Grow Your Business with Lead Generation/Inside Sales

Company Brand Identification: Know Thyself

“It’s true in everything, not just in drag: To be a success, you have to understand the landscape. You have to know thyself, and you have to know your history so that you can draw from people who have figured out the equation you are faced with. It’s not rocket science.

-RuPaul

Every company has an inherent wish to grow. 

Some grow organically, by doing what they do well, building a reputation, and having repeat customers. Some grow by bringing in the right talent recruiter who hires The Best in Class, and then attract new business with their Subject Matter Experts. Some grow by acquiring other companies. In any of these scenarios and other possibilities, LeadGeneration and Inside Sales (LGIS) remains a critical piece to achieve success.

There are Best Practices related to LGIS that I have observed over the last 6 years in the Contract Research Organization space. I have worked LGIS at three small to mid sized multinational CROs, and before then I was an Account Manager at a Global CRO that grew from 150 employees when I started to >16,000 today.

Thoughtful Planning

The first decision a company has to make is whether or not it is necessary to bring in an outside agency to aid in planning. In one team, the group took bids from 4 advertising agencies focused on the Heath Sciences Industry. The company had worked with one of the agencies before, but the group chose to work with an agency in Chicago because their website and pitch clearly demonstrated exactly what the company needed.

Once that decision is finalized, questions for the deep dive may include: 

• Where do you fit in the market? 
• Who are your competitors? 
• What are your best service offerings? 
• Where are you incomplete? 
• If in something like research, where is your therapeutic strength? 
• What geographical area are you covering? 

Interview Employees

Start the process by talking to your employees. Get buy-in from everyone in the company on the task you wish to accomplish and report results to everyone. Questions you may want to ask include:

• What do they care about? 
• How do they think the company should go about growing? 
• Where do they think the company is? 
• Who do they want to work with?

Questions answered, the ad agency applied a Myers & Briggs type of scale to the company. The company was identified as a “Caring/Everyman”. All corporate collateral then matched that particular personality type including the company’s tagline.

SWOT Analysis

A formal SWOT analysis must be conducted where the company reviews its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

In one company’s formal analysis, the company’s strengths were identified as responsiveness, advocacy, and two approved BLA submissions; weaknesses included not full service offerings, lack of account executives, and not multinational; opportunities were identified as unique creation story, strategic advisory board, and its work with small molecules; and finally threats were industry trends in rare disease work, market consolidation, and potential for turnover.

Review corporate goals and identity annually

Great success comes with reviewing more than the year’s sales numbers. The team must look at the impact of actions, both corporately and individually. Considerations may include: 

• What new hires were made?
• What new projects were won? How does that change, influence, or augment the company’s identity?  
• What trends in the market may drive your target audience?

It is tough to grow a small business. However, a solid identity in the marketplace will allow your company to grow.

Kristi Walke leads an Inside Sales team for a multinational Contract Research Organization. She lives in Union, KY with her husband Lee and three children, ages 17, 16, and 14. She also shares space with dogs and cats, chickens, goats and bees. This article is the first part of an 8 part series about Best Practices in Inside Sales and LeadGen.