Most of the fastest growing B2B companies do not rely solely on just one sales lead generation method. They have a complete arsenal of sales lead generation tools at their fingertips, that they can use at any given time.

Here are my eight proven B2B sales leads generation techniques gleaned from helping over 170 B2B companies reach their sales prospects:

1. Sales lead generation using relationship marketing

Relationship Marketing is the approach underlying all of the “sales-lead-generation-success” methods. Relationship marketing simply refers to cultivating a personal, sales-winning relationship with your prospects. It’s about developing longer-term relationships with customers rather than individual transactions.

During my 20+ years of experience in B2B sales lead generation, I've discovered the key to picking up sales others leave on the table is to keep in touch with your prospects via a series of ongoing communications and offers throughout your prospective customers' consideration processes.

2. Sales lead generation through complementary partner referrals

By joining forces with complementary partners, you can instantly multiply your sales lead generation pool and make it easier for companies to engage in doing business with you. Out of all the sales lead generation programs available to you, complementary partner referral programs can generate the highest qualified B2B sales leads.

3. Sale lead generation using search engine optimization and Internet marketing strategies

Business buyers are more sophisticated and getting harder to reach than ever. Studies show that about 90% of business buyers start with research on the Internet, therefore it’s critical to have a well-tuned sales lead generation program that includes search engine optimization (SEO)/Internet marketing strategies to attract prospects at the beginning of their buying cycle.

4. Sales lead generation via telemarketing

Even though many people despise the thought of telemarketing, when executed properly it is a very effective sales lead generation tool. Telemarketing is a personal marketing and sales lead generation technique that offers a cost-effective, efficient alternative to field selling. However, it can be significantly more expensive than direct mail or email.

By including telemarketing in your B2B sales lead generation marketing plan, you can reach up to thirty decision-makers a day at a cost of $15 to $20 per contact. In contrast, with field sales you can reach only four or five decision-makers a day at an average cost of $392 or more per contact. Direct mail may cost as little as a dollar, and email is often much less. However, if you consistently prospect and nurture leads via phone, you will consistently generate qualified sales leads.

5. Sales lead generation with email publications

By creating your own email newsletter, you could send out industry news and tips to suspects in your market. Since you will be on your prospects’ minds more often than your competition, eventually, your sales leads will turn into actual sales.

If you subscribe to my e-newsletter, Sales Lead Report, you will see an example of an email publication that keeps my name and business in front of over 8,000 people every month.

6. Sales Lead Generation With Direct Mail

There is an entire industry of people like Dan Kennedy, Bob Bly, and Bill Glazer who are dedicated to business-to-business selling through direct marketing. Sales letters can be an excellent sales lead generation method. But, most sales and business professionals do not know how to use this lead generation technique effectively and efficiently.

The complaint is a common one among B2B companies that depend on direct mail and direct response marketing as their only sales lead generation program: "I'm sick of spending a fortune to send out thousands of full-color catalogs and direct-mail pieces only to get a measly 1% response rate. How can I cut costs and find a more practical way to get my target market to respond to my direct mail or catalogs?"

My clients have found that the best place to start revamping their direct response marketing is by determining who their best customers are, then trying to target their database marketing efforts at companies and individuals who are similar in nature.

7. Sales Lead Generation Using Print Advertising

When done correctly, print advertising can be a highly effective sales lead generation activity. When using print advertising as your B2B sales leads generation method, you must remember to focus your advertising's message on the benefits and applications of your products or services. Then let the layout and design of your ads enhance your company's image. And, don’t forget to only use publications that deliver messages directly to your targeted audience.

8. Sales Lead generation via Event Marketing

Whether you do it live, through the telephone (teleseminars) or via the Web (webinars), seminars and workshops are a great sales lead generation tool. People who attend your seminar have an interest in the information you are presenting and a need for your product or service.

The goal: Connect with customers in a meaningful way

By using these eight proven B2B sales leads generation methods gleaned from helping over 170 B2B companies reach their prospects, you will capture more sales-ready opportunities for your salespeople to turn into new business, meaning greater sales revenue and profits for your company.

How many sales teams suffer because their sales manager is not doing their job at the right "level"? Sales figures suffer, sales people suffer and the sales managers feel pressured and possibly even stressed. I want to look at some of the reasons why this occurs and offer some initial ideas for how sales managers can carry out their roles more confidently and effectively - for everyone's benefit!

Why does this seem to happen so often? It does seem that the transition to sales management is one which can often prove a struggle! There is a long list of reasons, few of which are the fault of the person doing the sales manager's role. The organisation is probably a significant contributor to the problems facing the sales manager! A lack of clear succession planning is part of the equation. Maybe there is a limited understanding of what the role really involves, or should involve! The chances are that the senior management may share many of the misconceptions of the sales function and how it operates in a successful environment. Where sales is concerned, there is usually too much short-term thinking and a focus on results. I agree that the sales manager is there to achieve the targets and to work within a budget. However, to paraphrase the great Peter Drucker, "sales results are not an objective in their own right, they are an outcome of achieving the other objectives." Another tripping point can be an expectation that the new sales manager should be acting like a predecessor - provided they were successful and, typically, outgoing and told a convincing tale about how things would turn out!

In common with many other managers, the sales managers have probably been promoted into their role with little real preparation, guidance or training. This will be compounded if they were given the opportunity because they were one of the best in the sales team. (Rather than choosing the person with the right qualities to do the job.) Sales does have an additional time pressure, in that results need to keep being obtained from the outset. There is little time for a learning curve! Without the development support the newly appointed manager has a limited range of choices. A typical response is to think about role models we have known and adopt and adapt what we liked or respected about them. This is often done unconsciously as well as consciously. Entering a new role with more responsibility carries different pressures. These will cause most people to feel some degree of under-confidence. To overcome this, it is natural to do some things which will help to reinforce confidence. For many, this will mean finding opportunities to prove they are worthy of the new role. Where are these? Dealing with customers, chasing the large order and proving to the sales team why the manager should have been given the job!

This latter approach may help the manager feel more confident, or give then the buzz they had when they were a seller. It will probably also start to diminish any respect they may have from the team, especially if some of these orders are taken from their customers. It hardly does their confidence any good as they will feel undermined!

The root of the problem is frequently something as fundamental as the actual job description. How well does it set out the range of responsibilities and tasks? Does it define the competencies required to do the job well? The key outcome for a sales manager is to achieve the required sales targets and margins. This should be done by using the resources effectively, especially the sales team! Taking a few orders might help in the short-term and reinforce the ego of the sales manager, it will not provide an ongoing solution for under-performance with team members.

What can be done to improve this and make sales managers operate more effectively? Begin at the beginning with a clearly defined job description as mentioned above! This can be a great help with recruitment or promotion and might reduce the classic tendency of promoting the top seller. (A frequent recipe for disaster as they may not succeed in the role and end up leaving, or being asked to leave. On the way to this, they may have upset a number of the sales team who do worse and might leave!) This job description needs to emphasise that the role involves a variety of activities which are not connected with their own face to face selling. When it is clear what the competencies are and the sales manager can assess themselves against these, some form of development plan can be identified to close any gaps.

The sales manager needs to understand the overall strategy and know how to plan - especially in developing a sales plan. They have to be able to analyse the current situation, market and competition as a starting point. As part of their plan they need to evaluate the capabilities of the sales team and decide whether they have the appropriate structure to deliver against the strategy and plan.

If there is no clearly defined sales process, it will help if they can identify one and break it down to the main steps. From this, they can identify the critical areas to monitor and control. Knowing these points can give the early warning signals if their might be problems in achieving the results later and can also help with more accurate forecasting. There are plenty of software systems to help with this aspect, from the top end such as Oracle and Seibel through SalesTrak to ACT or Golmine.

From this, you can see that a key part of the role is desk-bound, making time to think, assess and make decisions. This is only part of the whole! While the desk time can help in identifying areas to set targets and goals, it is not the best place to evaluate the skills and potential of the sales team. The job description should establish some key performance indicators about time spent with the sales team on field visits.

Days spent with the sales team will usually have multiple aims. The primary one is to support and develop the sales person. Observing them with the prospects or customers, reviewing how the call went and then coaching them to improve. A key part of this is to provide useful feedback and support. (Not just blaming or criticising or saying how you, the manager, would have done it!) There is also an element of communication and relationship building to keep the seller informed of things within the organisation and also getting to know more about them. None of these is really achievable working from a desk and trying to manage by telephone and email! A minor part of the day is to also meet with customers and find out what they are thinking about the organisation and its service.

If the organisation has a key (or major) account strategy, there might be valid reasons for the sales manager to have direct contact with some of the personnel in the accounts. This should be at the direction of the account manager or sales person as they are in charge of the account. The sales manager is there to support them not to take over!

There will be some other time with the sales team, whether one to one or at sales meetings. The sales manager can use these to review performance, communicate, deal with problems and agree the way forward. The balance of the sales manager's time might be spent between doing their own administration activities and also interacting with other functions in the organisation.

Across all of these there is no emphasis on being the super seller!! The role is to be the sale manager. This means getting the results through the resources available - and the main resource is the sales people, whether in the field or on the phone. The sales manager needs to develop their management skills in analysis, planning, monitoring and then grow their leadership skills alongside these to develop and support their people. Learn to get motivation through seeing the team achieve rather than getting that deal! The job can become more enjoyable, the sales people are more successful and positive, and results improve. Do this and everyone is happier from the top down and through the sales team!

The principle of working together with your team should underpin how you operate. Managing people doesn’t just mean acting as overseer, to see that they get their work done satisfactorily. It means involving people throughout the team in a creative role, to ensure that together you are all able to succeed.

Involving people on broad issues is motivational. Never underestimate people. Their views can enhance everything: methods, standards, processes and overall effectiveness.

Remember, managers are not paid to have all the ideas that are necessary to keep their section working well in a changing world, but they are paid to make sure that there are enough ideas to make things work and go on working.

Use your people and make it clear to them that you want and value their contributions.

Underpinning Success:

Some matters are of particular importance to the way a manger and staff work together. This is not the place to review the whole management process, but the following four areas are key and must be addressed correctly early on if results are to follow.

They are:

• Setting goals

• Project management

• Ongoing development

• Job performance appraisal

A quick look at each of these in turn…

Setting Goals:

“If you don’t know where you are going any road will do”

For all its familiarity and common sense this maxim is worth reiterating. No one and no organisation works well without clear objectives. The responsibility for setting many of them may well be yours.

Objectives will only be clear if they are SMART:

Specific so that they are clearly understood and no misunderstanding is possible.

Measurable so that everyone knows whether they have hit them, or not.

Achievable because if they are simply pie in the sky they will be ignored and you, and any future process of objective setting, will lose credibility.

Realistic in the sense that they must logically fit within the broad picture and be a desirable way of proceeding.

Timed without clear timing they will become meaningless.

The objectives you set must condition and direct what your people do. Make sure everyone has clear goals and they are committed to achieving them.

Project Management:

Many of the tasks to be done involve the complex process of people working together in a co-ordinate way over time. When this is headed up by you or involves you, make sure that the project is:

• Carefully and systematically planned and organised.

• Effectively executed.

• Precisely monitored.

• Fine-tuned so that contingencies and changes are accommodated.

Brought in on time, on spec and if appropriate, on budget

Your management of others will be jeopardised if the way you organise the work of the section in any way falters.

Ongoing Development:

Nothing is more important to people than their success. Time and again you hear people say something like “Above all, I want to work with a manager from whom I can learn”. The development of your people is not something to ignore or leave to training departments. The responsibility is yours. Make sure people have the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to do the jobs you want and to do them well. Development is not only about correcting weaknesses, it is about upgrading and taking people forward, not least to keep up with change.

Tell your people that you:

• Recognise that their development is important

• Will help them gain experience and extend skills And… • Create a visible system so to do

As the old saying goes you can either “have five years’ experience or one year’s experience multiplied by five”. People want the former. Show them you are the means to achieve it.

Use the development cycle:

• Analyse the job (what is needed to do it) • Analyse the person (their competencies)

• Look ahead, anticipate what new skills, etc. the job might necessitate in the future

• Define the gap – what must be done to create a good fit between the person and the job • Specify development activity, methods, budget and priorities • Implement action and monitor results

This is a rolling cycle. Keep clear records, make sure everyone is reviewed in this way and create a culture in which people value development and what it brings. Part of your job is helping people to learn.

Development is sufficiently important to people (as well as being important in its own right) for you to address the process and give out the right messages about it. You may, sensibly, not want to send everyone off on a course so consider other actions, asking:

• Should development be on the agenda for meetings?

• Can anything be done on-the-job? (In any case, a key part of the manager’s personal responsibility for development.)

• Can any ongoing actions be instigated now? (A simple monthly lunchtime session, perhaps.)

The culture of an organisation in terms of its attitude to training and development is important to people. Their view of it is, in part, dependent on you. Send the right signals.

Performance Appraisals:

In many organisations appraisals are poorly conducted and rated unhelpful by those who are appraised

Appraisals should:

• Be constructive, helpful and motivational

• Focus on the future

• Be a genuine opportunity for both parties to ensure that the period ahead (year, quarter, etc) goes well, perhaps better than the last

• Link to action plans for the future

Study your organisation’s appraisal system and learn how to conduct an effective appraisal meeting. This is good use of management time. Apart from helping you achieve results in a practical sense; it will also position you as a competent manager and differentiate you from others.

Management Processes:

Whatever processes you set up, will be seen as a sign of your style. If they meet with approval, trust is built. If not, they distance you from your staff.

You must ensure system and processes are:

• Fair

• Understandable

• Effective

• Relevant

• Time (& cost) effective

And are not:

• Bureaucratic

• Out of touch with realities

• Over complex

• Restrictive/contradictory

• Incompatible with other systems/common sense

Everything you set up (or maintain if someone else instigated it) must aid the effectiveness and efficiency of the section. Those who do the work will quickly see inappropriate systems as you making their jobs more difficult; not a way you want to be seen. As the advertising slogan of the Abbey National banks said, “Life’s complicated enough”

And Finally – The Four Vital Components: The trend during the last few years has been toward technology-based Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMs). Research has shown that the benefits a company can realise from any such innovation are dramatically increased when four vital components are in place together:

• Technology (CRMs for example),

• A clearly defined sales process,

• Training and personnel development

• Performance-related compensation.

Often companies will invest thousands of pounds in CRM technology, sales training and performance-related compensation packages for their salespeople; yet forget about defining the sales process. As a consequence the investment made in other areas cannot be maximised unless there is such a process in place to underpin those three factors.

Sometimes a new Sales Manager has to face awkward, contentious, embarrassing or tough issues. Difficult situations, you may have noticed, don’t tend to get easier if delayed or ignored. For the manager, dealing with such problems goes with the territory.

It is one of things people watch for. They wonder:

“How will this person react under pressure?”

”What happens when we stand up to this person or make something awkward?”

The answer is simple – show them.

It may be better if you pick your ground early on, by finding a situation that will demonstrate that you have the clout to succeed in management. Thus:

• Select a suitable circumstance (something you’re sure of and which matters)

• Make a stand, be adamant – explain, by all means, but stick to your guns

• Don’t back down (pressure to do so at this stage may be in the nature of a test)

• Let the word go round – this person’s no soft touch.

Forging Alliances:

All sorts of people, regardless of level and position, can be of help to you – now and ongoing. They may be:

• A source of information and advice

• A link to other people

• A provider of mortal support

• Part of the new mix social contacts you will need in your new role

Make a list, initiate contact as necessary and maintain contact at an appropriate level of frequency and in whatever way suits (e.g.: formal meetings, cups of coffee and e-mails).

Those people who may be of help include your immediate line manager, their manger, mentors, staff and assorted contacts and ‘buddies’, as well as those in specifically useful functional roles (e.g. training).

Ensure that the relationships you develop are two-way: you must give as well as take if they are to succeed. Strike a proper balance.

Matters of Discipline:

Discipline is unlikely to come up for a while. However, it is certainly important enough to deserve comment in case the matter does arise.

Never duck or delay matters of staff discipline.

Check the situation very carefully

If facts are not clear check them out but do not delay long and set a specific time for further action

Deal with the matter of itself (don’t feel you have to be lenient because it’s day one)

Take action and check it against policy (if a warning is necessary, for example, should it be in writing, how expressed, where filed and who should be copied?)

Remember the key task is to secure the future

Be fair and do not go over the top to register your power

Appropriate action is likely to be approved by the team. Being seen as a soft touch can create problems for the future.

How You Will Work With People:

There could well be matters you’re sure of and want to instigate early on. For example, you may want regular meetings, certain things put in writing, files organised in a particular way, and so on. Certainly, you may wish to make clear aspects of the management process itself; reporting procedures, checks and controls, regular and informal communications – how you will work with people one to one and as a group. All needs to be clear.

If so, and especially if processes change, then:

• Communicate formally (normally in writing)

• Explain what you’re doing and why

• Position it as a trial, if necessary (Why not? You can build in any good feedback and may possibly be grateful for an opportunity to make further changes, without it looking as if you don’t know what you’re doing)

Provide feedback and thank people for fitting in and taking the extra time. Show them how the changes will help you – and them.

Positioning Yourself As The Manager:

Ask yourself what characteristics will make you the sort of manager you want to be. What would your staff say?

Make a list. For example: being knowledgeable, confident, well organised, looking the part, efficient, decisive… whatever.

The list should point to the type of manager you intend to be and the characteristics you intend to project. It is not a list of what you are or are not. If there are any aspects you feel you should work at or emphasise, make a note of these.

By all means, tell people how you to intend to operate but remember that they are more likely to form an opinion about you based on what you do rather than what you say.

Few years ago on a sunny Friday morning I was scheduled to meet with the International Sales Director for a medical equipment manufacturer. The meeting came at the request of the company president whom I met at a trade show in Canada. The aim of my meeting with the International Sales Director was to try and pinpoint the reason behind the inadequate Middle East sales performance. As the company president summed it up by saying "Our products are better than the competition but the competition is doing much better in sales to that market. My IS Director attended trade shows in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The feedback from many Arabian companies was positive but did not materialize into good sales nor what can be considered a good starting relationship. We can use an outside opinion".

Before the meeting day I did some initial research about the medical company and sure enough their products were better in quality than their competitor and the pricing was competitive. The meeting took place in their conference room. Just the International Sales Director, one of his associates and me.

From the beginning I felt some tension coming from the IS Director. Why not? The meeting was called for by the company president and the IS Director probably felt that his leadership was in question and he would be answering to an outsider who would report back to his boss. To ease the tension, I opened the discussion by mentioning some of the admirable accomplishments he made by successfully building the International department and achieving remarkable sales in the European market. My source was a newspaper article that I found during my initial research. This move proved to be a great ice breaker and then more. The more he talked about this subject, the more his facial features and speech pattern projected victory, achievements, confidence, and of course friendliness and openness. It worked and it should always work. Reminding others of their previous successful achievements will not only empower them and proves that you appreciate and trust them, but also they will be more open to listen to you and hear what you have to say.

He started talking about their Middle East operations and mentioned that his company had participated in two trade shows, one in Saudi Arabia and the other in United Arab Emirates. During these trade shows their products received positive feedback from many Arab businessmen and soon after coming back to the US, he started corresponding with these prospective partners. It has been 10 months now and nothing had happened. Their sales to the Middle East did not show any significant increase and the negotiations did not develop into solid relationships. No agents nor distributors. He continued venting his frustrations and he gradually shifted toward explaining what he thought was the problem. To him, the problem was the Middle East market and its business culture. He continued saying how it was easier to deal with the European market and to setup partners.

After he had ample opportunity to describe the situation, it was my turn to ask some questions and to express my opinion. A few points surfaced during our discussion indicating that they did not do their homework before plunging in. They did not perform any research in regards to the business culture of the Middle East market, so they were not aware of what they should and should not do and they were not aware of the steps needed to establish a good business relationship. In addition, the IS Director, approached his prospective Arab partners with the same distribution agreement used for dealing with their European distributors. No effort was made to check its adequacy and reality for the new market. In short, there was neither research nor a plan.

He should not have used his success with the European market and the relatively short time it took to achieve that, as a measuring tool for the Middle East operation. He had successfully dealt with the European market due to the fact that he had worked and lived in Europe for 5 years before joining the US medical equipment manufacturer. He knew the market, the business culture, business circumstances, and all the vital information needed to succeed in doing business in Europe. Throughout the 5 years he spent in Europe he gained the experience and knowledge that made him successful, but he was not able to clearly see the insight he gained by living there.

How could he miss that fact? It is not all unusual to do that. By the same token, many companies when going global forget that their products are being introduced to a new market and it takes time for the sales volume to grow to its expected goal, just like when they started introducing their products to the local market! As a result of this "lost comparison", sometimes companies set unreasonable conditions when dealing with their international agents such as "high" minimum purchase requirements and "unrealistic" expected sales volume conditions. An overseas company purchasing goods for the first time would usually prefer to order a small quantity which will be used to test the product's acceptance in the market. Companies that insist on a set minimum even with the first sale, which is in fact considered a test sample, are closing the door on overseas sales let alone encouraging any possible partnership.

Since I knew that the IS Director has his hands full managing successful sales to the European market, I suggested assigning the Middle East market territory to someone else who could devote all of their energy and time on developing marketing plans, acquiring partnerships and increasing sales. The IS Director answered back that he had already thought about that and handed me a copy of an advertisement he had placed in a local newspaper. The advertisment read:

Middle East Sales Rep. Medical equipment manufacturer seeking energetic professional person to assist the International Sales Director in his Middle East operations. Successful candidate will handle correspondences, distributing company literature and making overseas calls mostly at late night hours. Experience in telemarketing and bilingual (Arabic and English) a plus.

Clearly the ad echoed what I thought was wrong with their approach to the Middle East market. This advertisement was calling for an administrative assistant not a Middle East Sales Representative. In fact I have seen many companies handle their international operations by simply asking someone to type a letter or send a fax. To these companies the interest in the global market will only grow if they notice an outcome first. A significant outcome though, will not come from such approach and hence these companies’ correspondences are going somewhere but certainly not global.