10 Common Attributes of Great Sales Campaigns

How do you generate ever-increasing revenues when you have a great solution to offer?  Well...glad you asked.  Below are common traits of successful sales campaigns designed to continually grow revenue. 

1. Solution - define a solution that meets specific needs of your clients and prospects based on direct feedback and experience

2. Program - outline the program and name the solution (people love a program that solves problems)

3. Revenue Streams - design the program with recurring revenue in mind and provide options based on commitment level and goals

4. Plan - determine where to reach your customers and the advertising/promotional vehicles to best reach them

5. Collateral - create collateral that generates responses (e.g. free white papers, webinars, etc.)

6. Collection - create mechanisms that capture leads (e.g. contact forms, webinar sign-ups, newsletter sign-ups)

7. Measure - measure what is generating the best leads and enhance

8. Manage - manage follow-ups on a schedule that makes sense and keep your name in front of prospects with unique content, promotions, CRM, and email tools

9. Partner - partner with companies that provide related solutions and co-promote

10. Grow - continue to develop the solution and increase your revenue stream

Best of luck in your endeavors!

Andy

Tracking and Improving Lead Generation Results

Do you know where your best leads originate? How much money do you make from each lead you process? There are five key components to determining your most effective lead generation funnels and improving the amount of money you can expect from your proposals.

1. Design and Track Your Lead Funnels

Effective lead generation doesn’t happen by chance. There are specific methods and marketing collateral that generate responses from your targeted buyers, and you can improve your lead generation results through effective design and measurement. The first and most critical component is determining where to reach your buyers and designing your collateral (webinars, case studies, portfolio, etc.) to reach this targeted group effectively. Effectively designed and promoted, a presentation can literally generate hundreds of responses from your ideal prospects.

2. Create Pull Mechanisms

Mechanisms that pull in targeted prospects are much more effective for business development than simply broadcasting “we are the best”. In fact, most people are turned off by shameless self promotion and messages they consider to be spam. When you are able to demonstrate your expertise and have people refer customers to you, the time it takes for each dollar of revenue generated greatly diminishes. However, the key is compiling your collateral in such a way that it proves results without trumpeting on and on about the company. You also need to provide mechanisms (sign-up forms, free evaluations, etc.) for a new prospect to utilize to reach out and ask for your advice.  This first step is obviously critical in creating business partners because without meetings there are no proposals - and without proposals - well you get the point. 

3. Generate Repeat Business

Is there any better lead than from a satisfied customer who wants more of what you have to offer? I don’t think so. It has been said that is 3 times as easy to generate repeat business as it is to create a new account and I believe this holds true. However, to generate this repeat business, you need to be in front of your clients with valuable information that will help them to solve problems. At the end of the day, you can either be a one-time-buy company that always scrapes for new customers or a company that generates recurring income from existing accounts. The latter is a much easier way to generate income.

4. Promote Referrals

Next to getting repeat business from existing accounts, referred customers are about as good as it gets for business development. Do you promote and reward referrals in your line of work? If not, start now. When I say “reward”, some people automatically jump to some sort of payment or discount program. But, this is not the case. A simple thank you letter with a useful office item enclosed can go much further and also eliminate any awkward discussions regarding payments. The truth is that satisfied customers are glad to help spread the word and it is up to us to give them the means to do so. An effective referral program provides simple tools someone can use on your behalf and a plan for how to help your customers get these in front of your prospects.

5. Measure and Improve

You would be amazed how many companies have no real grasp on the origin for most proposals and their close rate on those leads. It is crucial to ask the right questions and track the right data to uncover your best business-generation funnels and improve on results. There is an old adage that says “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”, and this definitely holds true for lead generation. From the questions you ask during an initial phone interview to the data you hold and query from your contact management system, the method you use for measurement and improvement of lead generation are crucial. Designed properly, the information you utilize from your contact management system or a simple spreadsheet can help you uncover trends and generate more revenue per hour spent on business development.

About the Author

Andy Hedrick is the manager of the “Targeted Marketing Best Practices” group on LinkedIn and a 16-year veteran of the B2B sales and marketing field. He specializes in helping companies promote solutions, events, and accomplishments and has been published numerous times. Andy holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and has served as a Director of Business Development and Sales Manager with successful software and consulting firms. His LinkedIn guide – “How To Create a Quality Network and Generate Leads Using LinkedIn®” provides a step-by-step guide for generating leads using this powerful business network.

LinkedIn Lead Generation Frustrations and The Way Out - A Salesman’s Perspective

When I first started participating in social media marketing, there were many days of frustration. Often times I felt like pulling my hair out…but then, I remembered I was in my upper 30’s and my hair was already thinning plenty enough on its own. There had to be a better way to reach targeted prospects and have meaningful business conversations.

So, I began to research social media marketing, blog strategies, e-marketing concepts, lead generation ideas, connection approaches, etc. After reading countless blogs and spending way too much time in sales webinars, I had a breakthrough. There were some really good ideas scattered all over the place, but I needed a streamlined approach for reaching prospects and having direct conversations.

My favorite social media platform for business conversations was, and still is, LinkedIn. With over 70 million users to date, there are plenty of quality prospects that need help with sales lead generation. The key was to connect with these prospects, provide value and have direct conversations. After all, if you are in the business development field, what is the point of having hundreds of connections with very few if any direct conversations? Executed properly, you can literally have more sales meetings with quality prospects than you can handle.

After weeks of research, trial, and error, I started to compile and implement a best practices list using the LinkedIn platform. As I encountered success, I shared concepts with friends and colleagues and continually received the feedback “you should write a book”. What was needed was a step-by-step guide that would help people create quality connections and generate leads without having to spend hundreds of hours researching the topic and trying different techniques.

Social media required a different approach than traditional marketing avenues in order to gain traction and achieve desired results. I noticed many people using “spam” discussions that were a huge turnoff to me, and for others also based on comments to group managers. In some cases, group members were openly asking for these participants to be removed from the group.

However, there were also many great discussions in the area of social media marketing and lead generation that received numerous comments from VP and C-level executives interested in the subject. There were some key differences in the types of posts that received the most feedback and generated opportunities for direct conversations. I noticed executives saying things like “thanks again for the assistance”, “great points” and other comments that demonstrated how direct conversations with the right parties could easily lead to business meetings.

But, as with any worthwhile venture, it requires an effective strategy and implementation in order to be successful. Even in a tight economy, there are many opportunities for business growth if you know how to uncover problems and deliver solutions for your clients. However, a streamlined approach is crucial for generating results with the least amount of effort and minimal hair loss possible.

Leave Your Comments
Have you experienced frustrations in working to generate quality sales meetings using social media marketing? What are some of your best and worst experiences?

About the Author
The author of “How to Create Quality Connections and Generate Leads Using LinkedIn®” and a 16-year veteran of the sales and marketing field, Andy Hedrick helps companies with targeted lead-generation campaigns. His clients include small businesses to Fortune 500 companies that have a desire to attract more business.

Connect with Me
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook

Join the Discussions - LinkedIn Targeted Marketing Best Practices Group
To learn more about targeted lead generation strategies, check out the Targeted Marketing Best Practices group on LinkedIn.