Quality leads, especially those of C-level executives, generate sales. These leads will come as the result of effective passive and active marketing.
Part I -- Passive Marketing
Since we live in an Internet world, if you don't have Internet presences, you're behind your competition. Actually, today, if you don't have a Web 2.0 presence you're even further behind. So every sales person needs to develop their own (not their company’s) Internet presence.
Level I - Website, E-news, Blogs
These are necessary for staying in touch. They should provid your existing and prospective clients with information about their industry and/or about problems they're having that you can solve. Once in place, your mission will be to capture e-mail addresses of those with whom you want to communicate.
Level II - Social networking using Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter, etc. (Web 2.0)
These are necessary to collect information and contacts for your prospecting efforts. This is the current Internet explosion. Within a few years your clients and prospects will be entrenched in this medium and this will be a great place for you to stay current and capture more prospect email addresses.
The sooner one develops level I and level II the sooner they'll start generating quality leads.
Part II -- Active Marketing
As stated in the beginning marketing is the key for generating leads. Traditional marketing such as mailers and advertisement still have their role to help generate leads.
However, in this day and age, cold calling will not work. It is extremely ineffective, time-consuming, and de-motivating. Yet, sales people and some managers still gravitate to it. Why -- for the same reason an abused child doesn't want to leave its parents. They don't know what else to do. When alte
atives are presented (like networking), the thought of change scares them. Consequently, they rationalize, to themselves and others, that networking won't work. This rationalization is further reinforced by a few episodes of networking failures. However, the failure is in the approach, not the concept.
Networking works, if done correctly. Here's two basic rules for networking.
1. Network within existing accounts. The most leads can be found in accounts you now sell. Your goal is to spread like a virus within these accounts. Your thought process should be to go "Up and Out." Meet and be known by all the managers in your accounts -- not just those immediately associated with your products. By doing this you will learn a lot about your clients business and problems, which you'll be able to convert into opportunities, i.e. leads for yourself.
These managers will also refer (network) you to others within their division and to other divisions. Again, these will be opportunities. However, you have to be open-minded as to creating solutions and positive impacts. If you expect someone to make the association to your company and say, "We need your product or service," you'll be disappointed. You have to be a questioner, listener, consultant, and resource provider -- not a product pusher.
2. For networking to work you have to have a focus (who do you want to meet) and a plan (who I know they can get me there). This rule applies within your accounts and within the rest of the universe, where you'd like to get business. You know people that know people. Use them.
However be specific with what you ask for. In other words, you don't want to meet just anyone. You want to meet a specific person and/or a specific title. Otherwise, you'll get someone random that will deflate your initiative in many ways.
You also want your contacts to introduce you. Getting just the name from someone is useless. In like manner leaving a message that so-and-so (no matter their title and power) said to call, is also useless. Get your contact to make your introduction -- face-to-face, by phone, and as a last resort, by e-mail
These passive and active marketing concepts will help you, but this is only a scratch on the surface of the whole process. The good news is there are many articles and videos available that can give you the "How's" once your mind is receptive to this 21st century approach for effective lead generation.
And now I invite you to learn more.
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