Lead Generation for Small Business: Experts Weigh In Managing your sales using a simple CRM is critical. The question is how do you even generate leads in the first place? Lead generation is the lifeblood of small businesses. If done right, generating great quality leads can be a major catalyst for growth and revenue. But with so many lead generation tactics and approaches available out there, small businesses want to know which are the most effective to use. To help answer this question, we’ve reached out to a panel of small business sales and marketing experts and asked them all a single question: “What is the most effective lead generation technique(s) for small businesses“?

1. LEAD GENERATION
FOR SMALL BUSINESS
PRESENTED BY

2. There is no “most effective” lead generation technique. This is the trap of
S. Anthony
Iannarino
mutual exclusivity, believing one method should be used to the exclusion
of others. And it is also a conceit to believe that because you prefer to
generate leads in a certain way, in a certain place, or at a certain time,
Anthony Iannarino is the President and Chief Sales Officer
for SOLUTIONS Staffing, a best-in-class staffing firm, the Director
that this is the method your dream client prefers. You need to be where
of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, and the author of
your dream clients are, and you need to get in front of them. The “most
thesalesblog.com
effective” way to generate leads is to use as many methods as are
available to you. This includes traditional advertising and marketing, your
website, social media marketing, a lead generation firm (like Pointclear),
business journals, your local Chamber of Commerce, networking events,
referrals and, dare I say, a well-trained sales force?
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3. Your mission as a sales person should be to find companies that have
Alen Majer
immediate wants and needs. This means that something happened or is
happening to them: a move, a merger, new investors, etc. You have to
Alen Majer is a sales expert, writer, trainer and author of sales blog
(www.AlenMajer.com). He draws upon more than 20 years of
international sales, management, business development, training,
coaching and entrepreneurial experience.
look for any event that might create the opportunity and trigger the sales
for you.Opportunities are everywhere. You just need to know where to
find them and you always need to be on the alert for them. Such Trigger
Events can be a springboard for your selling career and you need to be
prepared to act on them as soon as they are recognized.By staying on
top of your game, you’re always going to be a step ahead of the
competition. When businesses are making changes it means that they
are already primed for shifting into a new gear. With this pre-knowledge
and some further background research into the business, you could arrive
well-armed to present a winning solution that can assist in building a
better business. When a business is moving through a transitional phase,
they are almost always ready to take on new opportunities and to make
positive changes. Be ready to help them!As always, your research and
understanding before approaching the client is going to be crucial in your
presentation. This is what separates you from the rest of the competition.
By taking the initiative in being first in line and having the greatest insight
into their business, you have put yourself into a powerful position. Now it’s
up to you to reveal your expertise and divulge the finest solution that will
benefit their business in the most efficient way.Always be on the lookout
for Trigger Events that can open the door to new sales and new clients. It
could be the action-injection that your career needs.
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5. The most effective technique is one that maximizes the return on your
Art Sobczak
time and money investment. One low-cost method is optimizing
your website for organic search so you drive free traffic for your
Art Sobczak helps provides ways to prospect and sell using
the phone, without rejection. Get his report on “The Top 10
Dumb Mistakes Made by Cold Callers” at
http://www.SmartCalling.com
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key search terms, provide a free offer to capture your prospects’ contact
info, then putting them in a follow-up sequence (phone, email, or mail, or
all of them) to get the prospect to take the next desired action

6. Hands down, the best way for small businesses to generate leads is with
Brian Halligan
inbound marketing. Creating content about topics that matter to your
prospects, optimizing that content for search engines, and sharing that
Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, a marketing software
company he founded to help businesses transform the way they
market their products by leveraging the internet. Brian is also an
Entrepreneur in Residence at MIT and author of the books Inbound
content in social media will enable your target customers to find you.
Then, once they’ve landed on your website, using calls-to-action and
Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs and
landing page forms to convert visitors into leads is the best way to start
Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead.
filling up that sales funnel with qualified, quality leads. Simple as that!
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7. I think there’s a shift in lead generation for small business really as a
Chuck Swanson
result of the emergence of social media networks. Small businesses can
now effectively compete with larger ones provided their voice is heard.
Chuck Swanson has worked at various agencies in a strategic
business development roles with companies to help them better
understand their marketing and lead generation goals. Currently,
Chuck is a partner at Digital C4, an agency that helps companies of
all sizes improve their online brand visibility.
Getting your voice heard in social media (and frankly in search as well) is
a three part endeavor and all centered around the keywords that define
your products, services and company in general. These three efforts
need to combined with other traditional communications, but if done
effectively can boost results. (1) Smart SEO – your site needs to be
optimized effectively for your keywords. (2) Well written content (blog)
using your keywords in the appropriate places. And finally (3) sharing this
content in your established social media networks – Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn or wherever your prospects and customers are gathering for
information.
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8. Before thinking about effective lead-gen techniques for small business, I
Dan Olson
believe a small business first must have a web presence via their own
website. Once the website has been created, I break lead management
Dan Olson is the CEO of DIYSEO, a provider of SEO software. Dan
is the former Vice President at Performics, the largest search
marketing company in the United States that was acquired by
DoubleClick, Google, and eventually Publicis Groupe
down into three questions:“How do I drive traffic to my website to
ultimately generate leads? ”“What is the best way to get a visitor to
provide lead information to my site? ”“How do I manage this lead
information post submission”Driving Traffic – Many small businesses
quickly realize that a web presence alone isn’t enough and they need to
find ways to drive traffic to their site. I’m a bit biased but we really feel that
small businesses and especially ones with a local presence can now take
advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) including local maps
optimization to get traffic for free. Many of our small business clients
didn’t know what SEO even meant a couple of months ago and are now
tapping into SEO via our application and getting leads.Getting Lead
Information – The most effective way to capture leads (beyond
highlighting your phone number on your site) is by having an effective
lead form on your site. An effective lead form, in my opinion, offers free
consultations, free white papers, or some type of incentive to offer up a
name, phone number, and email (don’t forget the email!). Potential
customer don’t hand that information for nothing – give them a great
reason for doing so!Managing Leads – This is getting even easier for
small businesses. Obviously look to leverage tools like PipeJump to
manage info all the way through the close process. You don’t have to live
in spreadsheet hell anymore.
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9. The most effective lead generation technique is dramatic acts of
Dan
Waldschmidt
kindness. Instead of paying for lead lists, sending more marketing
newsletters, or leveraging social media to the max, small businesses can
catapult their growth by creating personalized and powerfully empathetic
Dan helps super-stars change the conversation by avoiding
conventional wisdom, social peer pressure, and selfish behavior…
encounters with existing customers. Go the extra marathon at any chance
to solve problems customers didn’t even know existed. You won’t just be
generating leads, you’ll be manufacturing future customers.
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10. Inbound marketing is a great option. Although it is a slow burner, the
Duncan
Macdonald
costs are lower and get it right and you can compete with larger less
nimble companies, at a fraction of the cost. A good 6 month plan is
required to get things moving.Don’t rule out more traditional outbound
Duncan Macdonald is Co-Founder of B12leads – and specializes in
B2B Lead generation, nurturing and tracking.
methods. If there are good profit margins and you can achieve a viable
cost-per-opportunity model, then try renting an email lists or some cold
calling. For a small business in the early days, direct communication and
feedback from you market can be invaluable.What’s most important is to
convert and track your leads, work out what is working and what is not,
then refocus on those successful channels and work on the details that
make the difference.
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11. To increase lead generation, I strongly suggest that small businesses
Jill Konrath
publish a short, twice monthly newsletter that’s filled with high quality
content. This gets them in front of their targeted customers on a regular
Jill Konrath is a recognized sales strategist, speaker and author
who offers fresh strategies and practical advice for selling to today’s
crazy-busy prospects. Both her books, SNAP Selling and Selling to
Big Companies are Top 20 sales books on Amazon.
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basis at the same time it demonstrates their expertise. The articles can
also be repurposed on the website, ensuring an information-rich portal
that builds credibility and demonstrates expertise.

12. I’d suggest that most companies take a close look at online lead
Mitch Tarr
generation activities. Many companies hope the ‘Contact Us’ form on
their websites will do the job but that’s not lead generation. With the
Mitch Tarr is the Founder of ZinMarketing.com, an agency that
specializes in helping businesses generate more leads and retain
existing customers. Mitch also blogs at www.zinmarketing.com/blog/
speed of which you can test, track, and modify online marketing
campaigns you should be able to discover which offer draws the most
qualified leads at the lowest cost. Keep testing until you get a winning
campaign.
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13. Two key tactics I found to be successful are to use PR and to develop
Sue Watkins
case studies. In fact, using these two tactics together creates a powerful
combination. Issue press releases on a regular basis, whether it’s once a
Sue Watkins has spent the last 20+ years developing marketing
strategies and campaigns. She also founded SMBmarketer.com
and authors the blog Smart Marketing Basics
(http://blog/smbmarketer.com) and tweets regularly about small
business marketing topics at @SMB_marketer
month, or once a week, that highlight your business accomplishments,
including winning a new customer, hitting a revenue or growth milestone,
offering a free webinar or seminar. These are great opportunities to keep
your brand top of mind in your market place. They also provide sales
tools for your sales teams to use for prospecting, etc. Creating case
studies is a great way to highlight your expertise and show how your
customers are benefitting from your solution
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14. It is important to expand the traditional view of “Referrals”, move beyond
Tibor Shanto
like-to-like, i.e. CIO-to-CIO, or Production Manager-to-Production
Manager, and move to Circle-of-Influence model. In the Circle-ofTibor Shanto is a Principal at Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. and is a
recognized speaker, author of award winning book, sought after
trainer and blogger at The Pipeline
Influence model you focus on key people already in the inner circle of
potential buyers and those they would turn to for input. This can include
people already selling them other products/services; other consultants,
etc. If you are selling applications, you may want to target and foster a
relationship with a recruiter placing developers on a contract basis with
the CIO in question. Focus on where and with whom your target spends
time, not strictly their role.
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15. The most effective lead gen techniques for small businesses are
Tom Demers
educating and creating utility for potential prospects. This can mean a
variety of different things but small businesses that can help their
Tom Demers is co-founder and managing partner at Measured
SEM search engine marketing consulting, a boutique search
marketing agency offering pay-per-click advertising services and
search engine optimization services including link building
and content strategy and marketing.
prospects by:Teaching them how to do something related to the small
businesses’ productEntertaining them with content related to what the
small business sellsActually doing something (with a free tool, by offering
a free version of a paid product or service, etc.) will have the easiest time
generating leads. Even when you’ve already paid a network or platform
(via paid search, display advertising, a sponsorship, etc.) for access to
potential customers, you still need to provide the prospect themselves
with something valuable in exchange for their contact information and
attention. This approach means that the relevant traffic small businesses
are buying from various channels will not only convert into leads at a
much higher rate, but also have a positive experience of and relationship
with the brand: meaning SMBs are not only generating more leads, but
also better leads that will be more likely to convert into quality customers.
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