The purpose of B2B lead generation isn’t to get people to buy your product or service.
Think about it — this is where a lot of B2B lead generation campaigns go wrong.
If you have a product or service that requires a dialogue between the would-be purchaser and the vendor before a purchase decision can be made, it’s foolish to ask for the order or give information necessary to make a purchase decision as part of generating leads.
In practical terms, this means your lead generation campaign should be about creating compelling and qualifying interest to engage with your company in a sales opportunity. Lead generation is about selling the value of the engagement.
Your call to action in a lead generation campaign should be to take a step toward opening a sales opportunity, not to qualify your product or service for purchase.
Do you agree with me that B2B lead generation isn’t about selling products or services — or — Do I have it all wrong? Why?
Nadine Stevens
October 16, 2011 8:59 pmHi Jim,
This makes so much sense. I love your “selling the value of engagement” idea. When you come to people too strongly (like getting them to buy your product/service immediately or during the lead generation process) they will be put off and probably run the other way. However, if you try to create an interest first, there is a higher chance that your prospects will engage with you and make a purchase later on.
Thanks for your knowledge,
Nadine
Elaine
February 19, 2012 11:07 amThank you so much for this, after years of struggle on line the penny has finally dropped with what you have written. I could never understand why I was successful off line and then such a dismal failure online to get leads. Now I understand where I’ve been going wrong.
Thank you so much
Elaine B
Jim Logan
February 20, 2012 6:46 amHi Elaine!
You’re welcome! And thanks for such kind words. It’s something I wish I had better understood earlier too 🙂
Good Luck!