I help founders who sell, but aren't "sales"people. Are you open to one hyper actionable sales tip per week, useful for your very next sales meeting and consumable in 4 minutes or less?
056: 99% of Lead Generation
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Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes. ​ Every business needs leads. Yet 99% of Startups get lead generation wrong. Last Friday, Alex Urquhart and I ran a LinkedIn Live on this exact topic, and I've summarized our talk below. If you want to watch the Live for yourself, click here. ​ Today, we'll cover:
​ Let's start with three definitions: What is a "Lead": A lead is anyone who has opted in to you/your product/your business. Leads are the step before you have a chance to qualify them. What is "Lead Generation": Lead generation is the process of finding leads. What do 99% of Startups get wrong about Lead Generation? Lead Generation is not a task; it's a company strategy. Lead Generation is not something you can sit down and do. It is all-encompassing, from the problem you wish to solve to how you generate attention. Below, we'll cover three big mistakes we discussed during the LinkedIn Live. ​ Grow Beyond Survival Mode When a business is starting, it's in survival mode. Every day is about surviving, and 100% of the focus is on the next dollar of revenue. However, by hyper-fixating on the next dollar, you're only ever speaking to the 3% of your market actively looking to buy. During our Live, Alex expanded; 82% of active buyers have been "pre-influenced" by an alternative supplier. By staying in Survival Mode, at best, you can capture 1 in every 185 buyers in your market. Not great odds. Instead, Startups should grow beyond Survival Mode and apply short-, medium-, and long-term Lead Generation strategies. Here is a breakdown of how and when to move beyond Survival Mode. ​ There are no Silver Bullets It's a myth that any tactic, campaign, channel, or lead generation effort will instantly work and solve all your problems. The mistake we see is that many Startups try to do too many Lead Generation activities simultaneously or give up when a particular activity isn't an instant unmitigated success. The best Startups focus on one or two Lead Generation activities (for example, SEO, LinkedIn direct messages, or modding a subreddit). And they need to stick with them for a year or more. Only focus, over time, leads to unmitigated successes. ​ Is the Problem Your Close Rate? Lastly, and controversially, most Startups have enough leads, but they don't close enough of them. Startups with 5-10 weekly sales conversations and a close rate below 10% is alarming. Below 5%, something needs to be fixed with that business. Instead of desperately trying to get in front of more people, many Startups should focus on improving close rates. ​ If close rates, searching for a silver bullet, or being stuck in survival mode is your problem - reply to this email, and let's see if I can help. ​ Until next week, ​ Did you like what you read today? Consider forwarding it to a friend, colleague or team member. Did someone forward you this email and it seems like something you want more of: Link to subscribe​ |
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I help founders who sell, but aren't "sales"people. Are you open to one hyper actionable sales tip per week, useful for your very next sales meeting and consumable in 4 minutes or less?
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