How to Generate Your Own Leads

By: Geoffrey James
Topics: Marketing

Having trouble getting good leads? Don't bother arguing with your marketing group about the quality of the leads they give you. Instead, take responsibility for your own lead generation. I'll be focusing on how to do this over the next few post, but to start, here's another video from Ian Gilbert of sales training firm ThirdCore. It's a bit long, but he hits all the important points, which I've summarized below:

Here's a quick summary of what Ian had to say:

Target the right people. In most cases, this will be top executives because they're the most likely to make strategic decisions.

Change your attitude. Don't focus on the first contact, but on the relationship that you'll be building in the future.
Create a structure. Set aside half a day each week to make calls to people who might be (or know) your target prospects.
Discover multiple points of contact. You are no more than 2 or 3 links away from anybody you'd like to meet.
Be authentic. Use the same tonality and vocabulary that you'd use if you were calling somebody inside your firm.
Be realistic. Position your offering as something that might be able to help rather than a "must buy" offering.
Be a business person not a sales rep. Approach the decision maker as an equal rather than a supplicant.
Sell to the gatekeeper. Most gatekeepers for top executives weild enormous power. Get them on your side.