Before talking about lead generation and boosting your sales, let’s start at the beginning: Branding.
In all my sales roles it has been the same story over and over. “We don’t make enough sales, because: ❌ Our product is not good enough; ❌ We are one of the most expensive ones; ❌ My promotional materials are not good; ❌ My proposition is not good; ❌ Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.”
And you know what, it was true. I had to boost my sales and generate leads like trying to empty the ocean with a thimble, or as they say in Dutch: ‘Dweilen met de kraan open’.
Now you are the entrepreneur, so make sure that your proposition, your product and your service are set before you start doing anything else.
Here are 6 steps on how to fully be in control with your Branding:
- Strategy. Make sure that you know where you want to go. What is it that you want to achieve with more clients and how are you going to manage that. Test your strategy constantly by using a mirror and surround yourself with (a) sparring partner(s).
- Proposition. What I hear a lot is: “My problem is that my experience (read: future service) is very broad, my proposition is too general”. I don’t agree. Explain that your service is general and how this can be beneficial for your clients. Your track record is not a random mess, right? Your steps were logic and your different experiences make you to the successful professional you are today.
- Linkedin. Your LinkedIn page should be a very clear reflection of your strategy and proposition. It is your 2nd website, sometimes even your first or only website. Your profile should be clear, functional and designed well. I can refer to this article: 10 Tips on How to Optimize LinkedIn
- Website. Have a great website or don’t have a website at all.
- Branding. Branded Content. I believe in a network strategy or as we call it, a pull strategy. It is very effective in the long term to tell the story rather than pushing your product or service. Create branded content and publish it. Where is the call to action? There is no call to action! If you have a successful business, you don’t ask for business, you tell your story. People will find you and ask you for business.
- Targeting. This is where the branding almost ends and the lead generation starts. Before switching too fast, I keep emphasizing the fact that all outcome of your effort depends on your targeting. If you reach the right people, even if your proposition is not optimal, you will still have leads. This is why, if your proposition is clear, your LinkedIn profile is professional and you will send your the right message to the right people, you will be successful in terms of new business.
In this article, I’m explaining more about how to be advanced in automating your leads follow-up. Results will appear in the long term after the right systematic follow-up.
From our Knowledge Base
There are a lot of ways to generate leads through B2B marketing. There is not just one way. You have to get in as many conversation as possible, but you have to make sure the prospects are relevant. You also have to make sure that you are visible. You can do this by posting content, for example writing an article or a whitepaper. In this way you keep growing your network, because people will see your page and start following it when it’s interesting.
B2B is important because every company needs products or services from other companies to launch, operate and grow their business.
The purpose of B2B marketing is to cooperate with or sell your products, services or knowledge to other companies. The main focus is on the companies in stead of the consumers.
In B2B, it’s important to know what kind of businesses you need to cooperate with. B2B is important, but you don’t know who you need, you will never find te right companies.
The difference between B2B and B2C is the focus of the company. Businesses who work B2B are focussed on doing business with other companies, while B2C businesses are focused to sell their product or service directly to the consumer.
