The B2B lead generation process

 While it sounds like B2B lead generation should be a job for the marketing team, sales are also heavily involved in this process. That’s because lead generation occupies the first stage in your sales funnel. When sales and marketing are aligned on lead generation, your tactics work more effectively and are more likely to deliver a consistent buyer journey.

That said, let’s look more closely at how the B2B lead generation process works.

Stage 1: Searching out leads

The first stage of B2B lead generation is finding leads. That generally includes collecting contact information, like email addresses, from prospects who have expressed an interest in your goods or seem like they’d be a good fit. Companies have many ways that they go about this, but some of the most common are through:

• In-house efforts: Lead magnets, like case studies and whitepapers, are the number one generator of leads from in-house efforts. You would usually provide a lead magnet in exchange for a prospect’s contact information.
• Third-party contacts: Companies may also generate leads through a third-party partner. For instance, you could run a promo campaign with another firm, under which participants share their details and agree to further contact with your company.
• Purchased leads: You could also work with a lead generation company to find potential customers that fit your ideal client profile.

Stage 2: Establishing contact

Next up, your sales and marketing teams will design an approach for contacting leads. It’s worth noting that first impressions matter, so plan to make the best impression possible.

There are two general ways to contact leads. First, you could conduct targeted outreach in the form of cold outreach (calls and emails), contact at industry events, or set up a meeting with prospects. Requests for Quotes (RFQ) are also a way to contact prospects.

Companies also employ non-targeted outreach in email marketing, LinkedIn newsletters, social media posts, etc.

Stage 3: Qualifying and prospecting

At this stage, you already know the prospective buyers you’re working with, and you likely understand their pain points. Therefore, you’re focused next on showing them how you solve their problems.

This stage includes segmentation (where you separate prospects based on factors like their readiness to buy), nurturing, and qualifying. Nurturing aims to take buyers from the stage of awareness, where they first learn about your products, to consideration, where they weigh your company’s promises, and finally, decision, where they hopefully make a purchase.

Stage 4: Closing leads

Prospects who reach the point where they’re seriously considering a purchase are qualified leads. Consequently, your marketing team will pass these leads on to sales, who will do the work of closing a purchase.

When you carry out this process with a long view, it makes things easier for sales. A prospect with a fair view of your company’s ability to solve their problems will convert quicker after marketing’s hand-off to sales.