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Saleslead generation is a key step in sales management process. Marketingfirms need to gain sufficient information about their sales prospectsbefore the actual lead generation process can be kick started.
B2C
Oneof the time tested yet grueling methods of lead generation iscold-calling. Most sales people are averse to it because of thelukewarm to negative replies that they get in return. In the actualcold-calling process, the sales person simply advertises for theproduct. When talking about the product or service, the he must beable to assess whether the person can be a potential prospect for thesales effort.
Thereal effort must be involved in asking questions to derive the need.And once all questions are answered, the next step would be to seekthe person's attention, just like a TV advertisement. Cold callingmust be treated as one-to-one advertising to understand how it works.The call must focus on bringing the prospects attention to somethinglucrative and worthwhile, for which there is a dire need.
Thereare many limitations in the cold-calling method; the primary onebeing ? negative responses. But, no one can take completeresponsibility for a negative answer. This is because no one knowswhether that person really needs or wants the product. Even if it isa need, most people are reluctant to make purchases for variousmonetary reasons. The only amend that can be made here is in the waythe prospects are convinced about the use of the product.
Incold calling, the number of calls made can be used to judge theefficiency of lead generation. It is advisable for the sales rep toset targets for each day or week and work towards making successfulbusiness deals.
B2B
Thehighest quality sales deals can be made with the complementaryreferral scheme. In B2B businesses, friendships forged between salesreps of companies in same business can work in the long run forgenerating successful .A good example is when a software firm and hardware firm tie up forbusiness deals. The formers customers can be made the latter?sbusiness clients through simple word-of-mouth referral scheme. Onlinelisting can also help in finding appropriate sales prospects.
Conclusion
Boththese marketing scenarios require people who can speak convincinglyabout the quality of the product and how it can satisfy theprospect's needs. Once sales lead generation is successful, theother phases in sales management can be carried out with ease.