Nathan Yerian
Giving gifts is the fun part of the Christmas season. Sure the parties, food, and music are nice, but the true joy comes from giving to others.
So, as a small business owner, what are you going to get for your sales team? Without your sales team, your year wouldn't have been quite so merry. I'm pretty sure this is not the occasion for the notorious jelly of the month membership (Clark didn't like it, I doubt they will either).
With jelly out, what is left to get your team of producers. I bet I know what they would want more than anything. They want the same thing that any good sales person would want; the opportunity to sell more. Of course if they sell more, they earn more money, but so do you. What can make this a reality?
Answer: A sales lead generation machine.
A consistent stream of qualified leads sounds like a present any sales team would rejoice over. Creating this lead generator will require 4 components.
1. A value-based content offer
What valuable information can you supply to your target market? In our case, we recently wrote a website redesign guide. This guide provides a 7 step process to follow when redesigning a website that will maximize the value of the new web design.
This is very valuable information for the individual that is about to redesign their website, and the person that downloads this from our site is probably an excellent lead for our company.
By having downloadable value added content pieces we have created a situation in which we can bring value to our target market and encourage them to initiate contact with us to begin a relationship.
Your downloadable pieces can take many forms. They can be e-books, guides, presentations, videos, webinars, comparison charts, etc. Regardless of the format, if a content piece brings value to your target market, it is probably a good candidate.
What expertise can you share with your target market? Surely as an expert in your field you have the ability to create and share a valuable piece of content. If you are having a hard time developing a concept, ask a few of your existing customers what they would have downloaded from your site before they because a customer.
2. Call to action buttons
Your call to action buttons are how you will inform your website visitors (your target market) of your value based offer. Simple text describing the offer and a text link will not be enough to maximize your content's performance.
What you need are call to action buttons that call attention to the offer and encourage the visitor to click on it. Here is an example of the call to action button that we use for our website redesign guide:
Call to action buttons are pretty basic. You want them to be clear about the offer being made and if possible, engaging. In our example, we used an image of the guide to spark interest. Size, color, copy, and placement should all be carefully chosen to maximize your results.
3. A landing page
Your landing page is where you will make the case for the value of your offer. You need to tell the visitor exactly what benefit they can expect once they download your content piece. In addition to displaying the benefits, you also want to be sure to make it very clear how they are to download the piece. Never assume they will just figure it out.
Your landing page will include a short form for visitors to fill out before they can access your content. Be sure to only require as much information as is necessary. The more info you require, the less likely it is that someone will fill it out.
Here is an example of a landing page that we use for our website redesign guide:
The individuals that fill out the form on your landing page to gain access to the content are more than likely qualified sales leads for your sales team. Now it's time to make a plan to capitalize on these leads.
4. A follow up plan
So now you have given the gift of sales leads to your team. To make sure that these leads are handled appropriately, be sure you have a plan of action in place. Your action can be as simple as a follow up phone call, or could be quite complex including marketing automation components such as behavior oriented email deliveries.
Regardless of how you follow up with you leads, it is important to track that they have indeed been followed up with and to keep a record of the outcomes. This record will provide you with the information you need in order to make minor adjustments for improvement.
Jelly of the month isn't the worst gift on earth (if you sales team is filled with 90 year old grandmas), but why not give your team what they really want and deserve, the opportunity to perform even better in the coming year.
The tips from this post are all part of our Website Redesign Guide. If you are interested in transforming your website into a lead generating machine, download the guide by clicking below:
