subject: The Selling Process: From Generating Sales Prospects To Finding Decision Makers [print this page] Lead generationis a practical means of enhancingsalesopportunities and to let the orders keep coming. But prior to sourcing outleads, its helpful to decide first where you will base your searchand especially in which particular industries. If ones solutions or products can be extensively utilised, then begin locally and target specific geographical localities, such as intheUK. For instance, if you have niche services, zero in on the specified firms.
So How to Source NewBusiness Leads?
a. Promotions.Making use of giving gifts to motivate and attract prospectivesales leadsin order to go to asalesmeeting or share their contact details.
b. Initiated leads. These are fromsalesprospects which either respond to mailshots (bulk mailadvertising sent through the mailto potential customersin theUnited Kingdomto advertise goods or services.--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mailshot), or visit your booth during trade expos.
c. Data mining. Searching for probablesales leadsinformationonline(for instance, a business database) which your firm has collected earlier.
d. Market monitoring. Monitoring media channels, like in Web forums and company PR.
e. Profile fitting. Utilising tools in market research in order to recognize prospective customers that would most probably be a suitable match for your firms market offerings.
Lead Qualification
The process of deciding ifsales leadshave the potential is calledlead qualification.Lead qualifyingis an important process since there are certain factors as to why mostleadswill not be successful and they include:
Lack of financial resources. Some might need your solutions but might not be able to afford them.
Prospects dont have the buying authority.Even if they want your products or services, if they are not the right people to eventually make the purchase, then its not aqualified lead.
Their needs are already met. Your prospects might previously have bought a similar product already, or theyre happy with their current suppliers services.
Speaking to the Right People
Normally, the key people you sell to is based on the size of its business. Buying decisions in smaller firms are usually carried out by the managers or owners themselves, whereas in bigger corporations, you might need to focus on some key persons. Though you may be redirected to some gatekeepers to speak with at first, in general, the best advice is to go for the decision makers as soon you can.
Here are some methods on targeting them in your business.
Be present at trade exhibits and talk to the staff on the booths of your target clients or business partners.
Call the company who are responsible for buying your solutions. Get ready with yoursalespitch, just in case youll be asked your reason for calling.
Make use of the Web. Your target firms website might have the contact information of the main members of the personnel.
It always pays to undertake some research to make sure that you know who or how to approach before you even formulate yoursalespitch. Now that you have grasped the whole process of selling, go on and look for your ownsalesorbusiness leads.
