When it comes to increasing leads, you must employ the right techniques.
But what are the best sales techniques to use to meet your goal? A new report by sales acceleration software provider InsideSales highlights sales techniques you’re probably not using today — yet.
Best Sales Techniques
No two businesses are the same. But when it comes to lead generation, some techniques are effective for almost all businesses.
Best Strategies for Lead Generation
Data shows company websites (83 percent) are clearly the most widely adopted strategy for lead generation. They are followed by email marketing (74 percent) and LinkedIn (69 percent).
Interestingly, blogs (8 percent) and LinkedIn (7 percent) have seen the biggest increases in adoption since 2013.
Inside Sales Has Gained Momentum
More sales and marketing leaders (13 percent) say they are willing to try inside sales more than any other method this year.
What’s more, 93 percent of sales and marketing leaders who currently use inside sales say they plan to continue using it.
Underutilized Techniques You Might Want to Consider
It’s worth noting that some sales techniques are proving to be effective, despite not being used widely by most businesses. Take small executive events and partner relationships, for instance.
The InsideSales report found both executive events (79 percent) and partner relationships (77 percent) effective but less-adopted.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, was found to be well adopted although leaders didn’t believe it was effective at creating brand awareness.
Time to Take Another Look at LinkedIn?
It’s evident that businesses are focusing a lot of their energies on LinkedIn. But is it really helping businesses achieve their goals?
The InsideSales report shows LinkedIn has not been effective at generating pipeline compared to other methods. As a small business owner, you might want to take a fresh look at your LinkedIn strategy to improve leads.
About the Study
Utah-based InsideSales.com surveyed 678 sales and marketing leaders for this study. To gather data, InsideSales.com sought this group’s opinion on key issues regarding marketing tactics, brand management, lead generation, pipeline creation and marketing challenges.
Business Sale Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “Best Sales Techniques You’re Not Using … Yet!” was first published on Small Business Trends