Is your calendar full of sales appointments? If the answer is no, then you should probably continue reading.
The businesses that are going to hit or exceed their annual sales targets are the ones with a healthy pipeline of opportunities that are likely to be converted into new clients. but the question is, how do you get there?
For all businesses that have survived the global pandemic, hitting and exceeding sales targets is going to be imperative as part of their own personal recovery, along with the economy.
Whilst the pandemic itself was tough on most of us, it did teach us how to adapt to technological advances. Furthermore, it demonstrated that not all sales meetings need to be conducted on-site. As salespeople, this is a fantastic opportunity to allow you to fill your diary with more meetings than you previously could with the reduction of travel time.
In a recent study by McKinsey & Company, they found that “more than three quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions.” With this new mindset, we’re primed to spend more time engaging with prospects over Teams, Zoom or Google Hangouts. In order to do so though, you need to have a pipeline of prospects to engage with in the first place!
An effective lead generation strategy focused on targeting the prospects that you want to sell to, and the ones that want to buy from you is therefore needed to start filling your diary. So how do you achieve this?
Building the Right Data Set
Any effective lead generation strategy relies upon initially building out the right data set, which means knowing your customers and your prospects.
There are 4 Things to consider when building your prospect data list.
Once you have understood your data, the foundations are set for your outbound lead generation campaign.
Prepare Your Lead Generation Campaign
It won’t be the first time that you’ve heard that preparation is key. With any effective lead generation strategy, taking the time to prepare will ultimately yield a higher return once you go live with your outbound marketing.
Whichever marketing strategy you are using, whether it is email marketing, telemarketing, cold calling, utilising lead magnets, LinkedIn prospecting or any routes, carefully prepare and plan out each phase of your campaign. Even the best lead generation tactics fall short when not executed in an organised manner.
Engage With Your Prospects at All Levels
Develop your lead generation strategy in a way that allows you to engage with your prospects at all levels.
By using messaging that will relate to each of your prospects, you will demonstrate a deep understanding of their industry.
Furthermore, your prospects will be able to easily identify the ways in which you can help them.
Whether you’re a cleaning company, marketing agency or firm of accountants, you’ll have several messages that will resonate with different levels of prospects. By understanding these, you can then begin to prospect with relevancy.
Regularly Review & Adapt
If you have the right technology in place, reviewing your marketing and lead generation efforts can be relatively easy. What is important, is that you use the data that you’re being supplied to enhance your ongoing campaigns.
Email Marketing Stats from Sequential Campaigns conducted by The Lead Gen Specialists.
If you compare the above stats to a study by MailChimp – https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/ (where the average open rate is 21.33% and the average click rate is 2.62%) you can see that both the open and engagement rates are far superior. Therefore, showing that your data, subject lines and content are all working effectively for you.
By understanding your data, proposition and the messages that are likely to resonate with your target audience, you to be able to get ahead of the competition.
And finally, when appointment setting, don’t be afraid to ask for an appointment. Once you have demonstrated that you know what you’re talking about, sometimes, asking for an appointment is all that is needed!
If you would be interested in finding out more about how The Lead Gen Specialists can work with you to help fill your calendar with sales meetings, get in touch today on 03332 400 054 or email enquiries@leadgenspecialists.co.uk
