The term business leads is a very loose term associated with the collating of parties interested in a specific service or product. There are many ways to look at business leads and we will now cover a number of important elements which you need to take into consideration if you’re looking to harvest as many business leads as possible.
Different types of business leads
There are many different types of business leads and we will now look at each individual aspect, what they can do for you and what they can mean for your business in the future.
Customer business leads
Customer business leads are in effect direct leads for potential business from a would-be customer who is looking for your product or your service. We will now break down the types of customer business leads into the following categories: –
Short-term business leads
Very often you will see and hear of individuals looking for a specific service or a specific product immediately and these are in effect short-term customers. They may only want a specific service or a specific product and once you have catered for their needs it is likely that you will never hear from them again. Short-term business leads are in effect the bread-and-butter of any business and help to create short-term revenue, short-term profitability and stability for your business.
The short-term aspect of short-term business leads means that you must give an excellent service and excellent communications from day one. Even the slightest glitch in the communication process can have a massive impact upon your credibility and you can very easily lose the sale. Speed is of the essence with regards to these potential customers.
Medium-term business leads
Those who have experience of both online and off-line businesses will be well aware that some customers prefer to shop around and can literally take weeks to make up their mind. These are medium-term business leads which you can often discount in the short-term but they can very often return to give you a potentially lucrative sale.
It is very difficult to know when and when not to contact potential medium-term business leads because too much communication can scare them off and too little communication can mean your name fades into the background. Therefore, you need to remain in contact with these customers on an agreed basis, possibly contacting them once every month or once every few weeks, to ensure that your name and your company are ingrained on their mind.
Long-term business leads
Long-term business leads are often the most difficult ones to convert because it could literally months or longer before they come back to you after having some kind of communication in the past. Long-term business leads and even medium-term business leads may well benefit from some kind of newsletter system which they sign up to and you send to them on a regular basis.
Very often it is the fact that your name is visible on a regular basis and you are taking the time and effort to remain in contact with them which can make a massive difference. Sometimes long-term customers can be tempted with promotions and offers and even the chance to buy services and products on credit. Do not lose sight of long-term business leads because very often they can come back if you take the time and effort to remain in “subtle” contact.
Corporate business leads
When we talk about business leads we automatically assume these are leads from individual customers when in reality very often the future profitability and success of your business can be greatly impacted by corporate business leads. So what are corporate business leads and what can you expect to glean from them?
Short-term corporate business leads
If you specialise in one particular service or one particular product, or group of products, there are literally hundreds of opportunities for crossover business with other entrepreneurs. Making yourself as visible and as active as possible in the business arena can often lead to short-term relationships with complimentary businesses, whose customers may well require your services or your products on a one-off basis.
If you’re looking for short-term business leads there is no point sitting back and waiting for them to come to you because there are literally hundreds if not thousands of companies potentially doing what you do. So you need to investigate short-term business leads in the corporate arena and these relationships, although very often loose at the start, can turn into medium or long term gold mines.
Medium-term corporate business leads
If you actively promote yourself and your business to complimentary businesses then the potential for one or more of these operations to come back to you in the medium-term is greatly improved. If you think of medium-term business leads, and indeed long-term business leads, as planting the seeds of growth for the future then you would not be too far wrong.
There is no business in the world which can offer every product and every service which their customer requires because it is just not practical both on a financial basis and an operational basis. So if you can place yourself in a position where complimentary businesses can offer you arrangements in the future, and potentially cross marketing and cross selling from your business and your customers, the potential for a significant improvement in revenue and profitability can be created.
Corporate business leads are relatively inexpensive in terms of money although they may take time and effort on your behalf in the early days. Do not spend too much time planting the seeds but ensure that they are there, you are visible and ultimately you can offer the products or the services you have promised.
Long-term corporate business leads
There are many websites and off-line businesses which specialise in specific niche market areas and have potential access, now the Internet is commonplace around the world, to a global market. If you can create a profitable and well run niche business then there is every chance in the longer term that you may well have the opportunity to tie up with complimentary businesses and create a larger customer pool from which to cross sell and cross market all services and products. Long-term corporate business leads are difficult to predict in terms of success and failure but the truth is that if your operation is focused, profitable and has a good reputation in the industry then at some point people will approach you about a potential tie up or even a takeover or merger.
While the vast majority of businesses, both online and off-line, are set up with the best intentions and long-term hopes the truth is that you should at some point consider an exit strategy. This may well be a merger with another operation, a trade sale or some form of financial leverage which will allow you to take a step back while banking money for a part share sale in the business.
Nurturing business leads
Finding business leads can be tricky and can take some time, although our new research tool will certainly take away much of the pain of finding these leads, but once you have these potential customers in your hand you need to nurture them. How would you treat a potential customer in the future?
Do not oversell yourself
If there is one thing which potential customers hate it is sales people who are aggressive, domineering and effectively try to give you the hard sell. The trick to getting your point across to a new customer is to plant questions in their own minds so that once they ask these questions, which you expect and have answers for, they will feel in control. Allowing your customer to take the lead, while in effect guiding them down a specific route, is the key to nurturing new business leads in the future.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver
If a customer has been attracted to your website or your business by a specific offer or a specific promotion then you really do need to deliver on your promises. If during the initial communications between yourself and your potential new customer you backtrack on specific offers or promotions which have attracted them, then this customer will be gone!
Domestic customers and corporate customers will appreciate honesty even if you tell them something they do not want to hear but if you try to “hoodwink them” they will easily see through this and disappear.
Follow up your leads
One of the main mistakes made by many people in the online arena is the inability to follow up historic leads on a regular basis. If you think that a customer who did not buy from you immediately is a lost hope then you really do need to look at whether online business and even off-line business is for you. You should retain all contact details about enquiries and customers from the past because not only does this potentially allow you to contact them with offers in the future but if they do come back, you will know exactly what they have done, what they were looking for and this will impress them.
Know your customer and follow them up on a regular basis without overdoing e-mails and other communications. Contacting customers for frivolous reasons is also a recipe for disaster because you need to give them something new, new information or even ask them whether they wish to remain on your mailing list.
Word-of-mouth
Once you have gone through the rigourous process of harvesting online business leads you should ensure that the service you give these people is second to none. If you promise particular delivery times and these are not possible you need to tell them straight away as many people will appreciate your honesty and this will have little impact upon their order and their business. Those who continue to promise unrealistic timetables for the delivery of services and products may well manage to retain the initial order but the potential for word-of-mouth business leads in the future will evaporate.
Whatever order or whatever enquiry, no matter how small or how large, you should approach each customer in the same professional manner. Many of us will have come across situations in the past whereby a customer has rung up for a frivolous reason or perhaps acquired an inexpensive product or service. It is surprising how many of these so-called “irrelevant” enquiries and sales can lead to future enquiries from other parties. If somebody has had a good experience with you they are more likely to talk about you to their friends, family and acquaintances which can ultimately lead to significant interest in the future.
Do not forget, word-of-mouth is the cheapest form of business lead because literally you have done the hard work with the initial customer and there is nothing else for you to do except harvest these enquiries and convert them into sales.
Conclusion
Whether you are looking to build your online business or your off-line business there are literally hundreds if not thousands of potential business leads, both customer leads and corporate leads, on the Internet. How you treat these leads will have a massive impact upon your short, medium and long-term business operations and remember that every lead should be treated in the same professional manner, because you never know who the customer will talk to in the future.
The balance between selling your business and your services to a potential customer and coming across as overbearing and overaggressive is difficult to master for many people. However, do not forget that each individual customer is very different and each individual customer will react differently to different options and different questions. One of the best ways in which to convert business leads into actual sales is to plant seeds of questions in your customer’s mind, whether via telephone, face-to-face or e-mail, and allow them to ask “your predetermined questions” while allowing them to remain “in control”.
Every customer wants to be respected and treated well and they have come to you for a specific reason. Nurture your customers in the short, medium and longer term and do not automatically assume that once they have bought a product or service that they will never buy again. Repeat sales are the bread-and-butter of the business arena although unfortunately many people seem to forget this. You’ve done the hard work with these particular customers, you have nurtured them, you have serviced them and if you treat them correctly they will come back to you time and time again.