Is Modern Lead Generation Effective?
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This week we're going to talk about modern lead generation and whether or not it is effective. The answer to that depends on a lot of variables. But in general, we're going to examine the effectiveness of lead generation in today's world and talk about some of the old-school tactics that could work. Combined with
today's technology tools to drive Digital Prospecting, which has continued to advance.
The first thing to really look at here is the meaning of modern sales. Modern sales should be measured by engagement, not activity generation. Prospecting is going to be more successful when we increase engagement. We focus a little too much on activity generation, which I would refer to as lead generation or demand generation. All those things are important, however, we need to find new prospects and customers for our businesses. How you do it, and how you think about it are really important.
Look at Modern Sales in Terms of Engagement Levels.
How well are we communicating to our prospects versus just simply generating activity? It's very easy to generate activity now with all the tools that we have. What's more difficult, but can be accomplished equally with these tools, or better, is the level of engagement that we drive with our customers and prospects. There is an old-school formula that I used for years, it says that sales equals activity times effectiveness, S=AxE. I think if it was written as S=exE (e=Engagement, E=Effectiveness), it would better represent modern sales. Challenge yourselves on a day-to-day basis to drive engagement effectiveness versus activity effectiveness.
Stop the lead generation mindset and really assess what prospecting actually is. It's a process that builds engagement with the right people at the right time with the right message. So building messaging is a very critical aspect of digital prospecting. When you think about what differentiates you from other organizations it's likely not price or service. It's the unique factors in the people and processes that you have in your business that we need to get down and out so that people genuinely realize the uniqueness of what you do because it's there, it lives within your businesses and it is very much part of your
sales process, or should be. Then start to build genuine relationships from there. That's the key. Getting to
trust quickly, engaging and building that warmth, and being very customer and process-centric. Lead generation automatically takes the mindset that it's about us and our process and how much we can put in front of a person that may or may not be relevant versus being customer-centric. The lead gen mindset is really about us not them.
Here are a few tips to build an engagement mindset into your sales process:
- It is ALIVE! - Prospecting is very much alive. It looks a lot different than it did even two or three years ago. It is just a question of how well you engage with the right people.
- STOP the Lead Generation Mindset - The lead generation is about you and not about the prospect or customer. Change the mindset.
- Personalize It - Build genuine warmth into your inbound and outbound processes.
- Customer & Prospect Centric - Make sure you understand their needs, pain, and goals. Do your research, but do not overdo it. Time is your most valuable resource.
- Communicate - Use active listening, this is your most important communication skill.
- Data, Data, Data - Do you want to have a better idea of which direction to lead sales efforts? Use your data. Geography, demographics, product mix (80/20 rule), margin (gross and net), sales rep margin, sales rep top-line etc....
- Tech Savvy - If you are in sales in any capacity you need to constantly improve your tech skills and knowledge.
- Collaborate - Sales growth can no longer be worked in a silo, Understand voices from other disciplines in the company.
- Pivot - Change is the only constant, but the pace of change is what humans struggle to keep up with. Be ready to change direction as dictated by tech tools and data.
- Learn - Always be learning. Challenge yourself to learn a new tech tool or CRM module each month.
