Let’s talk B2B. We’re all in the lead generation business, correct? We’re not spending our time, money & energies creating advertising, publishing content and speaking with our customers if there’s no purpose, no motive, behind our work. Are we?
The success of our work, whether short-term or long, is defined by our ability to establish new routes to generate leads.
So, what is a lead?
There was a great conversation about defining leads a few years back on the Marketo blog. Here it is. If we’re judged on our ability to generate leads, it’s best we understand exactly what a lead is. To our own business.
I like Jon Miller‘s definition: A lead is a qualified prospect that is starting to exhibit buying behaviour.
It’s always difficult to define any term in one sentence. Jon does it perfectly.
Firstly, we’re talking about qualified prospects. Not people that are just walking in off the street for shelter, but actual prospects that have taking some form of action that clearly displays their interest in your craft.
Secondly, we’re focusing upon people that have shown signs beyond just ‘an interest’. They’re displaying to you that they’re in a position to find out more. If what you have on offer looks good, they’re prepared to buy.
You can feel comfortable employing a sales approach on an individual who you determine to be a ‘lead’. They haven’t just walked in, they’re browsing, they’re taking items off the shelf. They’re looking at the price tag.
A lead is different to a subscriber
So now we know what a lead is. Within most businesses we have a collective term for our ‘leads’. It’s our database. Some businesses treat their database like a charity box. I’ve seen it happen. Internal emails asking staff to donate the email addresses of any contacts to receive the latest company newsletter. Cap in hand. Linkedin connections being dropped in by honourable donors.
Anything to just increase the size of our database. Why? Because the more people that receive your message will equate to more people buying from you. Correct? Wrong. You’re looking at two databases. One for leads. One for subscribers.
Subscribers are subscribers. Leads are leads.
Okay. Let’s just start off by clearing one matter up. We talked about Linkedin connections in the prior paragraph. These are NOT subscribers to your business. They’re connections. Please don’t think of them as anything more than that. Personal connections. Non-subscribers. Non-leads. Just people.
Subscribers are the people that will find your perspective, your insight and your commentary interesting. They may be clients, competitors, students or just people with a general interest in your craft.
Your job is to offer a service to your subscribers. A service. Not a sales service. A service. That service you offer is an educational tool. Your newsletter. Your podcast. Your role is to exert influence. Your role is to present your business as a guiding light. You don’t sell. Yet. You nurture.
How do you differentiate between leads and subscribers?
A line has to be drawn between the two. You have to be aware of the triggers that define the transition between a lead and a subscriber. Throw them all into the same pot and you’re, frankly, pissing in the wind. I’ve never done it, but it doesn’t sound nice.
Evaluate your lead generation tactics. Folks aren’t stupid. They’ll always question your motives. They’ll be skeptical of your intent. That’s what the educational process of your marketing is meant to do – remove those questions and reduce the skepticism. Give your audience all the tools and idea-instigating content that will leave them in no doubt about the purpose of your craft. Let your audience choose when they make the switch from subscriber to lead. They’ll feel comfortable with that choice. Make sure you’re prepared and make sure you recognise the switch.
Find out about (and take advantage of) the marketing automation and sales nurturing tools readily at your disposal to help you recognise that switch. You’ll create more business. That’s a win win. For you and your subscribers.
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