The four main problems of lead generation

Very obvious statement to open: to grow a business, you need a pipeline. To have a pipeline, you need leads. Hopefully none of that was new information for anyone reading this. That’s the core/crux of sales.

But despite the importance of leads, a lot of companies do struggle with lead generation. Huh? If it’s something you need to focus on, and it demands attention and resources, how do companies do it so badly?

There are typically four main reasons, although a few others pop up from time to time too.

First off, make it simple for people to contact you or engage with what you do. Simplicity is the absolute key. Second: it’s basically your business card to the whole world. Would you give a 108-page document to someone at a networking event? No. And yet, we’ve seen sales websites with nine main navs and 12 sub-navs per nav, i.e. 108 pages. Keep it simple and keep it focused on leads.

Second, pick the right CTA (call-to-action) at the right time. “Ask for an offer” and “Call Us” might be to salesy, especially when the visitors are in early stage of the buyer cycle. They are not looking for an offer and they don’t want to talk to sales yet.

Heard a sales guy scream that to his marketing partner once a few years ago. This is a situation where you get some inbound leads but none of them would convert into a sale. We call them “bad leads” because they come from the wrong companies. You have a sales message problem and do not call out the the right audience (website, social media, even conferences). You’re attracting people you shouldn’t attract. It’s like going on a dating website and you have no interest in Jesus or fishing, and yet your entire profile is about Jesus and fishing … well, you’re going to attract people into Jesus and fishing, and it might not be the best match for you.

Your sales people are “busy” with existing accounts. It’s easier to squeeze out additional 200k from an existing account than earning the first 20k from a new customer. And guess what? People like the path of least resistance. BTW, this can work — we know guys who have made entire careers and have nice houses and all that off 4–5 main accounts. But those are the exceptions, not the rule.

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