Who Do I Sell To?

There are two different strategies for 0:00 coming up with a list of leads, lead generation and prospecting. 0:02 With both prospecting and lead generation you are searching for 0:06 a prospective customer. 0:09 Your differences lie in the approach. 0:11 With lead generation, you're focusing more on customer cultivation and nurturing. 0:13 Whereas with prospecting, 0:19 you're trying to fill up your sales funnel as soon as possible. 0:20 Let's start with lead generation. 0:23 Your goal with lead generation should be to generate awareness about your 0:26 product or service, and to generate qualified leads slowly over time. 0:30 Let's take a step back, though. 0:34 What are leads? 0:36 A lead is a person who has indicated, in some way, interest in your 0:38 company's product or service, most often by providing you with contact information. 0:42 With lead generation, you're primarily going to engage in activities that 0:47 inform the customer, increase brand awareness, and position your offering at 0:51 the top of their minds when they're ready to engage in the sales funnel. 0:56 A lot of the activities we talked about in the marketing section, 1:00 things like inbound marketing, social media engagement, and 1:03 others, are all activities that help you build leads. 1:06 With prospecting on the other hand, 1:10 there is a more urgent need to fill up the sales funnel. 1:12 The end goal is the same. 1:15 Ending up with a list of qualified leads, but the activities are totally different. 1:17 You engage in activities that provide quicker results. 1:22 Things like purchasing mailing lists or 1:25 business directories, attending networking events and conferences, and so on. 1:27 As we mentioned earlier, your objectives are the same. 1:32 With lead generation, you're essentially playing the long game. 1:35 And with prospecting, you want quick results. 1:38 Depending on the situation, you use one or 1:41 both strategies to optimize your sales goals. 1:44 Lead generation works better when, you want to build awareness of your product or 1:47 service among your potential customer base before you reach out to them directly. 1:52 You're not in a rush to build leads and can invest time into 1:58 activities that establish you as a thought leader and increase your brand awareness. 2:00 You want to invest in a strategy that builds a constant flow of leads. 2:06 You want to engage with qualified leads that are warmer. 2:10 Now, a qualified lead is someone who is both indicated that they're interested in 2:13 your product or service and who has the ability to make a purchasing decision. 2:18 On the other hand, prospecting works better when, 2:23 you need to fill up your sales pipeline to hit your quarterly goals. 2:26 You need a more aggressive strategy. 2:30 You want to focus your efforts on small identified niches of customers. 2:33 You aren't concerned with brand awareness prior to engagement. 2:38 And you are comfortable engaging directly with customers and 2:42 convincing them directly on your value proposition. 2:45 It does not matter if you have qualified or warm leads to begin with. 2:48 The strategy you use depends on your business, time frame and goals. 2:53 You can use either strategy, or a combination of both. 2:58 Regardless of the strategy that you use, one of your initial objectives is to 3:02 whittle down your list of leads, to obtain qualified ones. 3:06 What are qualified leads again? 3:10 Now we said that a lead was a person, 3:12 was has indicated in some way, interest in your company's product or service. 3:14 A qualified lead, then, is someone who is not only interested but 3:19 has provided further information that allows us to 3:22 convert them to paying customers much easier. 3:25 Do they have a budget to make a purchase? 3:28 Are they a decision maker in the purchasing process? 3:31 Do they have a need for your product or service? 3:34 And have they specified a time frame during which they can make that purchase? 3:37 Unlike certain industries, 3:42 prospecting doesn't do too well when it comes to web products and services. 3:43 Lead generation, through inbound marketing, generates better results but 3:47 takes more effort. 3:52 So, why bother with qualifying our leads? 3:53 Now on a per-lead basis, basic leads, 3:57 even though they cost less than qualified leads, lead to a very low conversion rate. 4:00 Therefore a greater investment is required on our part to convert these 4:05 leads to customers. 4:09 With qualified leads however, since the conversion rates are much better, 4:11 we have a much better return on investment. 4:14 When you engage with a lead, you need to take them from being a lead, 4:17 to a qualified lead, to a paying customer. 4:21 This isn't a one-step process and 4:24 is what separates the skilled sales people from the pack. 4:26 And that's what we're going to get into next when we 4:29 talk about sales presentations 4:32