As Christmas approaches, we’re all reminded that Santa only comes to those who believe. It’s a little like lead generation.
So many sales people invest time and effort into their appearance, their presentation, and their market or business knowledge. They commit to what their lead generation needs from them. They’re the real deal. The shiny happy know-alls that have everything going for them. Except for one thing – they don’t believe. They don’t 100% share in the vision and goals of the business they work for. Whether it’s caused by mismatched recruiting, poor training, or bad management, a lack of belief will ooze through the voice and sabotage sales efforts. Unless you and your product are absolutely, resolutely connected, your results will give you away sooner or later.
Believe in your business
Lead generation is a tough gig if you don’t feel passionate about the business you work for. This is especially the case in B2B marketing as client spend is usually associated with relationships. Consumer marketing is arguably less demanding since products or services tend to be more transactional in nature. So if they’re well thought out, customers will purchase, whether the human connections are convincing or not (utilities being a typical example).
It’s so much easier to communicate the strengths and attributes of a business if you actually believe what you’re saying and you ‘believe-in’ what you’re doing. According to entrepreneur.com “your beliefs determine a significant portion of your life. They inform your decisions, they dictate how you react to different circumstances and they even affect how you interact with the people around you”. Typically we think of beliefs as faith or values, but it also applies to deep seated feelings about our work.
A company doesn’t need to be perfect in order for their teams to buy-in emotionally to the mission. Especially for those involved in some form of lead generation activity, there needs to be a strong, shared, sense that what the business stands for is fundamentally meaningful and worthwhile.
If a company simply exists to box shift, or make money, the lead generation team tasked with talking to potential clients all day will need to be motivated by things other than the ‘cause’. These are typically devices such as money or competition that create a strong element of self-interest. Once the short-lived excitement and adrenaline wear off, they’ll seek more meaning and inevitably move on.
Companies should make a point of shouting about their mission and this is the reason of B2B marketing services establishment. Sharing the good news, giving public praise, promoting client testimonials and industry benchmarks will all help give their people a sense of being part of something special.
Everyone will benefit from this, not just the lead generation team. There are other benefits too, it will help retain talent, inspire discretional effort, and steady the ship during rougher times.
Believe in you
It’s not all down to the business. We all have a responsibility to build our own belief system. One way is to do this is to hang on to good news and leave behind the bad. Making an active effort to collect and retain ‘good emotional baggage’ instead of ‘bad emotional baggage’ is a habit we can all nurture. Often those involved in lead generation will hang on to the negative soundbites they get over the phone, even if they’re untrue but forget the nice things clients may say. From the time a job seeker starts comparing roles, they need to attune to the companies that offer them something exciting. Whether it’s the product, the industry, the people or something else, we should be aware of the often subtle things that help us connect emotionally to a business and its mission. Only then can we truly propagate a belief in ourselves.
Interested to know about more B2B marketing contact RBS Data expert team