360topline™ / perspectives on B2B sales lead generation.
360topline™ / perspectives
on B2B sales lead generation.
The dreaded lead generation cold call. A recent study revealed that 48 per cent of B2B sales reps fear making them. Even though sales forces are supposedly made up of outgoing extroverts who are happiest when approaching new prospects, the truth is, we’re all human. And none of us like the awkwardness that can result when
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Filling out an online form is about as exciting as watching paint dry, yet they’re a standard lead generation tactic for many B2B businesses. In essence their success depends on the willingness of people to spend time filling in blanks in order to receive something they perceive as valuable, whether that’s an article, a white
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Who doesn’t love getting invited to an event? If that event is tied to one’s career, with a timely topic and interesting speakers, there’s an added incentive to attend. Events are powerful for B2B lead generation. For businesses, hosting events is a great way to increase brand awareness, reach out to potential clients and generate
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Lead generation is the process of converting, and to some extent nurturing, business leads. The question of whether to hire an outside lead generation firm is one that confronts many businesses who might otherwise consider doing this in-house. Nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities and businesses who nurture leads make 50% more
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Once you’ve got a reliable B2B sales pipeline, your focus shifts from getting those leads to identifying, nurturing, and closing them in order to make sales. But not all sales leads are created equal. You shouldn’t spend the same amount of time on every one that comes across your doorstep. Many companies have great website traffic, visitor
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Think of how much it costs to buy a television ad to help you generate sales leads, and consider that, with a little tactical manoeuvring, you can get even better exposure on television without paying a dime. Not only do you save loads of money on advertising, but a single TV appearance can lead to
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Social media is a driving force in many facets of our daily lives and for B2B marketers social media platforms are now the number one content marketing tactic – ahead of blogs, articles, e-newsletters, videos, podcasts, white papers and case studies. In other words, if you’re not on it, you’re not in it. Yet some
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We know a thing, or hundreds, about successful LinkedIn lead generation campaigns. Why hundreds? We shipped 720 free coffee mugs to IT professionals across Canada who engaged with our LinkedIn campaign for Toshiba, as part of a larger LinkedIn sales lead generation campaign. Now what do free coffee mugs have to do with successful B2B
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Do you know whether your marketing is working? Whether it’s improving, or it needs assistance? Without a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) it’s impossible to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and determine whether you might need some lead generation assistance to boost B2B sales. KPIs exist in every industry, but some are
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You can lead a horse to water, but can you make it drink? That’s essentially what a sales team is up against when they are given B2B sales leads to convert. They might be used to dealing with pre-existing customers, but for a business to grow, sales teams must convince new prospects to buy from
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How many times has a sales person said that the B2B sales lead they received was unqualified, poor or just plain bad? Let’s face it, some sales leads really are poor. But many could be terrific if put in the hands of a well-equipped sales person who knows their business, has taken the time to
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No doubt you’ve heard about inbound marketing and outbound marketing. They’re often viewed as choices that a marketer makes when deciding how to generate B2B sales leads. Instead of thinking about this as a choice, it’s better to view them as complementary forces. Combining inbound and outbound forces can create a more cohesive – and
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Being active and engaging with new leads and prospects is a good way to fill your sales pipeline and garner new business, but how often are you measuring the performance of your B2B sales lead generation campaign? There are several metrics to track in lead generation. The key is to map out your goals and
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The typical customer lifecycle goes something like this: Target, Acquire, Support, and Retain. If a company can continue to offer the same level of product or service – or improve upon it – there should be no problem retaining them as a long-term customer, right? If only it were so simple. 360 Leads can help
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With every new platform come new ways to reach out to potential customers, and B2B company marketers have a wide selection of tactics to choose from when planning a strategy. Simply put, these tactics fall into two main categories – inbound and outbound lead generation tactics – though the two are often combined in an
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Why, hello there, Q2. How the heck did that happen? Spring has sprung, and summer is fast approaching. It’s time to think about those B2B sales lead generation goals you set back in January. Now’s the time to get things done before long, sunny days and vacations take us away from our desks (and phones).
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The majority of B2B content to generate leads is gated, meaning to get access to information, users must submit some of their personal details. But is this the best approach? Consider that once you’ve put the final touches on a white paper or a case study and you’re ready to unleash it on the world,
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There are warm B2B sales leads, hot sales leads and those that are just simply not really B2B sales leads at all. So, how do you know the difference between what’s hot and what’s not? “There are three main things to consider when determining the quality of an initial sales lead”, says Christine Britsas, Regional
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In a B2B lead generation campaign, low-tech tactics can offer serious upgrades to high-tech solutions – especially when it comes to results. Recently, Leigh-Ann Clarke, VP and General Manager of 360 Leads and our sister company, Clever Samurai covered this high-tech/low-tech topic in an article for Direct Marketing Magazine. Specifically, how a e-mail lead generation
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B2B sales lead generation comes in different forms. 360 Leads is fortunate to have varied means to support our clients in generating more qualified sales leads. One way that we’ve found successful has been through the production of online video, usually part of a broader sales lead generation campaign. According to Google, 70 per cent
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To thrive in today’s world, companies need to move beyond the customer journey. To reach their full potential and earn loyal clients for life, companies need to maintain a permanent presence in the lives of their customers, an endless relationship not confined to separate episodes of actively considering a purchase. This is as true for
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B2B Lead generation is a massive industry, with countless verticals capturing qualified leads that can be sold to companies looking to acquire new customers. But according to The Black Report, only 17.3 per cent of companies actually reach their lead generation targets. There are different lead generation verticals geared to different industries, but the most
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Lead generation buyer personas are shorthand for the different types of individuals most likely to buy your products or services – basically fictional examples of your ideal customers, like IT Irene, Mechanic Mike, or Builder Bryan. Why are they helpful? Because having a deep understanding of who your target sales leads are will increase the
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How many companies struggle with finding the answer of ‘how do I get my sales people to sell more?’ Maybe if I get them more sales appointments, get them more B2B sales leads, get them support from an inbound B2B sales lead generation program – yes, then they will sell more. All of that is
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The new year is for new beginnings and if your lead generation needs a reboot, now’s the right time to give it the attention it needs so the year ahead will be a success. Here are some helpful tips for the coming year. Review your successes (and flops) What were your goals for 2018? Did
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Your next customer is only a call away. That is, if you or your lead generation company picks up the phone. Needless to say, because of this, telemarketing or telesales gets a bad rep; those poorly-scripted calls are made in the hundreds if not thousands, from disengaged people focused on quantity and not quality. It’s
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It’s no surprise that living a healthier lifestyle often tops the list of New Year’s Resolutions year after year. Companies focused on B2B demand generation can also use this renewed focus to build a robust pipeline, garner more leads and improve sales making for a much healthier bottom line simply by committing to quality data. While it’s
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Sales lead generation has always been an inherently human activity but with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, companies are going to be rewiring their B2B lead generation tactics. Here are two key ways AI can assist marketers in capturing sales leads. Personalization Big data is being captured in unprecedented ways and in massive
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Whatever your sales and marketing funnel looks like, if you don’t get enough qualified sales leads, things will dry up and revenue will fall flat. If you are in this position, it might be time to consider hiring a lead generation company who will help combine sales lead generation and marketing strategy to help you
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Direct mail might seem so last century, but it has an enduring appeal, especially in this age of digital everything. Believe it or not, people enjoy taking a break, dimming their devices and picking up actual, physical mail. If nothing else, there’s an element of surprise, even though it’s sometimes tempered by disappointment. Still, being
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Everyone knows that getting as many sales leads as possible plays an extremely important role in having a thriving business. But, you shouldn’t focus all your attention on capturing new business leads, you should focus a majority of your attention on nurturing the leads you already have. Failing to nurture your current leads and leaving
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When generating B2B sales leads you’ll need to go to where the leads are, and nowadays, that’s on social media. According to the Black Report, social media accounts for 26.8% of a B2B company’s success. Using it to tap into interested prospects for your business can be a powerful resource. But what’s the best platform
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Despite the cold weather, there is a lot to feel warm about in February. From Valentine’s Day to Family Day, Lunar New Year for some cultures and even cheering on our nation’s team at the Winter Olympics, there is a great sense of building community and nurturing relationships. In lead generation, relationships are the basis for
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In one of our 360 Leads blog, we dispelled the negative connotations around telesales and explained why it’s an effective lead generation channel. No one knows this better than sales lead generation companies. They are on the front lines (and on the phone lines) putting this method into practice everyday for 360 Leads and our clients.
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There are five weeks left in 2017. Did you hit your targets? Have you increased your leads? Did you grow your business the way you envisioned? As the year comes to a close it may be time to re-evaluate your lead generation strategy – and it might start with partnering with a lead generation company. Only
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When in comes to sales leads, the best direct mail campaigns grab the attention of decision makers and make them want to meet with you. A sale practically signed, metaphorically sealed and delivered. The process however, of sealing a deal with direct mail takes some due diligence – and it starts with a lead generation
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Whoever came up with that familiar saying what’s old is new again might have been talking about customer win-back campaigns – or not. Either way, when it comes to sales, a win-back campaign should be a part of your sales lead generation program. According to research by Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits
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An effective B2B sales team turns leads into concrete wins, but a witch’s brew or a fairy godmother can’t make this happen overnight (no matter what time of the year it is). Monster sales effectiveness happens when there is a shift in thinking and not just by following a list of actions. How, you ask?
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Telesales can be the start of a successful lead generation campaign – when you have the right lead generation company working for you. The 360 Leads Black Report found that 44.7% of top performing companies rank telesales as their best lead generation channel. When you combine direct mail, digital marketing and a targeted campaign that gets your
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Winning new customers builds internal enthusiasm and turns B2B sales champions into company heroes. A Bain & Company study highlights that increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profitability by 25% to 95%. Within the US credit card industry, Forbes reports that providers deal with annual churn rates of 20%. Imagine the massive profitability of
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Brilliant marketers understand that qualified sales leads often start in the marketing department. According to The Black Report, a global sales lead generation study by 360 Leads, 72.8% of companies that excel at lead generation have a well-defined, clearly articulated value proposition. These companies know their story, and how to tell it. Articulating the difference
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If you’re wondering how you or your sales force can do a little better with their demand generation goals, you might be surprised to learn that sales effectiveness isn’t all about product knowledge. It’s about sales knowledge. And a lead generation company’s most successful clients have sales cultures that get it. And in turn, they
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A sales team is only as good as their pipeline. How your company obtains new B2B sales leads and grows existing clients is based on the opportunities, database and relationships your sales team has with qualified prospects. The biggest misconception is that a full pipeline is a healthy pipeline. That is not always the case.
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In The Black Report™, our global study on sales lead generation, marketers selected digital lead generation as their top lead generation channel, while salespeople selected outbound telesales as their top channel. We say they’re both right, but the important question remains: how do you turn digital traffic into real bona fide sales leads? The key
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Telemarketing. Some might classify it as the underbelly of B2B sales and marketing, filled with companies using offshore low-cost, high-volume call centres and reciting poorly developed scripts trying to sell something that somebody doesn’t really want. This lead generation stereotype has created a fear in many marketers of using the telephone as a sales and
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There is no question that being the #1 brand in your category is what every company strives for. Some of our clients are exactly that and some are trying hard to be. And because we serve both types of clients as a lead generation company, we can tell you that if you’re smart about your
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To the uninitiated, direct mail is junk mail. It’s simply flyers, postcards and papers that end up in the garbage. ‘Light your money on fire’, ‘it’s the digital age’, ‘direct mail doesn’t work’, they say. We hate to burst the naysayers’ bubble, but they are just flat wrong – direct mail can generate leads. That
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When it comes to new sales leads, the right data lists are crucial. Inaccurate data could mean an out-of-date list or worse, improper targeting. In The Black Report™, our global sales lead generation study, 36.8% of respondents rated data list quality issues as a key barrier to success. There is no question that the best prospect
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Quality sales leads come from quality data. The Black Report™ found that 36.8% of respondents think data list quality issues are a major reason company lead generation programs don’t deliver enough qualified sales leads. But that can change. For long-term company growth, it’s important to maintain your sales data health by scrubbing for quality and investing
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Sales leads are critical to every company’s survival. Some buyers don’t require much effort to close because they know what they want, but these quick win sales are a small percentage of the larger whole. Most leads don’t convert into sales, and poor sales lead generation nurturing can be blamed for that. Leaving new sales
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