Uncommon Ways to Generate Leads
Generating new leads can seem like an uphill struggle even if you enjoy a challenge. Being in the sales business means using your previous experience to help you along, but of course you can’t rest on your laurels.
So how do you generate new leads? There are the tried and tested ways such as cold calling, a monthly newsletter and ad words advertising with search engines.
But here are a few methods which are taking off in the sales world.
Image Source – Anna Dziubinska (CC Licence)
Promote your clients
Increase your leads by promoting your existing clients. Much like introducing a friend of a friend, you can gather and reach out to more potential leads who originally knew your client before finding you. Giving them an audience can build awareness of your own profile.
One of the best ways to generate leads is sharing information and yet surprisingly few people think of using their existing clients to help them and you get further exposure.
Product video
It may sound like a classic, but there’s a clear difference between a good informative video and a clichéd commercial.
Spend a little time and effort into making sure your video is professional, clear and articulate. And keep it short!
Places like StumbledUpon are great for helping your video go viral.
Speak at an event
Take yourself out of your normal environment and bring your sales to the public. Spread your sales offer at a rage of events:
- Trade shows
- Conferences
- Conventions
- Industry events
By speaking at an event you are immediately giving yourself credit and a public face that your leads can remember for example. ‘Oh yes, I remember that talk on X Y and Z’. It’s a far better way of standing out from the crowd than online interaction as your leads can not only hear you but see you and you can directly answer their concerns.
Guest writer
It’s good to have a blog with regular content on it. But a way of freshening up the content is to get in a relevant and experienced Guest Writer to contribute a post to your site. Not only does it give your readers a break from your regular content (and let’s face it, intentionally or not you will always be bias to your business), but a Guest Writer can boost leads for you without being obvious.
Image Source – Luis Llerena (CC Licence)
Simply having another person talk about a relevant topic to your business is a great way of getting people interested in what you have to offer rather than throwing unsubtle adverts at them.
LinkedIn publishing
Since LinkedIn introduced publishing to its programme, it has gathered over one million members. So it’s safe to say it’s worth adding your voice to this new online platform!
LinkedIn has a reputation for being the Facebook for professionals. As such, it’s great place to generate new leads from, as you can create your own profile as well as following prospective leads and now, you can publish your vision online for them all to see.
Online events
Technology advancements are making it easier and easier to connect with people who are miles apart. This can also work in your favour of connecting with promising leads. Programmes like Skype and Google Hangouts are a great platform to explain face to face (or screen to screen) what you’re about and what you can offer your leads.
Structure your online event by including:
- A theme
- A clear outline
- Short and snappy objectives
- Ask your listeners if they have any questions
Podcasts and downloads
Give prospective leads a reason to be interested without grabbing for their commitment. Including free downloads and podcasts is a credible addition to your website as it implies you can afford to give away a little information and advice for free.
- EBooks
- Templates
- Advice
Image Source – James Tarbotton (CC Licence)
Make sure the podcasts are in some way relevant to your offerings as this will draw in leads who are interested by the taster session download. Once they have downloaded them your can gain information from the form and will be able to follow up with them.
Get behind a cause
Is there a favourite charity you’ve supported before? Contributing to a good cause puts you and your business in a positive light. Putting their logo and a link to them on your website, talk about it on social media and make sure people know that part of your proceeds are going towards supporting this cause.
This can do wonders for busting the myths that sales people are robots who are only interested in getting your money!
- Consider a cause or charity appropriate to your field or what you are offering, such as an organisation encouraging young people in business.
- See if there is an organisation local to you, as this is a great way of integrating your professional profile into the community
Twitter monitoring
Twitter is useful for gathering leads only if you know how to take full advantage of it. Programmes like ManageFlitter allow you to maximise your chances of connecting with the right leads.
- Analyse which accounts are most appropriate to follow
- Find out what content has the biggest effect on your followers
- Search for appropriate prospective leads
Go Thesaurus mad
Why settle for ‘good’ when ‘competent’ sounds so much better? Have a spring clean out of all your public platforms e.g. website/social media profiles/email templates. Take out any pedestrian language that sounds dull or boring. Criminal words for leads to hear or read are:
- Nice
- Good
- Affect
- Absolutely
- Bring
- Easy
- Enjoy
Can you think of another word for any of these? It’s harder than it looks but makes much more engaging content. So grab a Thesaurus and freshen up your content. But remember not to go overboard!
Conclusion
As the market becomes more crowded, so too are the opportunities to generate leads in new ways. It’s easier to reach out to people thanks to technology, and some of the classic tricks can be re-imagined for better effect.
Remember to keep in mind the vital aspects:
- Your message needs to be short snappy and clear
- Your quality of service needs to come through in your networking
- Keep everything relevant to your business and what you can offer your leads
Keep these in mind and you can’t fail.
Virtual Sales are the number one lead generation company functioning in the IT software sector. If you want to find out more about uncommon lead generation tactics or other services get in touch today.
Andy Dickens
Andy Dickens is a veteran of IT Sales, used to leading by example. He is the CEO of Virtual Sales Limited (VSL) who offer telesales, telemarketing, lead generation and appointment setting services to B2b businesses. He previously was Sales Director EMEA for Red Hat and before that ran sales at Visio before it was acquired by Microsoft.