Generate Leads When Face-To-Face Isn't an Option
COVID-19 has been around for a few months and will have an impact for many more months before we have it under control. But when your business is built on face-to-face contact, how do you generate leads and ensure that your company will continue to grow during these difficult times? Here are ten easy ways to generate leads using methods that will provide you with high-quality leads to move forward with.
10 Tips From the Pros To Generate Leads When Face-To-Face Isn't an Option
- Check Your Website Contact Forms. Most websites today have a contact form, allowing customers, prospects, and other interested individuals to reach out and get in touch with people at your business. However, it's relatively common for your website contact form to be left ignored, only checked intermittently. However, it may prove to be a useful resource for new leads who are interested in hearing from you. Make sure to check it at least a couple of times a week, if not daily, to keep up with these promising new prospects.
- Look Up LinkedIn Contacts. As the primary business-focused social media website, LinkedIn can provide you with high-quality leads and business connections. Start by mining your LinkedIn connections, contacting them, and looking through their connections to identify potential prospects. You could even ask your connection to make an introduction for you. Sales Navigator is a paid feature that provides access to strong search capabilities, with visibility into extensive networks, and allows you to personalize algorithms to reach qualified leads. Try automating your LinkedIn outreach processes, such as Dux-Soup or a similar lead generation tool, or add personal touches to your LinkedIn outreach by hiring a virtual assistant or a service such as StraightIn to scale up your outreach in a unique style.
- Go Through Your Not-Quite-Closed Deals. Whether it's reviewing your calendar or checking out your appointment-booking app, getting back in touch with people who you've spoken within the past but not closed a deal with may provide you with some options to see if they're ready to close off if they can provide you with some quality referrals. Similarly, dig into your e-signature files to see who has almost closed a deal recently but couldn't quite commit to sealing the deal. You may be able to reassure them of any misgivings to make a few more sales.
- Reconnect With Email Contacts. If you regularly receive emails from people who are just asking for a bit more information or otherwise have slipped under your radar. Now that you've got a bit more free time, taking an in-depth look at your email inbox to determine if there are some messages from potential prospects that you've missed or options to start up a conversation again to bring them around to finishing a deal.
- Ask Good Clients for Referrals. Client referrals are a great option for solid leads, but if you asked for referrals during the early pandemic, your request might have gone unnoticed in the chaos. It's a great time to reapproach these businesses, starting with asking the clients you've helped the most and helped recently, and if it's applicable, ask for references within a specific industry if you're starting to branch out into that industry.
- Build Your Center of Influence. Made up of your contacts and clients that have an incredibly good reputation or who are very well established, this consists of deepening your relationship with those connections to get them to allow you to use their client list to gain new leads through referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations. This will enable you to gain warm leads and improve your chances of earning their business.
- Discover Virtual Networking. There is a wide range of networking groups, such as Business Networking International, which are hosting a range of virtual events allowing you to connect with other business owners to create lasting relationships, business growth, and opportunities. If you're a part of any existing networking groups that are not hosting any virtual events, why not offer to host these functions to boost your networking connections. You can also connect with networking groups online, which may not sound exciting, but can provide you with a wide range of new potential leads.
- Try ReferenceUSA out. An online source of excellent-quality business information, ReferenceUSA is a database that provides you with extensive filterable capabilities to match a wide range of specifics, whether it's size, location, spending, and much more, and it's easy to access by only using your local library system's card.
- Hold Virtual Events to Bring in Leads. As mentioned in the virtual networking section, hosting virtual events can be an excellent source of new leads, especially if they are events that deliver some value for the attendees. Depending on your company's specific interest, Consider hosting a webinar that will pique the part of your prospects and make it easier to turn them from viewers into opportunities.
- Create a Digital Happy Hour. Sure, the jokes and memes about day drinking while working from home abound, but why not make it official with an end-of-the-week virtual networking happy hour? Pop open a bottle fo your favorite beverage and facilitate a meeting where everyone can blow off steam, swap stories of cringe-worthy Zoom calls, and otherwise work to develop ongoing business relationships in a friendly, no-pressure environment.
As you can see, there is a wide range of options available to generate some fantastic, high-quality leads even when you can't meet face-to-face, allowing you to use these tactics not only now when times are difficult, but long into the future, as the world marches closer and closer to being entirely digitally transformed. But what if you want more leads being generated automatically, with no real effort from your company? The experienced professionals at Ulistic can help. With a wide range of expertise in digital marketing focused on IT businesses, reach out today to take your business to the next level.