BuyerZone Q&A: Effective lead generation programs

In these challenging economic times, it's more important than ever to find new customers. A lead generation program is one proven way to connect with prospects who want and need what you sell.

To better understand effective lead generation programs, we spoke with BuyerZone's Vice President of Sales, David Perry, a 20-year veteran of B2B sales and lead generation.

BuyerZone: Why should businesses use lead generation programs?

David Perry: The ultimate goal of any advertising effort is to get leads. If you're able to get qualified leads through BuyerZone or another lead generation program, you're able to accelerate the sales cycle because you're reaching interested prospects right away.

In this economy, finding good leads is even more critical to your business's success. You need to identify which buyers are ready to purchase and what other tools a lead gen program can offer to help you weather the storm.

BZ: How do lead generation programs differ from traditional marketing efforts?

DP: Regardless of the advertising you do — direct mail, email, radio, television — you're trying to find new customers. The objective is to get prospects to either call the phone number you display, visit your web site, request more information or take action in some form. Those prospects who take action from your marketing/advertising efforts are leads.

Many traditional marketing efforts focus on "need creation" — promoting products and services to stimulate a desired need within the prospect. The most effective lead generation programs focus on "need fulfillment" — providing the opportunity for the prospects to buy products and services when they are "ready-to-buy."

A good lead generation program targets prospects who have an immediate need for your offering and are ready to buy. The program collects their full contact information including company name, phone number, and specific product needs. This information is then passed to your sales team for immediate prospect follow-up.

BZ: How does a company choose the right lead gen program?

DP: You want to use lead generation programs that are fully trackable. You should be able to track every aspect of the program to see where your money is going and how much you're bringing in. Monitoring your programs closely and measuring the results is the only way that you'll be able to see good ROI.

And don't feel you need to be tied down to just one program — it's great to experiment with several options. Feel free to diversify the way you would your stock portfolio. This will let you hone in on the one that delivers the most productive leads for your business.

At BuyerZone, we have several lead generation programs to choose from. Our newest lead generation program is Trailblazer, an exclusive lead generation program that leverages our online marketing expertise.

BZ: How does Trailblazer work?

DP: Trailblazer provides advertisers with the services to improve their online lead generation capabilities in two different ways.

First, we can create more effective SEM campaigns to drive more targeted prospect traffic to the advertiser's website. We will monitor, track, and adjust these campaigns to ensure they're optimized to meet the advertiser's needs given their monthly budget.

Second, we can create a new online landing page for the advertiser to capture leads. We create a web site (or "splash page") for advertisers. We then drive targeted traffic to that page in an effort to allow prospects to provide their contact information and purchasing specifications so that the advertiser can follow-up directly with the prospect on their need. These leads are sent exclusively to that advertiser.

BZ: What are the key differences between Trailblazer and traditional lead gen programs?

DP: Exclusivity is what really sets Trailblazer apart from the pack — the prospect gets introduced to one company focused on getting them what they need. Typical request for proposal services — like BuyerZone's flagship Request for Quotes service — are more of a comparison shopping tool where buyers can get multiple price quotes from different providers and choose the company they want to work with.

Trailblazer is also a complete online marketing campaign for suppliers. We build traffic to a branded splash page that we design for them — for free. They only pay for performance: the leads we generate and send to them. This is a huge benefit over online marketing programs that use a pay per click model and attract more curious lookers than qualified prospects. In addition, we include online tracking tools so the supplier can accurately measure ROI.

BZ: Are there drawbacks to using Trailblazer?

DP: The most important thing to keep in mind about Trailblazer is the cost. Since the leads are exclusive to one company, it's more expensive per lead than traditional sales lead programs.

BZ: Any other suggestions for companies looking for a lead generation program?

DP: Regardless which lead generation company you work with, make sure it targets the audience you want to reach. More importantly, make sure you have the internal process in place to track the leads you receive. A lead program can only be evaluated if it's tracked and results are measured.

For more information about Trailblazer or BuyerZone's other lead generation programs, contact David Perry at 781-734-8689 or dperry@buyerzone.com.

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