Efficient SaaS Sales Lead Generation: Best Practices
Become a more efficient SDR.
Any SDR out there is looking for ways to become more efficient at sales lead generation.
It's the best way to stay in business and ensure your product or service reaches the right people.
A sales KPI we've mentioned before, in this article we'll do a deep dive into sales lead generation and how to best go about it efficiently.
Let's dive in.
It's the best way to stay in business and ensure your product or service reaches the right people.
A sales KPI we've mentioned before, in this article we'll do a deep dive into sales lead generation and how to best go about it efficiently.
Let's dive in.
What Is Sales Lead Generation?
Sales lead generation is the process of attracting interest in your product or service from prospects. As an SDR, your job is to nurture that relationship to carry them through the sales funnel, ending at a closed, won deal.
Unlike marketing lead generation, which focuses on utilizing different strategies to attract inbound leads for a sales team, sales lead generation focuses on what steps you, as a salesperson, are taking to connect with prospects.
Most of it is based on outbound lead generation tactics. But a lot of the time, outbound sales take a lot of work and effort from you as an SDR. Effort and time that may be better spent on other tasks.
For example, having to follow up with 50 contacts every day manually and personalizing these follow-ups one by one is a tad excessive if only one is converting each time. This is why lead generation needs to be efficient for it to bear truly fruitful, worthwhile results and why you should keep an eye on it as a KPI.
Unlike marketing lead generation, which focuses on utilizing different strategies to attract inbound leads for a sales team, sales lead generation focuses on what steps you, as a salesperson, are taking to connect with prospects.
Most of it is based on outbound lead generation tactics. But a lot of the time, outbound sales take a lot of work and effort from you as an SDR. Effort and time that may be better spent on other tasks.
For example, having to follow up with 50 contacts every day manually and personalizing these follow-ups one by one is a tad excessive if only one is converting each time. This is why lead generation needs to be efficient for it to bear truly fruitful, worthwhile results and why you should keep an eye on it as a KPI.
How to Improve Lead Generation Efficiency
There are a few ways you can improve your lead generation strategy and become much more efficient. Below we provide you with some starting points:
Define Your Sales Process and Set Clear Goals
The first thing you should have an SDR is a sales process, and understand where you fit in it. A lot of the time, you will be working with an Account Executive or AE to help them find the right prospects. Sometimes you'll be working with an SDR manager.
Regardless, you want to make sure you and your superior are on the same page when it comes to clear, realistic goals.
Is the goal to make 50 cold calls per day? Are you answering all the inbound leads within a set time frame? Are you sending out 60 cold emails per day to a particular ICP?
And then, what are the expected results?
Should you be getting 10-15 prospects for your AE from those calls? How many follow-ups for those inbound leads before they're considered unqualified? What are your open and response rate goals for your cold emails? Are you doing A/B testing with different wording to similar ICPs to see what works better?
Whatever sales-related task you are undertaking, you need to be in agreement with your team and superiors about what the expectations are, so that you can present the information accurately and then make decisions based on the results. Any confusion or lack of clarity will only slow everything down.
Regardless, you want to make sure you and your superior are on the same page when it comes to clear, realistic goals.
Is the goal to make 50 cold calls per day? Are you answering all the inbound leads within a set time frame? Are you sending out 60 cold emails per day to a particular ICP?
And then, what are the expected results?
Should you be getting 10-15 prospects for your AE from those calls? How many follow-ups for those inbound leads before they're considered unqualified? What are your open and response rate goals for your cold emails? Are you doing A/B testing with different wording to similar ICPs to see what works better?
Whatever sales-related task you are undertaking, you need to be in agreement with your team and superiors about what the expectations are, so that you can present the information accurately and then make decisions based on the results. Any confusion or lack of clarity will only slow everything down.
Qualify Leads Early and Often
As an SDR, you are the first person qualifying the leads you come across.
If you're doing cold outreach, you can start by discarding anyone that doesn't fit the ICP in your prospecting. When they respond to your outreach, you can do some further investigating by asking them lead qualification questions.
During a cold call or in response to an inbound lead, this is very easy to do. Your company will generally provide you with questions to ask or facts to keep in mind when interacting with the prospect.
The earliest in the process you do this, the less time you spend on unqualified prospects that won't result in a closed deal. So you want to constantly be on the lookout, and you want to do it often. It's a better and more efficient use of your time as a salesperson.
If you're doing cold outreach, you can start by discarding anyone that doesn't fit the ICP in your prospecting. When they respond to your outreach, you can do some further investigating by asking them lead qualification questions.
During a cold call or in response to an inbound lead, this is very easy to do. Your company will generally provide you with questions to ask or facts to keep in mind when interacting with the prospect.
The earliest in the process you do this, the less time you spend on unqualified prospects that won't result in a closed deal. So you want to constantly be on the lookout, and you want to do it often. It's a better and more efficient use of your time as a salesperson.
Offer Free Trials with Time-Limited Incentives
If you get the okay on this from your superiors, this is a very efficient way to move your leads through the sales process.
A time-limited incentive such as a free trial of your product or service or a discounted rate is a great way to efficiently drum up interest and generate leads very quickly.
While they may not all convert by the end of the free trial or after the discount period, it is a great way to ensure you attract new leads for the period of time and potentially discover new ICPs you can reach out to or leads you can re-visit at a later date.
You can even start a conversation with a prospect in contract with someone else. Slowly build a relationship and discover that the pains they have with their current solution are pains you can help them solve.
Additionally, it's a great way to get your name out there and provide a positive brand image that is associated with you for when you re-appear with your outreach at a later point, or if your prospects change roles or industries.
A time-limited incentive such as a free trial of your product or service or a discounted rate is a great way to efficiently drum up interest and generate leads very quickly.
While they may not all convert by the end of the free trial or after the discount period, it is a great way to ensure you attract new leads for the period of time and potentially discover new ICPs you can reach out to or leads you can re-visit at a later date.
You can even start a conversation with a prospect in contract with someone else. Slowly build a relationship and discover that the pains they have with their current solution are pains you can help them solve.
Additionally, it's a great way to get your name out there and provide a positive brand image that is associated with you for when you re-appear with your outreach at a later point, or if your prospects change roles or industries.
Implement a Strategic Follow-Up Plan
Follow-ups are a key component of sales: to create a relationship, you need to make your prospect aware of you and your offer multiple times.
But you also don't want to be overbearing or spend too much of your time chasing prospects.
Spending too much time manually following up with each outbound prospect would quickly take over your entire day as an SDR. Instead, automating such tasks is a great, strategic way to make sure you build that relationship but can spend your time focused on prospects that reply to your outreach or inbound leads.
Even inbound leads can be strategically followed up: you should have set templates for all possible situations ready to be used by anyone in a sales team so that you can reply quickly to set a meeting.
Follow-ups are important, but they should not be an added stressor or too time-consuming if thought about strategically.
But you also don't want to be overbearing or spend too much of your time chasing prospects.
Spending too much time manually following up with each outbound prospect would quickly take over your entire day as an SDR. Instead, automating such tasks is a great, strategic way to make sure you build that relationship but can spend your time focused on prospects that reply to your outreach or inbound leads.
Even inbound leads can be strategically followed up: you should have set templates for all possible situations ready to be used by anyone in a sales team so that you can reply quickly to set a meeting.
Follow-ups are important, but they should not be an added stressor or too time-consuming if thought about strategically.
Use Data-Driven Sales Techniques to Optimize Your Lead Conversion Rate
There is so much information available to you from the data of your prospects you receive, it is a great loss not to base your lead generation strategy on it. Especially because as an SDR, you are getting this data before anyone else.
Finding that a particular email subject has a higher open rate or an email opener has more replies? Start using it more.
Discover that calls made at a certain time of day have a higher success rate? Block that time off every day to make those calls.
Is there a particular event happening in one of the industries you are targeting your solution solves? Focus on targeting that industry.
Paying attention to the numbers and adjusting your strategy correctly will help you increase your lead generation and conversion rate consistently. It's something that you will have to do continuously as situations change, but it's also what keeps the minds of SDRs and salespeople fresh and challenged constantly.
Finding that a particular email subject has a higher open rate or an email opener has more replies? Start using it more.
Discover that calls made at a certain time of day have a higher success rate? Block that time off every day to make those calls.
Is there a particular event happening in one of the industries you are targeting your solution solves? Focus on targeting that industry.
Paying attention to the numbers and adjusting your strategy correctly will help you increase your lead generation and conversion rate consistently. It's something that you will have to do continuously as situations change, but it's also what keeps the minds of SDRs and salespeople fresh and challenged constantly.
Conclusion
As an SDR, your main goal is driving sales lead generation and nurturing your prospects. You are also ensuring that the prospects that make it down the funnel are qualified and nurtured appropriately to help heighten the chances of a won deal.
Doing this efficiently so that you can focus on all your tasks and prospects correctly is the key to success in the world of sales.
Doing this efficiently so that you can focus on all your tasks and prospects correctly is the key to success in the world of sales.
Post by Flor Fustinoni.
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