Lead Generation Made Easy

Many small business owners are subject matter experts in their field however not everyone is a natural sales person. Building a pipeline is essential and sometimes overwhelming. Your networking efforts can help you. Let’s make it easier.

It can be a challenge for many to pick up the phone or make an appointment for fear of rejection or being seen as a pushy sales person, but if you have invested in building a relationship first it can be easier.

You may prefer to use digital marketing as a vehicle to connect, but at the end of the day you need to be able to demonstrate the Value you will deliver and be able to convert their interest in you by closing the deal face to face.

Resilience does not grow on trees but it is fertilised by practice i.e. having a plan to contact the right clients at the right time with the right approach and the right reason for making contact. Working with a mentor and attending the right networking events will provide opportunity for you to have conversations to help you clarify your value and impact.

It is likely that your pipeline will always require feeding and it also likely that your market is becoming more competitive with your clients having to deal with an increasing level of noise….over which you want to be heard.

A Considered Approach to Sales and Marketing

So how can the approach to sales and the promotion of your business be more considered?

Prepare:

Think about and research what you can about the person and their business before you approach them. Use LinkedIn and google to find out what you can about their career, background so you are aware of what is happening in their world before you attend.

Preparation will help you ask open questions about the problems that need to get solved and where your services or someone you may know, could have a solution.

Targeting:

Do not be all things to all people. Play to your strengths and why you are and will be different.

Focus on what the impact of working with you will be for the client and be able to clearly demonstrate the value in their hands. This requires preparation and thought before you go to a client meeting so you are confident and they are confident why you are there.

First: Past and Current Clients: develop a lead generation campaign around your past and current clients. Makes sense as they know and like what you have done for them. Give them permission and a reason to advocate your services to others they may know.

Ask for a referral and certainly a testimonial that focuses on the impact your services had on them (not just have them repeat the transaction of “what” you did)

Second: Prospective Clients: learn from the past/existing client feedback about the value and impact you delivered. Hone your campaign for prospective clients who look like the past and existing clients you are serving.

In this way you will be talking to clients capable of a higher conversion rate.

Third: Long Game: be prepared to invest in the long game. Do not go with a mindset that you must have a sales outcome at every meeting. Have a mindset that you want to learn, share, engage and seek to understand and unearth what their problems might be.

You will have some ideas to offer and may have others in your network you could refer them to…you are building a relationship and a reason to stay in contact.

One To Many

Creating leads can be achieved with and through others who may become collaborators, referrers or suppliers. Invest the time to demonstrate the difference you have to your competitors and the problem you can solve.

It is your job to make it easy for them to refer you based on a strong understanding of the value and impact you have on a clients business.

Do not forget to do exactly the same for your collaborators as you are asking them to do for you.

Sales is not a dirty word, it is an essential part of your business strategy. So make it easier on yourself, invest in some planning through research, assemble your value and impact to focus on existing and prospective clients, build collaborator 2-way relationships and go forth and multiply!

Interested in learning more about how you can build you business? Subscribe Connect4Success newsletter and keep abreast of events and opportunities to generate more leads plus receive FREE our Conversation Starters.

Hello my name is Leigh Powell,

As a business mentor, I know that my clients have vision, expertise and ambitious goals, even if they are just starting out.

I help you lean into what you know you should do, take responsibility for it, & turn it into a profitable strategy. Mentoring is a way to explore & test your business ideas & strategy with an experienced business person who is independent from your business, not emotionally attached to your vision. I invite you to attend a YTM event soon and have a conversation as to the best way Your Time Matters, can support you.