Why Self-Generated Lead Creation is Essential
- Why Self-Generated Lead Creation is Essential - January 18, 2024
One of the first lessons a new salesperson learns is that their sales pipeline must always be full. Anything less and there will be times of feast or famine; a roller coaster ride that stresses the salesperson as well as company management. To reliably reach and exceed sales goals and keep commission payments consistent, the sales pipeline must remain full month in and month out.
Achieving sales goals requires ongoing qualified lead opportunities. Many salespeople receive some or all their leads through their company by way of its marketing and advertising efforts, calls from existing customers, upgrade requirements based on service calls, or referrals from previous customers, among other ways. However, some companies haven’t been in business very long, don’t have a pool of existing clients from which to draw, or lack name recognition to consistently be on the list of companies called for proposals. New salespeople are also often excluded from receiving sales leads until they meet training benchmarks or certifications in specific types of jobs or systems.
Some salespeople excel at designing and selling specific kinds of systems and it’s in the company’s and their best interests to provide them with leads that play to their strengths. If company generated leads are not sufficient to meet their goals, the salesperson must ensure they are creating self-generated leads. For any salesperson, receiving company leads is valuable, but offers less control of the quantity and quality of those leads than if they develop them on their own.
Challenges of Company Assigned Leads
There are great reasons for salespeople to concentrate on generating their own leads rather than depending solely on company leads, including …
- The quality and value of leads received is the luck of the draw.
- Assigned leads are random with regard to type of system, size, scope, and the prospect’s intention to buy.
- Inferior leads can waste a salesperson’s time.
- There is no inferred trust from which the salesperson can build.
Certainly, on the plus side, a trained salesperson can qualify a lead and build it into a bigger sale than the prospect originally envisioned. Even a ‘minor’ lead can be built into a system with more components, multiple buildings, locations, or types of systems using proficient sales skills.
Advantages of Self-Generated Lead Creation
The first major advantage of self-generated leads is the salesperson’s ability to target the type of clientele and kind of systems they are most talented at selling. Salespeople working in the areas in which they are most qualified is the best use of their time and provides the best return on their time investment. It also allows salespeople to grow their sales more easily, build their own ‘book of business’ within the company, and increase their commissions along with the company’s profits.
Self-generated leads often provide opportunities to be the only bidder for a job, rather than one of many. In addition to creating a better chance of winning the job, the customer saves time and aggravation by avoiding the multiple bidder process.
Self-generated leads may mean the customer…
- Has previously worked with the salesperson, not only the company, and trusts them.
- Was referred to the salesperson individually by someone they know or trust.
- Met and remembered the salesperson.
- Responded to a social media post created or shared by the salesperson.Heard the salesperson speak and saved their contact information.
Encourage and Reward Self- Generated Lead Creation
about the benefits of self-generating their own leads. They often believe it’s too hard, too much work, or simply not valuable to them. As with any other skill set, understanding the value and the rewards of developing self-generated leads can be trained.
As we know, what gets measured gets done. What is rewarded is advanced. Include commission or other incentives for sales closed through self-generated leads. Train the sales team in the many ways leads can personally be developed and increased with consistent actions. Successful salespeople build your company as they build their own sales creating a win for the company, the salesperson, and the satisfied customers.