Lead Generation - 5 Ways to improve Sales

So you're looking for more sales leads? Right, who isn't? Actually, I have come across businesses who have never managed to scale their processes, so they generally get more sales leads than they can successfully handle and convert into sales.

This typically reflects a lack of scalable system or process within the business and is generally an exception, so on the whole it is fair to say most businesses are looking for more leads.

Here's our top five tips to generating more sales leads;

1. Get referrals from your current customers

When was the last time you pinged your current clients, thanked them for their business, and asked for help in generating more business?

Referrals are effective, but for some reason, most don't implement it effectively. Here's some steps to get you started;

1. Ping the client with a voicemail or an email and ask for a 10-minute conversation. You might want to check with your team they have no outstanding issues.
2. Thank the client for their business, explain that you value your relationship and you're always interested in making it more valuable to them.
3. Ask if there are any other contacts or companies she can think of that would be interested in the same level of service.
4. Get the name, phone number, and email of the contact, and why your they think this will be a good fit.
5. Ask if they can tee you up with a quick introduction email.
6. Extra credit: If you can, send them a handwritten note or small item like a T-shirt thanking them for the referral. Little touches go a long way.

2. Work with your personal network.

Working your personal network is an often overlooked option that is fairly easy to get started with because you have built-in trust.

You'll be surprised how many people you already know that have the potential to be a lead generation machine.

In today's busy world, you have gym buddies, work colleagues, family, friends and neighbours, and more. If you're at a point in your relationship where you can talk business, let potentially useful acquaintances know that you're looking for new leads.

Identify the type of company you're looking for (size, employee number, revenue amount, location, etc.) and send them an email they can forward to make the connection.

Of course, mixing personal and professional like this can be tricky but it is a great way of broadening your reach.

3. Use social media to find people you can help

Most salespeople are on a social media platform, but may not be using it effectively for generating top-of-the-funnel activity. Social media can be a salesperson's dream to connect in a high-value, low-effort way to find interested prospects.

Make sure your LinkedIn Profile looks professional:

1. Post a professional, relatively current picture that reflects your professional stature.
2. Try to connect with as many people as you can. The more connections you have, the wider your reach will be. You don't have to be best friends with the people you connect to. Tangential connections can be amongst the best for potential prospects.
3. Post in the "Share an Update" section you're currently looking to identify and help a specific type of prospect with a specific type of problem by a specific date. For example, "We are looking to work with three new commercial integrator companies by 1st January 2020, that are interested in growing their business in the UK".
4. Get three recommendations from current clients demonstrating high-quality work that can vouch for your value, professionalism, and effectiveness.
5. Broaden your professional brand to Facebook for Business, Twitter and Snapchat and do the same.

4. Write a blog article and share it on LinkedIn

Most people think of blogging as a structured and difficult way of writing an essay and writing is up there with public speaking on the list of things that people hate and fear.

But blogging is just a conversation and blog topics can be as simple as answering the standard questions about your product or service that you do every day, such as

"The Beginner's Guide to Pro Audio"

"5 Things You Need to Know About Digital Signage"

"Commercial Audio: Expectation vs Reality"

"The next big thing in LED lighting"

"AV explained in less than 140 characters"

In fact if you're really struggling, take advantage of the Blog Ideas Generator from Hubspot here.

5. Attend Networking Events

Attending networking events should be part of your routine because they're a great way to drum up business.

Below are four basics to remember before you dive into networking:

1. It's about mingling and being human and having fun. Don't take things too seriously!
2. Explaining your "always helping" philosophy face-to-face is usually a pretty big differentiator.
3. Bring business cards to hand to your new acquaintances.
4. Offer to connect on LinkedIn from your phone while you're standing next to someone. Ask would you like to connect on LinkedIn? If they say yes, just hand them your phone and say, "Can you find yourself and connect?", which makes things a lot easier.

Generating new leads is a foundation stone of a stable business. I often meet businesses who are working with existing customers that are misaligned or they do no enjoy working with. My response is typically the same, "if you don't like the business you have, generate new business with the kind that you want, and of course that means working with more new leads".