How to generate leads without an in-house sales team

Whether you are a small or large business, when you are looking to expand and see growth, the most important part is generating leads. This is the key foundation of growing any business, to always have a steady stream of leads coming through. This can be a difficult process if you do not have an in-house sales team but there are many ways you can create a system to help you with this.

1) Lead Generation Agency

The first simple step could be to simply use the services of a lead generation agency. For example, Alchemis are a lead generation company who have been working to help businesses grow for over 30 years. They have a depth of experience and using a successful agency could take the stress away from doing it yourselves.

2) Identify your target audience

When it comes to lead generation, it is always important to identify your target audience. You simply cannot successfully reach out to potential customers, if you do not know who the ideal customer is. This means researching your audience and getting a clear picture of who they are. Creating a marketing plan can be a good part of this initial process.

3) Promotional Plan

Generating leads means getting your product or services in front or your desired target audience. As such, a promotional plan is key. Essential to this step is to draw back on the marketing plan in order to identify the most effective methods for the business. This could include the likes of blogs, social media, industry events and even PPC or SEO advertising.

4) Creating a sales funnel

The next step is collecting contact information, once you have determined your target audience. One process used for this step is offering a coupon or gift at the end of a standard form, enticing the target to share their contact information. At this stage it is also important to be able to track each potential customer through a CRM. A good lead generation company will help with this element too.

5) Email newsletter in order to build relationships

One of the final parts of the lead generation process is cementing the relationship further, once you are in contact with the prospects. This is where you are looking to take the lead through to a sale. A great way of keeping communication is through an email newsletter, which you could look at tailoring to the potential customer.

6) Social Media

The final step worth mentioning, is using social media in order to leverage contact. It offers a fantastic platform, especially for smaller businesses to generate leads. This could be through Facebook, Twitter or simply LinkedIn. It helps to engage with the audience, which can hopefully bring customers through the door. Social media continues to grow and is fast becoming one of the key marketing tools for many businesses around the world.