 50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first.
As recently as this week I saw that same statistic quoted (and attributed to one of the two sources of the data) as though it was current. The reality is that the statistic was misleading over ten years ago and still is today.
Regardless, there are companies acting on this stat, racing to follow-up on leads faster than everyone else. The result is a lot of lost business.
Some years ago we turned a lead over to a sales rep who asked us to sit-in on their call with the prospect. He started the call by saying “some telemarketing company in Atlanta says you are interested in our software… what are you looking to buy”. The rep didn’t know anything about the individual, the company nor their current technology environment as it related to what he was selling. He did not know if there were current clients of his company in the same vertical, what their pain was and how his solution solved it.
Was the potential buyer impressed that the seller called fast? Would they have been more impressed if the seller had taken a few minutes to research the opportunity and came to the call with some insight instead of coming to the call uninformed?
If the product was a low-priced commodity, speed might have mattered. However, our client was not selling a low-priced commodity. It was an expensive solution bought on average by companies once every seven years.
At a minimum I recommend that the seller do three things during the life-cycle of a lead – even if the first step takes a little time and he/she is not the first to respond:
Do some basic research
Recognize the actual vs. assumed life of a lead
Nurture the Lead and Triple the Return on Investment
Do Some Basic Research
Find your prospect’s profile on LinkedIn. Any common connections, common work history or common interests?
Does the prospect publish articles or blogs? What do they seem passionate about? What is their current environment (such as technology environment) as it relates to what you are selling? You may be able to find this on the prospects website or you may have to call into the company.
Who are you likely competing against and how do you differentiate against their solutions? Have your prospects executives allowed your competitor to post a positive comment on their website?
Look at the Leadership to see if you have common connections or share work history.
Have you or your company sold to similar companies based on their vertical and/or size?
Ask others in your firm, including executives, to look at the contact and company for any connections or insight into the prospect and their business.
Is there a site that ranks and/or rates solutions in your prospect’s market and if so how do they rank and/or rate?
What other research would you do and what would you be prepared to ask about? Please comment below.
Recognize the Actual vs. Assumed Life of a Lead
A few years ago I found research that compared sales reps’ perception of when a sale would close (percent by month) to when leads actually did close:
Perception of Sales vs. the Actual Lifetime of a Lead
Not only are sales reps not persistent in lead follow-up (most call once or twice and give up), but they also give up on leads long before they should.
No doubt you read that “No Decision” is the most common disposition for a lead while in fact it could be that “Gave Up Too Early” would be more accurate.
Nurture the Lead and Triple the Return on Investment
On average standard lead generation creates ten leads for every 200 prospects. Advanced lead generation creates 10 leads for every 70 prospects. When you give up too early you are leaving a lot of revenue on the table.
The example on the table below is not fiction. Advanced lead generation beats standard lead generation every day.
Summary
Do three things differently to improve your prospects’ experience and close more deals:
Do a little research into the prospect (the contact, the company and their market). Throw away the training that suggests that you ask, “what keeps you up at night” and be prepared to offer specific insight based on similar and/or well-known companies that have bought your solution – AND WHY!
Recognize that unlike what sales reps think (40% of closed business will occur in the first three months), less than 15% of the business possible will occur in the first 90-days. Complex deals have a long tail. Dropping out early because you perceive that the prospect will end up as “No Decision” is usually a mistake.
Use Advanced Lead Generation and Nurturing to be in front of the right prospects with the right information at the right time.