If you’ve ever tried drumming up business through direct selling, you know how challenging, time-consuming and costly it is. Online sales lead generation is about helping people find you and buy from you, at least partially online.
All jargon aside, it’s about getting the phone to ring versus you beating the bushes for business. We’ve come to think about the process as building a virtual sales rep or a robot rainmaker. It’s a fitting analogy as you’re designing an idealized process for cultivating, enrolling and following up with sales leads.
The economics are compelling when compared to employing a full-time sales rep.
The process differs depending on what you sell, how niche and technical your audience and how advanced your competition. However, if you were to set up a professional sales process for a team of outbound sales reps, you’d be doing the same things.
The process starts with developing your offer hierarchy, prospect planning, developing sales literature and tools to manage opportunities and streamline follow-up.
The core difference is how you’re making first contact with prospects. In addition to networking, cold calling and such, you use search engines, prepare content and engage in niche online advertising. All of which are vastly more accessible, responsive, accountable and cost-effective than their analogue counterparts.
If you decide to employ human sales reps as well, the process sets you up so they hit the ground running with everything they need to be successful.
We lead you through the process of setting up, managing and optimizing a professional customer-centric and solution-focused sales lead generation program.
