When looking at a successful business, we can draw some conclusions that will uncover the reasons for their success – the fundamental business chassis also known as the ‘5 ways’ model can be summarised by the following formula: Leads x Conversion Rate = Customers x Average Dollar Sale x Number of Transactions = Revenue x Profit Margin = Profit.

To make this formula a little more accessible I will be breaking it down into it’s individual parts in the next series of articles beginning with the very first step – Leads.

Why Generate Leads?

The first question that we need to ask ourselves when looking at the 5 ways is ‘why’ should we generate leads? The answer is quite simple, the more leads that we generate the more potential customers we have for our business and ultimately the more revenue and profit we bring in to our business. Think of every lead as an opportunity to increase bottom line profits.

Keep Your Pipeline Flowing

Effective lead generation should be an ongoing process, and leads generally take time to filter through the pipeline to be realised as paying customers. For this reason it’s important to ensure that the sales pipeline is always flowing, because if it drys up then your business will have problems down the line – to put this in perspective, your lead generation pipeline in June could be indicative of your profits in September, January or April depending on how long your sales pipeline is.

How To Generate Leads

Of course there are multiple ways to generate leads, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that businesses take advantage of the best lead generation tools for their specific industry. Some of the best ways to ensure leads are continually flowing through the pipeline include:

  • An ongoing trigger and permission marketing campaign.
  • Regular networking.
  • Referral schemes.
  • Social media presence.
  • Telemarketing efforts.

There are no set rules in lead generation, and for every industry the most effective method of generating leads will be different. The key is to identify the most effective tools and techniques and follow through with them consistently.