Let’s be real for a second. Whether it’s in life or business, most of us often know something is wrong before we ever see multiple obvious signs that confirm our original fear.
That tiny stain on the ceiling after a torrential downpour of epic proportions? You know it means there’s a leak in your roof, but you really, really don’t want there to be a leak in your roof, so you ignore it until the next rainfall, at which point you need a bucket to collect the water coming from the ceiling.
So if there’s one thing I’d like you to take away from this post, it’s that if you ever get the slightest inclination your lead generation pipeline isn’t as full as it usually is, take action immediately. Because your marketing spidey senses are probably right, and seeing something you need to act on right away.
Actually, I take that back—if there’s one thing you should take away from this post, it’s our FREE Lead Generation Booster Kit, which you can download by clicking the image below. Seriously, you don’t even need to read the rest of this post — download our Lead Gen Kit right now before your problem gets any worse!
If you’re still not convinced that you have an issue, at the very least, read on to find out some of the top signs that your lead generation efforts are failing.
1. You’re Getting Less Leads MoM and/or YoY
This one seems obvious…except it’s not going to be obvious if you are not tracking and recording your past lead generation activities (which is a problem and a post for another day!) But assuming you do have the data, you should always analyze and compare your lead gen numbers vs. the previous month and vs. the same month from last year. If one, or both, of these numbers are lower than your historical data, it’s a good bet there’s something worrisome going on with your lead generation activities. That should be the alarm bell you need to dig into your lead gen results more deeply.
2. Revenue is Down
If you don't have granular data on the leads you generate (again—a problem and a post for another day!), you'll need to turn to your revenue numbers to check whether you've got a problem.
If you see an unusual dip in revenue that isn't related to normal seasonality or a large-scale economic downturn, then it's usually a sign that your lead generation pipeline is stalling.
Fewer leads equal less revenue, even if all else remains the same.
3. Your Sales Reps Seem to Have A Lot of Free Time
A dead giveaway that your lead generation activities are slowing down is sales reps with idle hands. If you notice your reps are taking longer lunches or a few more coffee breaks than normal, it may be a warning sign that you should promptly look into numbers 1 and 2 on this list.
Salespeople love to take calls and talk to prospects because, usually, more sales means more money for them. So let me be clear: if your sales reps are taking long lunches, it’s not because they are avoiding work. It’s because there isn’t enough work to fill their day—which is bad news for your lead generation activities.
If you’ve seen signs that your lead generation activities are slowing down and are stressing out about what to do, then fear not; you’ve come to the right place.
We’re giving away our FREE Lead Generation Booster Kit to business owners and marketers that need help solving their lead gen problems and getting their pipelines filled back up in earnest.
Here’s a snapshot of just a few of the resources we’ve included in WSI’s Lead Generation Booster Kit:
- How to Create Buyer Personas For Your Business [eBook]
- Digital Marketing Traffic and Leads Calculator [Template]
- LinkedIn Profile Checklist — How to Create An All-Star LinkedIn Profile [eBook]
- Digital Minds Chapter 4: Generating Demand For Your Products and Services [Whitepaper]
- Digital Minds Chapter 6: Converting Your Website Visitors into Leads [Whitepaper]
Our FREE Lead Generation Booster Kit was created to help businesses generate more leads. This curated set of resources is sure to help you get back on track with your lead generation activities—but if you still need help, the expert team at WSI is just a phone call or an email away.
Thanks for downloading our Lead Generation Booster Kit, we hope you find it useful!
