Heather Cameron, Barbour ABI
Information is vital for business development and building a sustainable pipeline. With the construction industry especially, having intelligence on the entire market landscape at your fingertips has endless potential. But how do you narrow this down to actionable leads that become valuable connections and closed deals?
Discover the opportunities
Having involvement within current and future projects is usually the end goal, but building strong relationships with the right contacts is the key to generating these opportunities.
Delve into project activity to discover the network of businesses and contacts involved at each stage of a project lifecycle, as well as the array of other projects they’re working on.
Gaining insight into your competitors is an effective way of staying ahead of the game, as this allows you to plan your approach and target opportunities at the right stage.
Understand who you’re targeting
There are so many different personas within our industry – from roles, experience, sectors, generations. Knowing who you’re targeting means you can personalise your communications and resonate with the people you’re approaching.
Make sure you’re giving them the details they need to make an informed decision about working with you. Provide the insight you’ve gained on their work and show your level of commitment to the opportunity.
Use your time efficiently
Plan your approach alongside setting set clear goals and objectives for your lead generation. Setting measurable targets means you can monitor and track success across your team.
Set time aside to put your plans into action, taking into consideration the timings of your approach. Do the people you’re approaching prefer calls early in the morning before they’re stuck into work? Are they more likely to respond to emails at lunchtime when they have some downtime?
Be organised and consistent
Record and monitor your activity with each lead from start to close – your CRM system is there to make this process simple. Track all communications and outcomes so you can see what is working and re-evaluate your approach if needed.
Once a lead is engaging with you, don’t drop the ball. Keep in regular contact and keep the momentum going until you’ve secured the business.
It’s important to remember there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to lead generation. What works for your peers and competitors may not work for you. Keep refining your strategy and learn from the outcomes of your activity. Ultimately, success comes from creating a comprehensive, tailored approach to lead generation that aligns with your commercial goals.
We’ll be continuing this series in upcoming posts to further enhance your approach to your lead generation strategy – so stay tuned.