Should You Think Quality or Quantity in B-to-B Lead Gen?

The bottom line in any marketing campaign today is return on investment. That makes it imperative to know what matters more in your lead generation efforts, quality or quantity.

“If you put something out there that gets a lot of respondents, those people aren’t necessarily leads,” notes David Azulay, vice president, client services at The Kern Organization.

Much depends on reaching your prospect the right way, at the right time, in their buying cycle. Sometimes, you need quantity, notes Azulay. For example, a startup ISP he worked with only cared about getting names to fill up the sales funnel. They then scored those names and passed them along to sales reps. In contrast, an established software vendor selling a million-dollar solution with a long sales cycle needs to craft a much more careful campaign that nurtures prospects along the way.

What Offer is Right for You?

Whether you want quality or quantity campaigns determines the types of offers you should make to your prospects, says Azulay.

For example, if you’re looking to get a large number of folks to raise their hand and overcome their reluctance to even talk to a salesperson, offers such as gas or Amazon gift cards perform in today’s thrifty environment. (In flusher times, notes Azulay, leases on flashy cars played well.)

“You need to obtain insight into what they want and ease them into the process, and make them more comfortable with you,” he says.

If you’re looking for quality leads, a good place to start would be offers that give prospects more information about their problem that your business might be able to solve. Take a look at your inventory of information, such as testimonials, webinars and white papers.

“What do you have that can communicate value to prospects?” asks Azulay. “Often, companies don’t know what they have and how to hit prospects with offers at different times in the sales cycle.”

“Don’t make it too complicated or vague