Lead Generation Stacks...

Lead Generation

You need prospects, good prospects (who doesn't). A thorough marketing plan ideally hits all the channels: cold calling, trade shows, partnering, direct mail, radio, digital marketing, whatever.

There are two I want to drill into…

1) Cold Calling

2) Digital/ Technology

Cold calling or going to your prospect is still the best form of selling. In the business divisions I work with, our lead sales person has sold (3 years running) 3+ million dollars in months, while other divisions are sluggish on meeting the sales quotas. The difference— we have the person on the road 3 weeks of the month. Simply cannot deny the effectiveness of it. Here’s why:

• Email inboxes are easy to ignore and are flooded

• Instant yes or no when in person or on the phone

• Be deliberate in your tonality. (You can't in an email)

• Fastest method to conversation (law of straight lines)

• Instant feedback on your pitch and message-market-fit

• Its expensive to travel, so a lot of businesses don't do it, or can't do it

There is also the human side of things. People buy from people. They buy from people they like. People who are local. People supporting people, ideas, movements or things. They like buying from people they like. They like win-win-win opportunities.

In manufacturing, it could take a year or more to build a relationship to maturity and make a sale. People get married faster than some prospects convert into sales.

So don’t completely let go of the human touch (or voice) in this digital age.

Digital lead generation could not possibly be covered in a single post. I am simply going to leave some interesting things I have found for stacking your competitive edge and getting your lead-gen brain cells pumped.

• Hunter: With all the email / spam security stuff going around, I was surprised there is actually business around just giving out contact info and confirming emails. But if you know which business or person you are targeting this is spectacular.

• CRM: duh. Just google this, if you cannot find suitable CRM from page 1, don’t do business.

• mapmycustomers

• 6sense some data about market leaders in the lead gen space… but the site itself is lead gen for tech..

•  openphone is a digital phone number system that can work for team communication and lead generation management, including SMS.

• leadfeeder and clearbit seem like analytics with superpowers. I have not tried either, but it’s interesting that it can tell you what company is reviewing your website.

• Hyper targeted social media ads. I once heard a story (might be true, might not, the story still works) of a girl who broke up with her boyfriend or something and wanted to get back at him, so she created an ad with her revenge buddy and then targeted the ex. Age, interests, location, whatever - she got that picture in front of the ex. Bang up explanation of knowing intimately your target and how to reach them.

• Partnerships are incredible value propositions when you and a partner have some market overlap. Win-win-win.

Branding. It’s telling you something without telling you anything. Do you have it?

Branding is hard because it is such an ongoing thing. People think of branding as a color or a font or a logo, but it’s more.

It’s the feeling when you see it and interact with it and get from it.

Nike doesn’t make you feel like you're wearing cool shorts; it makes you feel like an athlete.

Lululemon and Ugg. make you feel like a billionaire yogi in lycra and wool.

Toyota makes a truck that has a cult of people with a secret society called tacos.

And that’s the secret… good branding creates a cult-affect. A bunch of people who simply want to wear the logo to be seen “in good company.”

Universities, cities, sports teams, and energy drinks can do it;

why can you?

Basically, people are lazy.

Whether you’re integrating new hires or new systems, trying to capture leads, or moving a customer along a funnel, the more you align the experience with a natural, obvious, “common sense,” progression… the more easily they interact.

Ie. native advertising is a great example of this. Almost indectable that offers are being presented.

So if people are going to simplify everything they see, you should get there first and make what you offer super digestible for them. They’re language, colors, style, something that feels like home.

And when you win, you’ll know, just like the guy who created, “Flappy Bird [a thread],” an app so addicting he was making $50k /month and then felt guilty. It was eventually shut down because of the amount attention it was brining.

So simple, so addicting.

Or you could use their computer and get another POV like this guy did:

Other options yet:

• See how they treat wait-staff and

• Drive with them during rush hour.

Some people have no chill, the Karen’s, if you will.

How people react when sh*t is falling apart says a lot about them. The same pressure cracks pipes and creates diamonds. How the situation is handled is what determines if you are left with a mess to clean up or if you look too shiny to be true.

Regardless, one of my favorite things to do is watch people use computers or see how their browsers are set up. It is indeed fascinating to watch and see what people do differently than I do or snoop on what tabs they have open and programs they like to use.

I also use it in screening candidates for roles I’m hiring, particularly if they are entry level. It gives an indication of how fluent they are with computers and taking direction.