Making the most of sales leads may seem simple, but in reality, there's a lot of methodology and techniques on how to turn sales leads into actual sales. Leads have different levels of qualification, but regardless of how qualified a lead list is, salespersons trying to convince potential buyers they've never had any significant contact with to invest in your company's service or product is no easy task. Training, practice and proven methods of success are what it takes to turn leads into sales and subsequent revenue for your business.

Sales lead generation does have different levels of quality. For instance, it's difficult to convert cold calling prospects to whom you’ve never spoken into a sale over the phone, but using highly qualified sales leads gleaned from referrals that come from a friend of a potential buyer can get a salesperson's foot in the door. Here are some general tips to use when making the most of sales leads:

1. Smile when cold calling a sales lead on the phone; it really does make a difference.

2. Call the most qualified leads first, to try to turn those leads into sales quickly.

3. Always ask for referrals once a sale is made; referrals are the most qualified sales lead there is.

Action Steps for Using Sales Leads and Lead Generation
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Purchase sales leads during slow business periods

If your business has a season where sales are typically slow, consider buying extra leads from third party lead generation services. Several lead generation companies, once they understand your target market, can provide relatively qualified leads. Lead lists like these help you make the most of lead generation.

I recommend: Reputable lead generators include Accudata Integrated Marketing, which has leads for sale and offers an integrated marketing service where you can download leads from its website 24/7. CorpTech provides both sales leads and mailing lists. It offers a free one-day membership, so you can try before you buy a product.

Make more of your sales leads by tracking them accurately with software

One of the biggest mistakes a sales team will make is calling a lead on the phone and having that lead express interest but ask to be called back at a later date, and the salesperson forgets to call back. This is a lost sale. When making the most of sales leads, you should consider lead tracking software to streamline lead management and prevent this in most cases.

I recommend: LEADTRACK Software promises to improve ROI and allows salespersons to manage multiple lead sources. Marketo offers enterprise class software and even showcases a demo and allows a free trial.

Consider sales leads referral training

Referral leads are by far the most valuable lead sources available. Therefore, it makes sense to invest in training for your sales team. If each member of your sales team can manage to create a referral business, your company would never have to buy sales leads again, and thus, you're not only making the most of sales leads, but also your salespeople.

I recommend: No More Cold Calling, promises no more cold calls, and offers one-on-one referral lead training. StraightReferrals.com from OTC Learning Solutions also promises never having to make cold calls again and guarantees fast results.

Tips & Tactics for Turning Business Leads into Customers

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When using third party lead generators, ask for a free batch of leads. Many providers will comply to get your business, and that way you can make sure the leads are truly qualified before you make an investment.

Selling is an art, without a doubt. Perhaps even a sport. It takes energy, guts, brains and a bit of panache to barge into people's work days and win them over. It helps, of course, if they are already looking for your service or product. That's where a sales lead list, or lead generation, comes in.

A properly built list of business leads is more than basic demographics and phone number. A sales leads list is a tool for turning strangers into acquaintances and, if not personal friends, at least into loyal and regular customers. Lead generation is paramount to sales success.

Covered in this guide:

1. Getting the right sales leads
2. Roll-your-own sales lead generation
3. Turning sales leads into clients, fast
4. Turning business leads into repeat sales

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

A sales lead list must be specific

Make certain your sales leads are differentiated enough for your product. If you sell boat insurance, you'd better be calling boat owners, right? If you sell business insurance, a sales leads list of newly incorporated small businesses will be an easier sell than an established business.

I recommend: Take a look at the variety of specific business leads lists available from lead generation vendors including Certified Lists, Selectory, Intelius, and USA Data Corporation.

Lead generation is a hands-on task

Sometimes pre-cut business leads are just too far off-topic for specialized products and services. In that case, consult a big database company specializing in sales lead generation that will let you slice and dice millions of business leads until you get the richest possible list. If the product matches the sales lead list, sales will pick up.

I recommend: Sales lead generation, thanks to the Web, is not as mysterious as it sounds. Click on and off attributes -- years in business, zip code, industry and sector -- and get down to the perfect list of sales leads. Check with Zap Data, Hoovers, and InfoUSA.

Get your sales leads from call to close faster

Your key salespeople have got the sales lead list figured out: Make contact, close the sale, move on. But they can get bogged down in the sheer logistics of smile and dial: Busy signals, lunch hours, dead leads. It adds up. Alongside lead generation, you might need sales generation, too.

I recommend: Speed things up by coupling sales lead generation with appointment services. Telemarketers representing your brand make calls from the sales lead list, get the initial "yes" and instantly connect to the salesperson. Try business leads telemarketing services from Aspire Marketing Group and Go Leads. Take a look at lead generation software and lead management at Business.com's directory.

Success using business leads no longer begin and end with a phone call

The world of sales leads and the sales lead list is turning into a multi-channel proposition: Phone, mail, e-mail -- anywhere your business leads put their eyes and ears, you'll have to be there, too.

I recommend: Get that done with business leads software that turns your sales leads into trackable, usable customers you can touch again and again to cross-sell or up-sell. Some key customer-relationship management (CRM) software in this space includes Constant Contact, ContactPlus, Salesforce.com and Act! Not sure? Compare vendors using Vendor Guru.

Track the results of your sales lead generation efforts

Your have 50,000 names. But how many sales? Tracking the effectiveness of sales lead lists can be complex, but not impossible with integrated campaign software.

I recommend: Follow on business leads and test their quality using software from sales leads software companies like AIMpromote, AdTrack and Leads360.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The business books say 'never cold call.' What they mean is, do your homework. If you have a list of business leads, take the time to learn about each one before calling. Appearing clueless is no way to get your foot in the door in terms of sales lead generation.
• •  Use a sales lead list for appointments, not actual sales. Telemarketers close deals on the phone. Your people should be looking for ways to turn to use sales lead generation to take the individual lead from a cold call to meeting, then to a sale, then to a long-term customer.
• •  Speed = respect. Very few people will hang up on you flat if you come to the point quickly and make your pitch clearly. Make sure they understand that you respect their time, and the sale might follow.

Sales leads key terms typically describe the many different classifications of leads and the methods used to make those sales leads into actual sales. There are two main broad divisions of sales leads types: qualified sales leads and unqualified leads. Unqualified leads are consumer or business sales leads that a salesperson has had very little or no contact with and does not have a firm researched reason for prospecting. These types of leads include certain direct mail, telemarketing and door to door sales.

A qualified sales lead database is much more desirable, as the chances of turning a lead into a sale is much higher. Qualified leads include prospects that ask to be solicited or are referred by a friend. This type of lead, or referral lead, is the best type possible, as the salesperson already has the recommendation of a trusted friend of the prospect. Regardless of the type, here are some tips and the sales leads key terms to help you work all of your lead lists:

1. Use all types of leads in an integrated way to maximize success.

2. Commit to prospecting everyday, so leads don’t run out.

3. Ask for referrals once a sale is made; they're the most qualified.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Become familiar with sales leads key terms

There are many important key terms associated with sales leads, that would be beneficial for sales managers and business owners to learn. For instance 'canvassing' is when leads are collected by cold calling, while 'data mining' uses sophisticated software to evaluate information on leads.

I recommend: KnowThis.com has a glossary of terms related to lead generation. InTouch features an article of terms as related to sales lead generation maximizing ROI.

Become familiar with sales leads terms regarding affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a way you can generate sales leads for your business through the Internet. There are many lead generation services that sell relatively qualified sales leads through affiliate marketing programs online and learning the key terms of these programs makes them more understandable. For example, knowing the difference between a pay-per-click, which is where you get paid each time someone clicks on a link that takes them to a merchant's website, and a pay-per-impression, where you're paid each time a merchant's ad physically appears on your website.

I recommend: Multi Tier Affiliate Programs has a useful directory of common affiliate marketing terms and sources. AFFTRAQ has a brief but helpful overview of affiliate marketing in general and its common terms.

Become familiar with sales leads of direct marketing

Direct marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and simply entails sending mail, brochures and other media directly to potential clients. There are many providers that you can purchase sales leads from for direct marketing purposes.

I recommend: SharpCopy has an extensive glossary of direct marketing terms used within the industry. Direct Creative has a list of some of the most common terms used in direct marketing both through traditional mail and via email.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When using third party lead generators, ask for a free batch of leads. Many lead generation companies will comply to get you business, and this way, you can make sure the leads are qualified enough before you make an investment.