One way or another, Lead Generation has been an integral part of how businesses are run since time immemorial.

One of the most iconic repositories for leads and lead generation was the Yellow Pages. Established as early as 1886, the Yellow Pages are a telephone directory of businesses, organized by categories. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages which were meant for non-commercial listings. As we moved onto the internet, so did the Yellow Pages.

The search term “yellow pages” was one of the top 5 highest revenue generators of all search terms in Google’s AdWords program since the year 2010.

You’ve undoubtedly seen an email from lead generation company in your inbox. Possibly two, even three.

Realistically though, probably a dozen.

Perhaps you’ve tried a few out, paying them anywhere from $2 per lead, or shelling out many thousands in a month. The results were disappointing because today’s competitive business environment demands quality B2B leads to drive sales.

But how do you identify these high potential leads, how do you establish the right quantity and quality of leads to keep your sales pipeline working at full efficiency?

It’s all inside your site.

We at Verloop are ardent believers that your best customers are already with you. They’re right there, but just out of your reach. What could this revolutionary new platform that hosts all of your best and most interested customers?

Your Website. 

Hundreds, if not thousands of interested prospects come to visit your website and sift through your offerings every day. They’re greeted with a barrage of information about how you’re the best in your industry, and how many customers you have, but is that what they’re really there for?

They’re there for questions, and more accurately, answers. But because they’re on a computer a thousand miles away, one of two things will happen.

1. They will spend the next half an hour scouring your website to get that answer. (unlikely)
2. They won’t get their answer and leave. (likely)

To circumvent this, companies put forms all over their website; “contact us” submission portals that make you feel like you’re filling out a survey, for a product you’ve never tried.

Increase your Lead Generation by 20% overnight! Build your own bot in under five minutes for free.

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Foreground

I was talking to a Digital Sales consultant at a symposium recently, and he was telling me about how he managed to get a “whopping 7%” conversion rate” for a company he recently worked with.

And he kept telling me about it until my rather soft-spoken colleague asked him the question that we need to ask more when we talk about lead generation and conversion.

"What would you convert if those customers were here at this symposium?"

Look around the room, the coffee shop or office you’re sitting in and think about what life would be like, if 9 out of every 10 people you interacted with, turned around and walked away almost as soon as they saw you.

That’s your website right now, and it’s because your website simply doesn’t address your customers existence.

Companies spend so much money, time and resources; investing in lead generation companies, quality content, SEO and backlinks, only to have 93% of that money flushed down the drain because you failed to convert your customers when they came to your website.

What’s wrong with regular lead generation?

Far too often with websites, customers aren’t talked to. If you walked into a physical store and you had a question about a certain product or its pricing, a salesman is a stone’s throw away.

If a customer has a question about a product on your website, they’re required to fill out paperwork that just seems purely pedantic (how does your last name even matter when you’re trying to ask a question, why do you have to ask for their company name when you’re asking for their work email ID?). This explains why Formstack reports that contact forms have the lowest conversion rates, averaging out this year at just 1%.

When customers in your target market are left untouched, they eventually go to one of your competitors. And 9 times out of 10, they go to a competitor that could answer their question.

Suggested Reading: 5 Effective Ways To Increase Conversion Rate

So, how can you be your own lead generation company?

Instead of letting prospective customers simply slip through your website, return to the original art of lead generation: Conversation.

The best lead generation companies work with their customer’s Marketing and Sales teams to understand and define what a qualified lead is, and how that lead would ideally proceed through the qualification process.

A B2B company, for example, identifies three major data points that are required to set up a meeting or demo with a prospective client who's on their website. These three data points are the clients' number, their email ID, and their name.

Using conversational lead generation, you can set a prompt that serves the function of triggering a conversation with the prospect, depending on where they are on your site and how long they’re there for.

If you visit Verloop’s homepage, you’re likely to encounter our A.I. powered specialist. ??

By the time you’ve reached this sentence, you’ve probably been greeted with this prompt, personalized for maximum outreach.

Lead nurturing is one of the larger perks of using a conversational lead generation tool, and there are two primary reasons for it.

1. Your sales team trusts the leads coming from marketing have both a clear intent and ability to purchase from you.
2. Your sales team can focus on closing the deal, and focus on future strategies instead of merely reacting to the present conditions.

Once your customers have begun talking to you, you can either simply hand the conversation off to your sales team, or you could qualify them in real-time during the conversation. This way, you can approach each customer without just shooting off a couple of questions, but engage with them in a real conversation. With your lead pre-qualified, your sales team has more time to understand and apply market intelligence such as company challenges, industry intentions, priorities, competitive landscape, and more.

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To sum it up

The inherently unique proposition about conversational sales and live chat is that it is truly the pinnacle of a data-driven offering, while subsequently being more of a humane experience for the end-user.

I’m a huge fan of data-driven marketing and have seen open rates exceed 80% or higher with an engaged audience. So, if you send 1,000 messages via your chatbot tool, chances are high that at least 800 people will see your message. Those rates are far superior to email open rates, making this a unique channel not to ignore.

– Michael Tasner, the CEO of No Joke Marketing

This stream of new insights opens the door for a new dimension of business intelligence (BI), with troves of data that provide actionable insights and positions with your business to make wise, data-backed decisions.

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The end goal for all Modern Lead Generation is simple; Make business personal again.