"All customers are good customers" - Of course not! Not all are. Especially in b2b - (business to business) businesses.
Think "Pareto". Use of Pareto Law is applicable when we talk about sales. The classic "20% of customer acquisition activities will generate 80% of sales (new revenue)" - usually portrays most of the results of companies' acquisition efforts.
However there is a huge opportunity to optimise and manage lead generation activities.
Lead (pronounced "liid") is nothing more than a future customer. Their buying potential is still unknown. But this potential exists. That is why it is called a lead.
You must qualify leads to determine if they have the resources, the desire or need and that they are decision makers with the power to buy your products and services.
Generating bad leads is nefarious for sales as you will spend an enormity of time that will lead nowhere. Just frustration.
But before you qualify leads you need to generate leads!
When deciding which methods will work best for your organisation, you need to be clear about the type of leads you would like to attract.
Enter the creation of the Ideal Customer Profile that will direct your activities in the lead generation plan.
The following questions are a stimulus in this regard for attracting b2b customers:
- What is the size of the companies you prefer to work for?
- On average, how many employees do they have?
- What market segment do these organisations operate in?
- Who specifically will be buying your products / services and what is their position within the company?
- Where are these companies located geographically?
- What is the differential that your company offers?
- What types of organisations will be attracted by this differential?
- What do your best clients have that you would like to replicate in others?
- Which of your existing customers were the easiest to convert?
- What similarities do these customers have?
Therefore, having a well-defined profile of your "ideal customer" will determine which methods to use for lead generation.
The more finely tuned that process is, the better leads you will get, the bigger and 'easier' your sales will be.
This is a question that seems obvious. But rarely does a typical company in our country have well defined processes to draw up this profile. However the effort is well worth it.
In practice
- Profile your corporate client using the list above.
- Research the best channels to access this market profile.
