Most sales training books and courses spend a lot of time on closing the sale, but very little time is spent on discussing the leads that, well, lead to those sales. Every sales process begins with generating leads, so the more you know about sales leads, the more profitable your small business can be.
Are you able to name the number of leads you got over the last month? Most people can answer that question with a handful of leads that have high potential or resulted in a sale, but a large number of potential leads fall out of the process, sacrificing possible sales.
Why does it matter? Because a company spends so much time and money to get leads, the more you know about them, the more profitable the business will become. And, wouldn’t it be worth it to use some of the things you learn about your leads to cut marketing costs or the time you spend getting leads?
First, you need to be able to track specific information about how you get leads. Below are some questions to ask to get started:
1. What is the main venue through which you get your leads? Before a lead becomes a lead, they are only prospects – someone who visits your website or that you meet at a networking group. Your job is to identify those venues you use to collect your prospects, such as trade shows, meet-up groups, advertising, or your website.
2. Next, what are the more particular sources your leads come from? For example, specific sources could be a particular trade show, an online blog a direct advertising campaign, an existing client referral or a pay per click advertising campaign.
3. How would you rank the quality value of each of those leads from your source and specific source? The best way I have found to pinpoint this is to assign a percent value to each lead. So a lead that is just kicking the tires gets a lower percentage value assignment than one that you send a proposal to or even ultimately sell.
You will be able to spend your marketing budget and your time much more efficiently once you understand where you leads come from and the quality of those leads.
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