How do you generate your leads?

Leads are the lifeblood of any successful B2B or B2C business. They are vital if you want to grow your revenue streams, increase conversions, convert more customers, and ultimately build a profitable business. But where should I begin with this process? How do I find them? What will it take to turn those potential customers into paying clients? And most importantly, how long does it take me to see results from these actions?

These are all valid concerns when considering how to generate leads in sales. While there are many methods out there, we’ve done our best to break down exactly what steps need to be taken in order to create quality leads that have the highest probability of turning into future clients. The following guide outlines everything you need to know about lead generation, including why it's so essential to your business success, what tools you'll use to track its progress, and how to prioritize each stage of the process.

How do you approach a business lead?

The first step in creating new leads is getting access to people who could potentially buy something from you. This means finding companies whose products or services you believe align well with yours, as well as individuals within those organizations who may be interested in working together. Many times, you won't even realize that someone is an ideal candidate until they've already expressed some level of interest in what you offer — after all, they're likely actively looking for businesses like theirs!

Once you identify prospects, the next thing you'll want to do is send over information about yourself and your product/service offerings. You might include links to blog posts, articles, videos, white papers, etc., depending on your industry and audience. If you don't think a prospect would be interested in your content, consider reaching out through social media instead. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest are great places to reach out to existing customers and prospective buyers alike.

This information can also serve as a reminder of your brand identity, which makes it easier for readers to remember the name of your company later on. In fact, studies show that consumers feel less connected to brands that aren't memorable enough. So make sure to keep things simple while still giving off a professional vibe.

Next up, you'll likely want to establish contact by either sending emails directly to contacts at the organization (if possible), or using their email address to set up a personal connection via social networks like LinkedIn. Once you've established communication with the person responsible for making decisions at your target company, you'll then have to decide whether you'd like to pitch your own service(s) or just share their newsworthy stories.

If you choose to go straight ahead with selling your products or offering additional help, remember to always present your value proposition clearly and concisely. It shouldn't be too lengthy unless you provide an extensive report or article detailing what you plan to accomplish. For example, if you're pitching a software solution, let prospects know how much time and money they would save by installing it.

Be careful not to come across as pushy, though. Instead, try to sound enthusiastic without being overly aggressive. Also, avoid mentioning competitors' names outright and give clear examples of how your product is superior to anything else available. By showing your expertise and knowledge, you'll prove yourself to be a legitimate resource worth pursuing further.

Finally, once you've built trust and rapport with your potential client, you'll want to move onto asking for the sale. Remember to focus on benefits rather than features. For instance, if you sell IT equipment, tell prospects how much faster their computers run because of the purchase. Don't mention specific models or specs. Just say "our systems get twice as fast." Then explain how you solved problems faced by other users before and how that has improved productivity.

When it comes to pricing, you'll probably want to follow similar guidelines as above. Be upfront about costs but refrain from going overboard. Asking for too little often hurts your credibility more than asking for too much. A good rule of thumb is to never charge more than 50% of the average price per item sold. If you're trying to sell a laptop, for instance, aim low at $500.

Now that you understand how to approach a business lead, here are some tips to keep in mind when communicating with prospects:

- Always respond quickly whenever you receive a message. Never wait longer than 24 hours before responding to inquiries.

- Keep conversations short and sweet. No one wants to hear endless pitches every time they check their inbox.

- Ask only relevant questions during initial communications. Stick to topics related to the sale itself. Avoid sharing irrelevant details such as hobbies or pets.

What questions would you ask a lead?

After building relationships with your leads, you'll now want to learn more about their needs. Once again, there's no right way to do this since everyone approaches situations differently. However, having a few key questions ready beforehand allows you to stay focused throughout the entire conversation. Here are a few ideas you can adapt to fit whatever situation you encounter:

1. Tell us about your business goals.

2. Why did you pick us as a vendor?

3. Which areas of our products do you currently utilize?

4. Would you recommend us to others?

5. Do you have any objections to our solutions?

6. Is there anything we can improve upon?

7. Are there any challenges facing your company that we can assist with?

8. Who else was involved in selecting our vendors?

9. When would you expect to implement our system?

10. Will you continue to work with us after implementation?

11. Any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share?

12. Where can I get additional resources regarding our products?

13. Can you please forward our proposal to your CEO or COO?

14. Will there be any changes to our contract after signing?

15. May I speak with your project manager?

16. Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me today.

How do you ask a lead question?

At this point, you've successfully been able to connect with your targets and gain valuable insight into their current state of affairs. Now that you know their pain points, you'll want to figure out how to solve them. Again, there's no universal method for doing this since everyone has different objectives. That said, here are a couple suggestions that tend to produce favorable responses:

17. Have you had any experience implementing [insert technology] on [your industry segment] prior to this?

18. Does your company currently employ [industry standard tool X]? If yes, is it effective?

19. We noticed that [key metric Y] increased by [percentage Z]. How did you achieve this?

20. Have you ever experienced [issue A], and if so, what was the outcome?

21. Could you walk me through a typical workflow scenario involving [feature/functionality]?

22. What were your biggest obstacles when dealing with [problem X]?

23. Did anyone else suggest [alternative solution Y] before coming to you?

24. What kind of ROI do you anticipate achieving based on [specific metrics]?

25. Is there anything else we can discuss that helps you better evaluate our partnership moving forward?

26. How would you rate our overall performance thus far?

27. Our team is eager to develop strong partnerships with all of our clients. Would you be open to discussing opportunities to expand our relationship beyond just providing support for [product category]?

28. Our goal is to ensure that every customer receives the utmost attention and care. To that end, we strive to deliver exceptional levels of customer satisfaction. One of the main factors affecting customer satisfaction is [X factor]. Based on your experiences, what strategies have proven highly effective in improving customer satisfaction?

29. We are currently evaluating several options for [redesign feature X]. Please let us know how you felt about it when implemented in previous projects. Were there any difficulties encountered?

30. We recently decided to add a third party component to [product line Y]. Are you aware of any issues or concerns surrounding this change?

31. What kinds of training do you typically require for employees?

32. Have you tried [software package] yet?

33. What are your primary sources of competitive intelligence?

34. What types of events do you hold to promote awareness of [company initiative X]?

35. What are your expectations around [metric Y]?

36. What percentage of [customer population segment] uses [applicable technology]?

37. What kind of impact do you anticipate this decision will have on your bottom line?

38. Do you foresee any significant budget increases required to accommodate this expansion?

39. What are your preferred payment terms?

40. What is your current inventory position?

41. What is the estimated date of completion for this project?

42. At what stage are you in the purchasing cycle?

43. Who else works on this account?

Leads are the lifeblood of any B2B or B2C startup. They’re the first step towards building up an audience with customers so they will buy from you again. But where do these leads come from? And how should you go about getting them?

This article explains all this and much more. We'll look at how it's done in different industries as well as some common mistakes people make when trying to get their hands on new prospects.

How do I get more leads?

Finding qualified leads might be one of the most important things you need to learn if you want to grow your business quickly. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars like many companies do but there are plenty of affordable tools out there which also work surprisingly well.

One thing we're going to focus on here is LinkedIn because it has been shown time and time again to be effective for finding great leads. If you've never used it before now would be a good time to jump onboard. It doesn't cost anything (unless you decide to upgrade) and once you sign up you can begin to build connections with other professionals who may become potential leads.

There are two main types of LinkedIn users: those looking to network professionally and others just using it as a social media platform. The latter group are not very useful for lead generation purposes because they won't likely share information with you unless asked directly. However, the professional user base is full of people actively seeking clients and partners. This is why LinkedIn is such an excellent place to find quality leads.

Here are four steps to help you use LinkedIn effectively to improve your lead generation results:

1. Make sure you join groups relevant to your industry. In addition to being able to connect with individuals within the same field, joining groups allows businesses to connect with each other too. That means you could potentially discover someone else selling similar products or services to yours.

2. Post valuable content regularly. LinkedIn isn't just a place to post links to your website - it's also a great way to engage with other members. One simple trick is to write short articles related to your niche. Then submit them to LinkedIn Pulse, an area inside the site reserved for publishing original content. LinkedIn will then promote these posts across its vast network of followers.

3. Join discussions. Once your profile has gone live you'll see a section called "Insight" under your Summary tab. Clicking on it takes you straight to a list of recent conversations between other members and yourself. These tend to be longer than comments made by individual users so take advantage of them. Ask questions and listen carefully to responses. When you spot something interesting, click through to read the rest of the conversation.

4. Promote your own events. There aren't many places online today where you can easily host an event without spending a fortune. Fortunately, LinkedIn Events exists specifically for this purpose. Each month, hundreds of thousands of professionals gather together to hear speakers talk about topics of interest. By adding a link to your own event page underneath your "Events" tab, you can invite everyone interested in attending via email. Be careful though - only send invitations to people whose profiles match the criteria you set. Otherwise, you risk sending emails to irrelevant contacts!

The best part of LinkedIn is that anyone can create an account without needing to worry about creating a Facebook fanpage or Twitter handle. All you really need to know is your name and contact details. Sign-up at www.linkedin.com to grab your username and password.

If you haven't already joined the world wide web yet, you can still benefit from LinkedIn even if you never actually log onto it. For example, you can upload photos to your Profile and add videos to your video Gallery. Your LinkedIn URL will automatically appear next to your name whenever someone searches for you online.

How can I get more lead for free?

You probably heard somewhere along the lines of “it costs money to sell stuff”, but this couldn't be further from true. With a little bit of ingenuity, you can turn almost everything around to your advantage. Here are three ideas for doing exactly that.

1. Offer consulting packages. A lot of successful companies offer consultancy services to established brands. Why not offer your own brand of advice instead? People love talking, especially when it comes to their careers. So offer your expertise to clients at no charge and then wait for them to call you back. Not only does this give you another source of income, but it gives you access to high value leads too.

2. Use a tool like Leadpages to create landing pages. Landing pages allow visitors to fill out forms to request more information about your product or service. While there are loads of paid options available, you can save yourself a tonne of cash by using Google Docs to create your own version.

For example, let’s say you wanted to run a contest asking people to enter their names and email addresses. Instead of paying $20 per entry, you could create a form with a single question asking participants to enter their name and email address. After entering their info, people would then be taken to a separate document containing the rules of the competition.

Once complete, people would simply hit send to receive the prize draw notification. Done correctly, it’ll cost nothing to implement. Now imagine if you had 10 entries per person, 100 entries total…the possibilities are endless!

3. Host a giveaway. Again, this idea requires a decent amount of effort upfront but it’s definitely worth it. To keep everything running smoothly, you’ll need to hire someone to manage the whole process. In return, you’ll gain exposure to a huge number of interested parties while earning commission off every sale.

Hosting giveaways is particularly popular among tech entrepreneurs, bloggers, and small game developers. If you think you'd enjoy hosting one yourself, check out our guide to learning how to win contests & games.

How do you ask a business for leads?

There are lots of ways to approach a prospective client and pitch them your product or service. Some approaches are better suited to certain situations than others. Let’s review a few.

Cold calling

As the old saying goes, cold calls rarely pay dividends. On top of that, many people hate being pestered by telemarketers so this is unlikely to inspire confidence in the prospect. Unless you have a long-standing relationship with the caller, this method generally ends badly.

Email

It's often said that email is dead, but that hasn't stopped millions of marketers from continuing to employ this tactic successfully. Email works best for smaller businesses since it tends to be less intrusive compared to phone calls. Even with large corporations, you can still reach out over email to introduce yourself and discuss your product or service.

Social Media

While social media platforms were initially designed for sharing personal updates, they're increasingly becoming a powerful tool for connecting with people in real life. From Facebook ads to Instagram stories, social networks provide a wealth of opportunities to interact with current and potential customers.

Online Directories

When was the last time you searched Google for local businesses? Chances are you didn't bother either. Instead, you relied on word of mouth recommendations from friends and family. Online directories are the perfect solution to that problem.

They're essentially websites listing businesses based on location. The ones that stand out the most will naturally attract attention, making it easier for you to land a meeting with a potential buyer. As a bonus, they often contain additional useful data like opening hours, office locations, and contact numbers.

Conclusion

Leads are essential to success in both B2B and B2C ventures. Without them, you'll struggle to convert traffic into repeat purchases. Thankfully, there are several tactics you can use to increase your chances of attracting the right kind of target market.

To recap, here's a quick summary of how to get leads:

Join Groups

Promote Yourself

Offer Consultancy Services

Create Your Own Form

Hold Giveaways

Use Social Networks

Invite Prospective Clients Over Email

Ask Customers for Leads

Leads are a critical part of any successful online business - they're the building blocks upon which all other steps are built. They help you grow your list, convert those prospects into customers, and most importantly, make money from them! But where should you be looking to find quality leads for your business? What methods work best? And how much time will it take to generate results?

In this article we look at some of the basics of lead generation as well as providing an overview of the different types of leads available. We'll also explore how you can use these insights to improve your own lead generation efforts.

What is the meaning of generating leads?

Generating a lead means connecting with someone who has expressed interest in buying something from you. It's not just about finding people with relevant interests and then pitching to them directly. Instead, you need to create value for potential buyers through content that speaks to their needs while highlighting why you have something unique to offer. This process is known as "lead nurturing" (or "warm calling"). Once you've done so, you want to move onto creating opportunities by closing deals with them.

There are several things you need to consider when deciding whether to build up a relationship with someone before asking for a sale:

- How likely are they to buy? Do they fit into your target market? Are they a good match? If not, maybe you could try another prospect instead.

- Can they afford what you sell?

- Have they already bought similar products from you?

If possible, ask yourself if there's anything you might have overlooked that could increase your chances of making a sale. For example, if you'd like to sell high-end luxury items, check out other websites selling related items that may appeal to your audience too. You could even reach out to bloggers who write about such topics to see if they have an affinity for your product.

What is generating more leads?

The answer here depends entirely on the type of business you run. While many businesses focus solely on promoting and sending emails to new contacts generated through website traffic, others rely heavily on organic search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to attract visitors to their site. SEO involves improving the visibility of individual pages within a web property based on specific keywords, ensuring that page titles, meta descriptions, anchor text links, etc., contain appropriate terms. The goal is to ensure that web crawlers understand exactly what each page contains without having to click around manually.

Once visitors land on one of your sites' pages, you need to keep them engaged until they become interested enough to either purchase a product or subscribe to your newsletter. There are plenty of tools and services designed to assist you in doing so. One popular method is email marketing. Here, you send personalized messages to prospective clients using information gathered during initial contact. Email campaigns often include welcome offers, promotions, event reminders, newsletters, etc.

Another common way to generate leads is via social networks. Many companies now employ social media managers to monitor user activity across multiple platforms and respond accordingly. By engaging users through posts, comments, and tweets, you demonstrate that you care about their opinions, thoughts, and concerns. Social networking allows you to connect personally with existing customers, but it also provides a platform for prospective clients to learn more about you and your brand.

Social media isn't always effective though. Some people only visit certain sites regularly because they enjoy interacting with friends and family members, rather than following brands. Others don't trust the authenticity of ads posted on social media channels due to poor experiences elsewhere. In order to succeed, it pays to test various forms of outreach on a small scale first before investing large amounts of resources.

Finally, you can also turn to advertising agencies and consultancies to help promote your business. These professionals typically specialize in leveraging paid advertisements to drive targeted traffic to particular sites. Depending on your budget and objectives, you can choose between banner adverts placed on third party websites, sponsored listings on Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, Twitter Promoted Tweets, YouTube videos, LinkedIn Sponsored Updates, etc.

What is generating leads on social media?

With over 2 billion active monthly users worldwide, Instagram is one of the largest social networks in existence today. As of June 2019, the photo sharing service boasts 1 million daily active users. Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has grown rapidly, becoming the second biggest app after WhatsApp by July 2017. With no official figures on total followers yet, it's estimated that the network currently counts 400 million accounts globally.

Instagram is primarily used to showcase personal photos, stories, and short video clips of everyday life. However, it works equally well for B2B marketers targeting influencers and industry experts. You can find thousands of individuals posting images and videos related to their fields of expertise every day. To make sure that your post reaches the right crowd, you can follow hashtags associated with your niche. These tags allow people to easily discover other relevant content posted by other users.

To increase engagement on Instagram, you can also share original content created by your team. Your fans will appreciate seeing creative visuals alongside informative articles and blog posts. Posting regular updates keeps your account fresh and interesting, encouraging people to return frequently. When considering how to generate leads on Instagram, remember to stick to consistent messaging and avoid spamming promotional material.

LinkedIn is another prominent social network widely used by professionals seeking connections. According to Statista, the professional networking service had 330 million registered members as of May 2018. Like Instagram, LinkedIn serves as both a place for job seekers to seek employment and a valuable resource for employers seeking talent.

You can leverage LinkedIn to connect with people in your field of expertise. Use the profile summary section to introduce yourself and explain why you're qualified to speak with prospective colleagues. Write compelling elevator pitches to entice people to read further and sign up for your newsletter. Don't forget to add additional contact details including phone numbers and email addresses to encourage interactions.

Like Instagram, LinkedIn doesn't support paid advertising. Instead, you must pay for access to premium features to boost your presence among professionals. A few examples include enhanced analytics, advanced reporting capabilities, custom audiences, etc.

What would you do to generate leads or sales?

Regardless of your chosen approach, there are three key elements that determine how successfully you execute your marketing plans. First, you need to develop clear goals that are measurable and achievable. Next, you need to know which techniques yield optimal results and which ones aren't worth your time. Finally, you must allocate adequate funding toward your campaign to maximize ROI.

When planning how to generate leads, think about your ideal customer. Who are they? Where do they spend their time online? Which websites do they frequent? Is there a specific demographic that attracts your attention? Knowing the answers to these questions helps you decide how to reach out to potential clients.

Here are a few ideas to get started:

- Create landing pages for your website dedicated to answering specific questions visitors might have. Keep these pages updated regularly to provide helpful tips and advice that resonate with your audience.

- Research competitors and identify areas where you excel compared to your rivals.

- Find blogs written by people in your industry. Contact authors individually to discuss how you could collaborate on future projects.

- Reach out to influential thought leaders and invite them to contribute to your publications.

- Consider hiring an expert consultant to guide you along the path to success. Their knowledge and experience can prove invaluable.

As long as you remain focused, diligent, and committed to implementing changes throughout the year, you shouldn't encounter major problems in growing your business. Remember, however, that any effort takes time and patience. Just because you haven't seen immediate results doesn't mean you won't eventually reap rewards down the road.