Sales leads are the fuel by which a sales program lives or dies. Yet little attention is paid to the sources, or methods of gathering these leads, and how to improve their quality (quantity usually isn't a problem, it's quality that is typically lacking.) Traditional sources of leads require a tremendous amount of qualification, and will have you fighting with every other vendor for the same sales. When you think about it, wouldn't it be smarter to try to identify the prospect's need early-on, so you help the prospect to identify their problem, and then show how your product or service can be part of the solution? Some of the other benefits that innovative lead generation can put into your sales effort are:

1. Alert the prospect to the issue or problem

2. Share how others are addressing the problem

3. Help prospect define the problem

4. Be first one there with a solution

5. Plant the seed for developing the need later

If you accomplish these objectives, you are way ahead of your competition, and often will be able to define the competitive environment.

This being said, just how do you develop an innovative lead generation program? The key is to know where to look for leads, and how to categorize and use the information that you gather. Surprisingly, the best sources of leads are the marketing communications efforts of your potential prospects. Why? Because these will give you both the leads and their context in the prospect organization.

One of the biggest changes in marketing communications in the last decade or so is the role of the trade press. Think of the explosion in trade press coverage in the last 10 to 15 years. All of these publications are looking for stories and articles, often on some rather obscure subjects that are of interest to the industry that they are covering. They will report on just about every dimension of that industry, including names, titles and responsibilities. What could be a better source of information and leads on your prospects? Yet how many vendors actually cull this coverage for leads? Very few because, frankly, it's work. You have to have someone intelligent scan the articles, identify key players, situations and needs, and categorize and catalog the information. Much easier to buy a list and spend the whole day on the telephone. (It's also highly inefficient, but it gives the appearance of productivity.)

Another source of leads is activity in the industry, be it executive moves, mergers, acquisitions, purchases of related products or services, and in general, anything that represents change. (Innovation is the exploitation of change: the sources of innovation are listed at the end of this article.) Considering all of these possible sources of innovative leads, here's how to look for innovative leads:

THE PROSPECT'S PR AND MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS

This will tip you off through trade press coverage of new products, projects, programs, other areas of activity and change — and opportunity for the sales of your products or services. Also, if you locate the right source (publication), it can be a gold mine of opportunity. Few people read this coverage in detail, or read it carefully enough for lead generation purposes. The coverage will often give the name and title of the responsible executive or manager, and a description of project, or charter for action and the desired results.

EXECUTIVE OR STAFF MOVES: NEW PEOPLE, NEW AGENDAS

Executive and staff changes often indicate a propensity for action, results and new ideas. They usually accompany a new charter or agenda. By tracking these over a period of time, you can often document the prospect's organizational structure several layers deep — giving you information that is simply not available anywhere else. Also, knowing an executive's prior employer can be very useful in gathering information on that prior employer as a prospect. In most cases, executives are surprisingly candid about their previous company. Again, no one reads these announcements with this in mind, so the subjects usually don't get many calls.

EXTERNAL EVIDENCE THAT THERE IS A NEED FOR YOUR PRODUCTS/SERVICES

By exercising your network and being observant of the external tell-tales, you can often spot a need for your products or services. I know of a VAR who sells sales automation systems, who would look for evidence that a prospect needed a sales automation system-correspondence, manual invoices, etc. His competitors would either wait for the prospect to make an inquiry, or cold call, whereas when he called he addressed a specific need that the prospect had and that could serve as a focal point for the conversation (pitch).

CHECK THE FOOD CHAIN

This is targeted queries of both your industry contacts and others, as opposed to general trolling for leads. This is the use of your network to add specific information, or to round out a prospect profile. I personally use this technique to validate or cross-check information, not necessarily as a primary lead source. The key is to know who has the responsibility for your product or services when you contact the prospect. You don't want to be fishing when you reach the operator receptionist, but rather have the right name to ask for. This "targeted query" has often given me inside information that is useful in reading the buying signals.

TRADE ASSOCIATION DIRECTORIES/INDUSTRY DIRECTORIES

These are useful if you see a medial mention of a program or need, but no name attached. They are a good starting point for inquiries, and initially building your database. However, they do not give topical or current information about areas of responsibility or programs, and even the best are somewhat dated by the time you receive them.

INBOUND TELEPHONE CALLS

Most sales people regard inbound calls as the best quality lead. That's often not the case. Not all of your inbound calls that request information, or worse yet, proposals, are of sufficient quality to justify the effort to respond to the request. Many times the preferred vendor has been chosen and the others (you) are there simply to justify that choice. This is especially true if these calls come from individuals with titles that are lower than the normal purchasing authority for the systems you sell. (The actual purchaser has delegated the task of "rounding up the usual suspects" to a lower-ranking minion, partly not to waste their time, and partly to preserve their reputation.) How many proposals have you sent out in response to these kinds of calls only to suspect that you were being price shopped? How can you determine if this is a legitimate, high-quality lead? Next time you get a call like this, have the secretary or receptionist take a message. Then go into your database and find the individuals with the titles at that company who you would normally approach. Now "cold call" them, inquiring if they have a need for the type of systems you offer. Don't be surprised if the response is: "Funny that you should ask…" Usually this kind of lead will be well into the sales cycle, requiring skillful "lost-sale recovery" skills, but at least you'll know that before (and if) you respond.

It is perhaps best to say here that you must have some sort of automated contact manager and relational database capability in order to manage, and exploit, your innovative lead generation program. You must be able to cross-check new names and information quickly in order to get the most from the information.

Within six months to a year of starting the dedicated building of your innovative lead database, you will be surprised at the depth and richness of the information you have. When a prospect company is mentioned, you will often have a listing of the complete management or functional area structure, and even if you don't have a specific name, you will be able to determine who has a given functional responsibility with one or two calls. By referencing other names in the organization, you often give the impression that you are very familiar with the prospect's organization — which is an important first step in cultivating a relationship customer.

These techniques for innovative lead generation, when complemented by an understanding of the sources of innovation will serve to generate leads on a continuous basis that are both unique and of high quality. This requires more up-front work and brain power than traditional lead generation programs, but conversely sill result in a higher yield in your prospecting. Marketing smarter has always been characterized by the initial research and planning: that's why the execution and success of the program appear so straightforward.

About the Writer: Jeffrey P. Geibel is the Managing Partner of GEIBEL Marketing Consulting, which provides marketing programs and implementation, including innovative lead generation, major account marketing and training seminars on reseller marketing skills to software and systems vendors, distributors, value added resellers, systems integrators and product vendors. He is the creator of the seminar How to Develop a Vertical Marketing Program for Software and Systems, and the book "Applications Software Marketing: A Field Manual for Success" (available from the author for $49.95 plus shipping — write or fax for a brochure). He can be reached at P.O. Box 611, Belmont, MA 02478-0005 T: (617) 484-8285, Fax (617) 489-3567. This article was originally published in the 5th Anniversary Edition of Entrepreneurial Edge.