What are the elements that make up the foundation for a successful lead generation campaign? A campaign that you can duplicate year to year without having to reinvent the wheel each time. If you want to maximize your campaign investment, it goes without saying that proper planning is essential. Carefully setting up the building blocks for a solid foundation is worth the effort and will capture all the elements needed for a successful campaign. This is the best way to ensure you properly fill your sales pipeline and meet desired sales goals. And smart planning will help you end your year strongly while getting the new year off to a robust start.
You must be sure to have a solid plan. Companies that sell one quarter out by “stealing” sales from another quarter will find that this cycle is like a never-ending circle that you cannot escape. If you can define the points below, your campaign can maximize your company’s investment, which includes both time and dollars.
- Target audience – It is important to target the demographic of the prospect who are most likely to be interested in your products or services. Your audience is not and should not be defined as “everybody”. Knowing your audience will then determine the best mode of communication.
- Who do you identify as your ideal customer?
- What information do they need to receive from you?
- What is the best way to communicate with them
- The value proposition – Your messaging must be compelling and communicated clearly to show your prospects why they should entertain doing business with you vs. your competitors. Your value to them is how your solution solves their critical business issues.
- Does your sales team understand your company’s value proposition?
- Do they know how to apply the value proposition as it pertains to your prospect?
- Does the value proposition speak to the prospect’s critical business issues?
- Understanding the pain points of the buyers – It is imperative you understand the prospects pain points and be sure that your message shows how you can solve their issues. This requires that you truly listen to them and understand what keeps them up at night.
- Have you tailored your message, so it resonates with your prospect?
- Does your message include a call to action?
- Does your sales team employ appropriate listening techniques to truly understand the prospect’s pain points?
- Crafting the appropriate talking points – Do not throw everything and “the kitchen sink” at the prospect as you talk to them. Speak directly to the points that you believe will resonate best with your prospects.
- Are your talking points designed to be relatable to your prospect?
- Do the talking points directly address your prospect’s pain points?
- Are your talking points a “one-size-fits-all” approach, filled with features and benefits which may not be applicable to the prospect at hand?
- Well-defined sales process in place – Preparation is critical to the success of any lead generation campaign. When the leads start to flow, you must have a solid process in place to manage these leads, or you will likely not get the desired ROI from the campaign.
- Does the sales team understand the best way to work the leads provided to them?
- Is the sales team optimizing the resources available to get the best ROI from the campaign?
- Can you clearly define and track your sales processes?
- Sales team preparedness – Simply stated, your sales team must be ready to receive the qualified leads and then, work and convert the leads. There is nothing worse than having a prospect agree to speak with a salesperson and a company drop the ball at that point.
- Is the sales team prepared to take the lead and convert the lead?
- Is there a well-defined follow-up process?
- Has management provided the necessary resources to make the sales team successful?
- Commitment from the main stakeholders in the campaign – It is important that the main participants in the campaign are committed to the necessary communication to keep the campaign moving forward. The effort and responses must be timely.
- Are the key stakeholders of the campaign committed to regular communication and feedback quickly and efficiently?
- Do you have the commitment and focus on the campaign that you need from the key stakeholders?
- Do the key stakeholders support the goals and messaging of the campaign?
- Management is committed to the campaign – To ensure a successful campaign, management must be equally willing to dedicate the proper resources, manpower and budget to the campaign.
- Is management willing to commit proper resources to the campaign?
- Has management committed to support the campaign with a realistic budget?
- Has management committed to support the key stakeholders’ efforts in the campaign?
Using these points as a standard checklist or template of sorts will ensure campaign consistency over time. It will allow campaigns to be implemented quickly and serve as a check and balance to be sure no part of the campaign is forgotten.
Treat the campaign plan as a living and flexible strategy which allows you to respond to ever-changing needs. With the proper templates and execution, you can quickly and efficiently implement successful campaigns.
Contact Intelemark today and we can help you determine and prioritize important actions you can take to consistently keep your sales pipeline full and increase revenue growth.