6 Tips to Jumpstarting B2B Lead Generation

Having a steady supply of new leads increases the productivity of your salespeople and gives them the resources they need to crush sales quotas. Lead generation is the driver of sales growth but it needs to be maintained and constantly improved to succeed. Whether you are a startup or a Fortune 500 Corporation, these 6 lead generation tips will help make sure you get the most out of your lead generation efforts.

Tip 1: Target Leads Wisely

Why spend time on the wrong leads? Targeted leads that are responsive, interested, and valuable to your sales team will improve your lead generation efforts.

Find target segments that maximize your ability to grow inside sales and enable your salespeople to crush quotas. Take a look at your current targeting demographics. How long do leads take to convert to sales? How much lead nurturing is required?

Tip 2: Test, Test, Test

Testing your targeting criteria will yield targeted segments that are more responsive to your B2B lead generation campaigns. As your lead generation campaign progresses, the data and feedback from salespeople will provide useful insight on how to improve your targeting.

To find valuable leads to target look at the data, use both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis includes looking at how well your product/service can successfully address their needs, or how proactive they are throughout the sales process. Quantitative analysis includes looking at response rates, meeting, demo rates, closing rates and deal sizes.

This information gives you insight on how a target segment reacts to your sales efforts. Depending on the product/service you are selling, consistent testing can be used to better align your lead generation efforts to maximize the performance of your sales team.

Tip 3: Sales Cycles Matter

The average sales cycle of a target segment is a good indicator of how valuable it is to your sales team. Different types of deals require varying degrees of time and effort, and it is important to weigh the sales cycle against the value of those accounts.

To make the most out of your salespeople’s time and lead generation effort, find the optimal balance between the number of deals, size of the deals and length of the sales cycle to inform your lead generation process. Optimizing this improves the effectiveness of your lead generation efforts to drive sales growth.

Tip 4: Pick Targeted Themes

Selecting themes that are relevant to the leads you’re targeting will improve the performance of your lead generation efforts. Focus on  specific pain points or benefits in each of your messages. Building a sequence of targeted message will keep your lead generation efforts relevant to prospects and valuable, rather than vague and annoying.

With defined themes driving each email, call, or connection request your messaging will be more relevant. Not only does this better position your salespeople, it also helps them address questions and objections pertaining to each specific theme.

In addition, connecting with a theme helps you identify which message resonates the best to target prospects. Get periodic insight from your sales team to build out a collection of themes that can be incorporated and tested in your outreach . Once you find the messages that really resonate, you will see an increase in the number of leads your campaigns generate.

Tip 5: Leverage Your Network

With social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, social selling is becoming a powerful lead generation tactic. By being an engaged and valuable part of a target prospect’s network, building rapport and showcasing your product/service through a profile, personal message, or shared content, valuable leads can be generated.

Using this channel for lead generation puts the salesperson’s network as a source of leads and new sales opportunities in the future. It is also helpful for building authority and expertise by sharing valuable content and is often seen as less intrusive as other outbound B2B lead generation tactics.

Tip 6: Plug Those Holes

Lead generation and sales is a complex process. Plugging holes in your process can be difficult because it isn’t easy to identify which factors are causing problems.

Poor performance can be due to something small like your calls to action in messaging, or something systemic like incorrect targeting. Periodically reviewing each stage of the sales process helps you find areas that can be improved and prioritize what pitfalls to fix.

Regular interaction with your salespeople and performance analysis helps to reveal insights on targeting lead generation strategies and the sales process.

Conclusion

Successful B2B lead generation requires good collaboration. Finding qualified sales leads is only one step in the process. To make the most out of your outbound B2B sales efforts, it is crucial to use a lead generation process that that is targeted, scalable and keeps your salespeople selling, rather than stuck in non-selling activities.

By refining your B2B lead generation strategy and focusing on consistent improvement, you will ensure your sales team has a regular supply of valuable leads to help them crush sales quotas and unlock scalable sales growth that produces long-term, predictable revenue growth.