Why leads are the fuel feeding your company’s business and growth.
In the most recent article in this series on leads, demand, and lead generation, we talked about how to generate leads for the different stages of the Sales and Marketing Funnel – see part 8.
We’ve been talking a lot about leads. Well, OK, but what really is a lead, after all? Let´s discuss the specifics of a lead, and why leads are highly valuable and crucial to your company´s business and growth.
So, what is a lead? Is this a trivial question? No, it is not–because everybody has a different answer.
First of all, a lead is feedback, a reaction from somebody who, for whatever reason, is somewhat interested in your products, your services, your company, etc. He or she is interested in your offering or your company in some way.
So, the key point is that somebody –- maybe a customer, maybe a prospect, maybe somebody who’s hearing about your company for the first time or someone who’s already been dealing with it for a while is interested. He or she is raising a hand–no more and no less, for the moment.
Shouldn´t it be of the highest interest for any organization to find such people? What could be better than addressing somebody in some way, offering them something, and having them respond to you?! This is very important mutual communication! Now that you have got the lead, the next step is to stimulate an ongoing dialogue.
The importance of these simple steps is completely underestimated. They are the basis for a complex but impactful system that lets you
- generate new prospects and convert them into buyers and customers as well as
- retain existing customers and turn them into fans and even better customers
These are the more difficult parts of a process that requires a well thought-out strategy. (More about this later, in upcoming articles.)
So, a simple lead is nothing less than the basis for a great friendship on a business level between a prospect or a customer and you and your company. Yes, that’s exactly it! Try to establish a business partnership based on confidence, expertise, and trust with as many prospects and customers as you can, and you will win! The better you are at this, the more it will help grow your business!
Sounds easy, doesn´t it? Yes, on the one hand, it is, and, no, on the other, it’s not. The key is to have an integrated strategy and be good at executing it–which sounds so simple, but, of course, isn‘t.
More to come soon… In the next few articles we will discuss all this more deeply.
Feel free to contact the author directly to dicuss this topic in more detail: jwflossmann@globalmarcomm.com
Still interested? Stay tuned for more about leads and demand and lead generation to come soon in part 10….
You can find part 1-8 on our GF&Z website:
- Part 1: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=2850
- Part 2: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=2937
- Part 3: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=2992
- Part 4: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3045
- Part 5: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3103
- Part 6: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3140
- Part 7: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3178
- Part 8: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3247
Or you can view them on my LinkedIn profile.
Josef W. Flossmann, EMEA Managing Director and Senior Consultant at Gilbert, Flossmann & Zhang Worldwide Marketing Consultancy