Luck In Lead Generation – Avoid Counting On It

Luck In Lead Generation – Avoid Counting On It: by Lawrence Anderson
It is a common misconception to assume lead generation is just about getting lucky. On the contrary, luck is that last thing you would want to count on to attract potential customers. You should know better than to overlook the many factors that affect the lead generation process.

Minimize Luck Dependency During Lead Generation

The thing about luck is that it actually works best when it strikes at a minimum. If not, can you really call it luck?
Here is a thought: imagine your lead generation campaign is a taxi. You flag this taxi in the hopes of arriving on time.
As with any luck-dependent scenario, this could end in two ways:

• Good Luck Ending – For some reason, traffic is low and your taxi actually speeds through to your destination. In the case of lead generation, it would be like you just happened to beat your competitors at every single turn. You just happened to start your lead generation campaign around the same time customers were actively in search of better software.

• Bad Luck Ending – Traffic is not only high, your taxi breaks down just when you were about reach your destination. A lead generation campaign can fall on its face just as badly. Just when you were about to hit your goal number of software leads, things start slowing down.

Believe it or not, there are actually times when some things appear lucky (or unlucky) but they were in fact not. In both of the above examples, there are many things you could have done before starting your lead generation campaign:

• Gathered more information – Just as you could have checked a traffic report, you could have also done a little more market research. Lead generation is a process that gathers information. Why should you not use it to gather more data beforehand?
• Prepared with that information – Nothing is more effective than a well-informed decision. The deceptive thing about luck is that it actually depends on ignorance. You did not know just why your B2B lead generation campaign succeeded so well or failed so badly. It just did so it must be luck. However, could you have really said the same if you knew more beforehand?
• Use that information for future campaigns – The knowledge you gain can be used in future lead generation campaigns as well. If the same scenario plays out too frequently, then you definitely know that it is not luck in play. You must use that to your advantage because it proves how much experience factors in lead generation.

When luck ceases to be unpredictable, it ceases to be luck. However, even if you do believe there are some good or bad strokes that you just cannot explain, the above countermeasures can still prepare your lead generation campaign:

• When your luck is good – What better way to finish a successful lead generation campaign than to have Fortune top it off for you? A sudden burst of leads and sales will have better long-term benefits if it was preceded by an already decent production.

• When your luck is bad – You can save your lead generation campaign by using preparation as a buffer against damage and losses. A decent amount of software sales leads could still keep your business afloat even after your funnel has taken an unlucky hit.

Luck in lead generation should be prepared for, not counted on.