Like the flower needs the rain, as the song goes, every business requires the best methods to earn profits. However, with tight competition, fluctuating economic status, and changing consumer behavior, no business can abscond failure, whether it be short-term or long-term. It is a must, therefore, that companies should convert each transaction as a close deal, or, in other words, an almost sale. Nowadays, sales lead the backs-up business to ensure that future economic benefits will flow to the entity.
As defined, sales leads are contacts a seller searches to make a deal or appointment either for providing services or goods, or both. This is being considered the first step in the sales process.
The next question speaks like this, “How to generate leads?” Lead generation comes in many forms and its success greatly lies in how an entity utilizes its resources to achieve company goals. More often than not, answering the question means choosing whether to transact business directly to end customers (business to customer or B2C) or to another business entity (business-to-business or B2B).
With individuals as prospects, it involves emotional involvement (knowing how buyers think what’s best for them), lesser risks, and lower revenue (one individual usually is tantamount to one sale). In contrast, B2B will involve a large sum of money, which, in turn, is tantamount to greater risks. Moreover, purchasers usually buy in bulk sales. One sales lead is equivalent to a high income.
Whether to use telemarketing depends on the nature of the business. Real estate will most likely seek home buyers. A software company will go for businesses. Land sellers will cater to both individuals and businesses.
It is to be noted that any company should find leads in solid and reliable sources. Internet information sometimes lacks trustworthiness and the possibility of those contents faked is high. Nobody knows if a child filled-up the form or that a circumspect user hides his/her true identity. While the Internet might not be trusted, networking could be an option to access details of possible contacts.
Another thing to consider is the process of generating these leads. Would it be better to use the company’s own resources or to outsource and let another business do the task? It takes a lot of analysis on what decision is best for the company. The bottom line is that benefits should exceed the cost.
In a company-owned lead generation, the business will provide another building for the salespeople. In addition, it needs to train a group of people who will contact the prospects, assign a manager who will supervise the operations, and in some cases, install technical machinery, e.g. a telephone system. Equally important, payment for the monthly overhead costs will be added to periodical expenditures. Lastly, it would buy some time before lead generation commences.
On the contrary, when the company opts to outsource, the advantages outweigh its defects. The company outsourced has expert human resources who will give the desired leads in a span of time according to the desires of the business. Quicker lead generation, no overhead costs, building infrastructure, and training additional employees are out of the picture, including the manager. Paying the company outsourced per sales lead or in aggregate is one of the few things that the business has to worry about. In direct contrast, outsourcing lead generation tends to be cost-effective, more productive, and provide faster results. Needless to say, this will give the company a considerable amount of time to craft the best method for the presentation of its products. It is then in the company’s best interest to pick a good-performing lead generating entity.
The world is under constant evolution and businesses are subjects of a see-saw battle. The best weapon for every entity is to pay attention to the factors affecting these transitions and always think creatively, analytically, and critically. It is therefore a firm’s primary responsibility to generate sales leads for two reasons; stability and growth. Like the winter needs the spring, as the song goes.