6 point 'start-up checklist' before you launch into Lead Generation Programs

     A lot of my customers ask me, “What would you need from our side before you launch a lead generation program for us”. I thought this info would be useful to a larger audience, so decided to post it as a blog. Well here it is :

1) Company Brand and Messaging

  a) Be clear about what the ‘high level messaging’ of the company is going to be. Have   your boiler plates/company overview slides ready in word/powerpoint

  b) Be ready with ‘elevator pitches’ and customize them, based on the audience that you are trying to reach

  c) Have ‘calling scripts’ done and rehearsed. If you are engaging in telemarketing, you are going to get no longer than 10 secs to make a first impression. As you progress, you may or may not refer to these, but it is useful to internalize them amongst your teams.

2) Company Offerings in terms of products/services offered

   a) Have offering documents ready for what you offer in terms of products/services. These could be in the form of PDF brochures/Powerpoint presentations

   b) Make sure to incorporate “How do you do it” sections, which will give confidence to your prospective customers that you are all ready to work for their requirement.

   c) Be ready with your ‘engagement models’ and ‘commercial models’. You may not  expose them during the first interactions, but will need them pretty soon. If you do not have them ready, this will waste precious time of a warm prospect.

3) Set achievable targets from the program

   a) So that you can measure progress, analyse results.

   b) Monitor initial results and initial discussions to validate your hypothesis about the target market.

4) Have a clear plan for lead nurturing

   a) A lot of leads will move into lead nurturing programs that you will need to run for extended periods of time. Have a plan ready to continuously engage with these potential prospects that are not yet ready to do business with you.

5) Create a target prospect list and engage in primary/secondary research

   a) Cold ‘Cold calling’ will hardly achieve any results. You need to be relevant for the person/company that you are calling. Find out ‘why’ and’ how’ your products / services can be relevant for them

   b) Focus on business value to the prospective customer, not just on parameters like cost & quality.

6) Have patience – loads of it

   a) Remember that consistency pays, not individual brilliance

All the very best for your programs

Any more thoughts – feedback welcome

Regards
Atul 

http://www.xenia-consulting.com/

Linked IN – http://www.linkedin.com/companies/1015090
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Achieve a sales closure in every client interaction

In every client interaction, you are usually selling something. Based on you closing all these conditional sales, the client eventually gives you the coveted PO and buys your product/service.

It is important to set expectations and objectives very clearly ahead of every client interaction. A set of expectations should be set for yourself and a bit conservative estimate should be reserved for your management as well, which is usually waiting for the sales closure.

For a typical product/service sale situation, here are some sample conditional sales that a sales person will have to go through
1)Customer accepts to receive more information from you, shares his email and other information
2) Based on information sent by you, customer accepts and commits to spend more time on a more detailed conversation/meeting regarding the product/service (to understand)
3) Based on the understanding of what you offer, customer shares his current concerns, problems that he is facing and gives you an opportunity to solve his problem
4) Based on your response (RFI/RFP) or demos, customer agrees to share more data, that will make the solution more relevant to his needs
5) You submit an estimate/price proposal and gain conditional acceptance from the customer to find out if it is as per his expectations
6) Negotiate to close the gaps and eventually close the sale.

A lot of sweat and efforts will go in every step, but it is good to warm up your client in every interaction and enjoy every moment of sales success (in every conditional sales). After all closing a sale is a tough job and expecations are very high.

All the best !
Atul
http://www.xenia-consulting.com/



Linked IN – http://www.linkedin.com/companies/1015090
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=129562663721686
Twitter - https://twitter.com/xeniaconsulting