Sales Leads 123: Generating, Qualifying, and Converting Sales Leads in 3 Proven Steps: 123 eGuides, #4

Sales Leads 123

Generating, Qualifying, and Converting Sales Leads

in 3 Proven Steps

Barry Silverstein

A 123 eGuide

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012, Barry Silverstein

123 eGuide is a trademark of 123 eGuides

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

The Starting Line: Sales Leads Basics

1: Generating Sales Leads

2: Qualifying Sales Leads

3: Converting Sales Leads

The Finish Line: After You Make the Sale, the Selling Continues

About the Author

About 123 eGuides

The Starting Line

Sales Leads Basics

Sales leads are the lifeblood of any company, large or small.

Some companies generate direct sales via mail order, online, or retail outlets, so it might seem that they don’t really need to generate, qualify and convert sales leads.

Does a fast food restaurant, for example, need to generate sales leads -- or just get people in the door to make a purchase? The real question is, How does that restaurant get people to show up in the first place? They probably advertise, or run a Facebook promotion that a potential customer sees, or maybe a customer tells a friend about them. Guess what: Every one of these actions generates a sales lead, and that lead turns into a sale when the person comes in to the restaurant and buys something.

So when you think about it, every company, whether selling directly to consumers or businesses, whether selling products or services, needs to generate sales leads in one way or another. The same principles of sales lead generation can be applied to any company, large or small, or any product or service being sold in any market.

This eGuide is intended to help you understand the basics of generating, qualifying, and converting sales leads. The eGuide offers a quick overview rather than an in-depth explanation. The same 3-step process will generally apply to most sales situations, but it isn’t tailored to a specific industry or company. That’s why the eGuide includes a section called To Learn More with current articles at the end of every section, as well as a list of current books on the subject at the end of the eGuide. These recommended resources will provide you with additional essential information.

Before we get started, let’s cover some basic definitions.

Generating, Qualifying, and Converting

This eGuide is divided into three steps: Generating Sales Leads, Qualifying Sales Leads, and Converting Sales Leads.

Before you can generate a lead, you need to build a strong, memorable brand and successfully launch a product. If these are things you have not done yet, you are sure to find two other 123 eGuides of value:

Branding 123: Build a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps

Product Launch 123: Launch a New Product or Service in 3 Proven Steps

These two eGuides are available wherever eBooks are sold.

Generating a sales lead is the act of identifying a prospective customer and using one or more methods to get that prospect to express an interest in your product or service. At the point of contact, you have acquired a lead, and in the best of circumstances, you have also acquired enough basic data to communicate with this lead (such as email address, mail address, and phone number). You may know very little else about the lead.

Qualifying a sales lead means taking a lead that you have acquired and discovering if it has any value to your business. You use commonly accepted techniques, which will be discussed in this eGuide, to generate leads, but your job doesn’t end there. Think of a lead you generate as a faceless prospect (pretty scary, huh?). You cannot see the prospect’s eyebrows, eyes, ears,