The big difference between maximising leads and simply converting them...

It takes a lot of time, energy and effort to generate corporate leads and if you're anything like me, once you've found a lead?

You don't want to let them go!

You want to build a decent working relationship with them, know their company really well and have them buy from you for years to come.

After all, in the lead generation process you've had to;

• Identify the types of companies you want to work with
• Make a list of stakeholders to target
• Decide how you're going to target them / with what platform
• Actually proactively reached out to them (and felt all the fear/ awkwardness about doing that!)
• Followed up...

And yet - after all this effort, some people just leave those leads on the table after they've made one sale.

Why?!

Most people focus on lead conversion and not maximising leads.

Simply put, this means that most people focus so hard on getting the initial sale with a corporate client that they forget to continue working with that client. They make the assumption that the client will reach out to them if/ when they need help with something else... and that no-one else is reaching out to that client and trying to do business development with them.

It's an expensive mistake.

You see most corporate clients love to work with external suppliers more than once. It's actually easier for them to work with you more than once;

• you're on their payment system
• they know you and trust the work you're able to do
• they know that you know the company and the way that they operate which makes it easier to use your services again

So - instead of automatically assuming that you always need more leads... think about what you're actually doing with them.

For example, rather than just adding contacts endlessly to your database, make sure that you're actually checking how those leads are progressing with you! I always get my clients to think;

1. Am I continually building a relationship with this / these prospects?
2. How am I measuring the quality of the relationships that I'm continuing to build?
3. How can I move new or existing relationships forward?

These questions can help you to understand whether or not you're maximising your leads - or whether you're just leaving them to fester in a CRM system that you never really utilise correctly!

And if you want a quick exercise to sense-check your leads and whether or not you need new leads or to focus on converting/ maximising your existing leads, take a look at your data and assess:

In the last three months, how many new leads have I generated? What was my response rate? How many of those that responded, booked calls with me? And how many of those calls turned into sales?

If your response rate is less than 10%? You need to work on your lead generation process. Which could mean generating new leads or understanding why your existing lead generation process isn't working correctly.

If your calls booked --> sales made conversion rate is less than 30%? You need to work on your business development calls.

Need resources and recommendations to help with those areas? Send me a message and let me know which you're finding challenging and I can recommend great podcast episodes to help you overcome those obstacles!

Enjoyed this article? Please do me a favour and fill out my anonymous research survey . I'm looking to build the most accurate B2B sales data set for entrepreneurs so that you can set your sales process up for success in 2024!

If you want to learn how to successfully and sustainably sell your services to corporate organisations, check out the?Selling to Corporate ? podcast here ?where you can find B2B sales tips, techniques and trends every fortnight. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast players.

Jessica Lorimer is the UK's leading sales coach for entrepreneurs selling their services to corporate organisations. Jessica regularly provides insights on sales strategy and techniques on her award nominated podcast;?Selling to Corporate ?and has been featured in Forbes, Daily Express, City AM and Psychologies.