What are sales leads ?
Finding clients can be a very tasking and time consuming process. It is expensive and prone to failure especially in highly competitive industries like the auto sector. That means an auto body shop owner must have a variety of proven strategies for attracting clients. One such strategy is the use of sales leads.
In simple terms, a sales lead is a potential client. Therefore, it is a prospective consumer who has been identified based on his/her interests and contact information. For example, a new home-owner within a neighborhood is a sales lead because he/she is likely to look for a reliable auto body shop.
When you identify such a person together with his/her interest in auto parts then you have identified a sales lead. Note that a sales lead is neither a client nor a customer but rather a prospective.
How sales leads work
Sales leads increase your potential to make a lot of revenue because they make it possible for you to conduct target marketing. Basically, you will be able to track the interests of potential buyers and thus you can either convince them to purchase the product or tailor your products to suit their interests.
The advent of modern technology made it even easier to generate and track sales leads because many consumers use the internet to search for products of interest. Specialized softwares are usually used to track and analyze consumer activities online and once you gain access to such information, you will be able to know who is likely to buy your products.
With that information, you can use other tools of marketing (such as email or telemarketing) to connect with the prospective and turn him/her into a client.
Types of Sales Leads
Sales leads can either be unqualified or qualified. An unqualified sales lead is one that has not undergone rigorous background checks to confirm whether the prospective is legitimate or not. For example, if you are an auto shop owner, a new home-owner is an unqualified lead because s/he might not be a car-owner.
A qualified sales lead is one that has been analyzed and proven to have undoubted interest in your product. For example, a person who constantly searches for auto shops is definitely interested in auto products.
A sales lead can also be real-time or opt-in. When it is real-time it means that you are receiving the information because that lead needs the product immediately. On the other hand, an opt-in lead is one that might have needed your product some time ago. There is no guarantee that the lead still needs it at the moment.
Regardless of the type that you go for, it is very important for you to generate and track leads because the information will enable you to identify your target market with ease.
How Can You Generate and Track Sales Leads?
There are standard lead generating programs that you can install and use to collect and analyze prospective clients. However, the programs will only be productive depending on the techniques that you use to generate leads. Here are the top suggestions:
Networking
Direct mail and email
Websites and SEO
Telemarketing
Buying the sales lead list
Once you have your list, you will need to update it based on the changes in your market. For example, you might want to know which client plans to buy a new car so that you can avail its parts. That means you need to have an up-to-date database of your sales leads.
Advantages of Sales Leads
– Strong marketing tool: sales leads narrow your market to the clients you need to focus on.
– Marketing automation: the programs generate and track sales leads automatically. You can get marketing and sales reports efficiently.
– It is predictable: contrary to advertising, sales leads give you a list and therefore you know what to expect.
– Cheaper than traditional means of marketing: sales leads cost far less than TV or newspaper ads.
– Increases sales: knowing your target market means almost guaranteed sales and that translates to increased revenue.
– Ideal for startup businesses: sales leads can cut on marketing expenses for startup businesses that do not have clients. You just need to get a sales leads list and you will know who to target.
In summary, using sales leads is an almost guaranteed method of increasing your sales and revenue because you can identify potential clients easily. It is definitely worth the hype and the money you will spend.