Sales Lead is a very familiar term used in marketing. Sales lead is an integral part of business. In business there’s two person involved at least, one is the Seller & another is the Buyer. To put it simple and straight, let’s say you’re a business owner and you sell Gaming accessories. Now I’m asking you to tell me who do you think are the potential buyers of your products? Its obvious that you just can’t sell gaming accessories to everyone. You can only sell these gaming accessories to those who play games or willing to play. So it is more likely that a 20 years old boy would be your customer than a 50 years old man! Each and every product has its own customer base.
A sales lead is a potential sales contact, individual or organization that are likely to buy your goods or services. To sum it all up: A lead is a person or organization who has provided at least some hint that suggests a potential interest in buying from you.
Lead Generation
Lead generation is important to sustain success and growth of all businesses. Typically, generating leads is the first step in the sales process. Lead generation is the action or process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business’s products or services. A lead is someone who may be interested in a product or service that you provide.
Sales Lead Generation Process
The sales process begins when a sales professional generates, qualifies, and places the sales lead data into a business’s sales pipeline. Lead generators use the lead’s contact information to send sales-pitch emails and to make outbound sales calls.
The succession of sales lead generation effort relies on various factors such as whether the individual or business had the incentive to offer contact information, accuracy of the data, and validity of the lead. A sales lead’s validity depends on whether the targeted person was aware of the sales opportunity when they responded.
A report issued by Pew Research Center in March 2018 states that 89% of Americans regularly access the Internet. Because of this high level of access, the Internet provides plenty of opportunities to obtain sales leads. However, acquiring sales leads is a strategic process that requires excellent skill and effort.
Most businesses acquire quality sales leads using the internet to inform themselves about consumer’s unmet needs or problems and then offer solutions accordingly. For example, technology related businesses may provide e-books, hold webinars, upload tutorial videos and broadcast podcasts to enlighten customers about using their product or software. Sales professionals could hold live online sessions, and publish Q&A materials for the same purpose.