11 Techniques on How To Generate Leads In Sales

Let’s take a look at techniques on how you can generate leads in sales

When I started my career in sales, lead generation was the biggest challenge I faced

Fresh out of college at my first sales job, I had no idea how to generate leads, I was struggling to fill my pipeline for the first few months, and my manager was right behind me shouting about my lack of sales

The pressure that I felt was immense, I had almost quit my sales career 3-4 times in the first 3 months of starting out

One of my successful senior sat me down for a talk, he told me that I was frustrated because, I was too focused on presentation and closing sales from my almost empty pipeline

I was ignoring lead generation!

Following his advice things started to look up for me using various lead generation techniques

I started to learn more about lead generation and applying various techniques that I had learned through various books and courses, but my time was cut short as it was too little too late , so I got fired from my job as I had only a few sales under my belt

Following my exit, I joined an insurance agency where I used and applied various lead generation techniques to improve my sales pipeline and close more sales, which helped me become quite successful within the first few months

Let’s look at what is lead generation and how to generate leads

What is lead generation?

Lead generation is essentially making a person aware of your products or services and making them interested enough to take some form of action i.e. call to action

The call to action can be anything from calling you or responding to your call/ email, filling out a contact form, asking for additional information, requesting product demos, POC requests, etc.

Difference between Prospecting and Lead generation

According to my experience, prospecting is the next step in the sales process that follows lead generation

In lead generation, you job is to make the person aware of your product or service, so that they can take some action to show their interest in your offering, whereas, in prospecting, you are already interacting with the person and qualifying them to see if they fit your client profile i.e. they need the product or service, can buy it and are willing to buy it for the price you offer

When it comes to Prospecting, you are filtering your leads, by elevating the status of some leads to cold, warm, or hot prospects, while other leads who don’t fit your client profile will fall out of your pipeline

Although I would like to say many people use lead generation and prospecting interchangeably

So the main question how to generate leads in sales?

Here are a few lead generation techniques, that I have used over the years in my sales career, which have given me good results and I am sure will help you as well

Offline Lead Generation Techniques

1. Cold Calling

This is my go-to technique when I don’t have sufficient leads in my pipeline, I would like to add that I include door-to-door sales within cold calling

Cold Calling works in both B2C and B2B sales, I have used it in selling both insurance and software products 

I have used cold calling extensively in B2B software sales, where I have contacted CXO-level executives directly to sell our products

According to Crunchbase: Organizations that don’t cold call experienced 42% less growth than those who used the tactic

You have to be aware that cold calling can open doors quickly and close the doors even quicker

So take some time to refine your script and make a profile of your target audience (who you are going to pitch ie. The Decision Maker) and how you are going to pitch your offer

Cold Calling works in B2C as well, but the main point is to have a verified and targeted list that you can call and not just any random numbers e.g. if you are providing specialized baby products for infants, for cold calling you need have a contact list of people who have Infants

Using cold calling with an email marketing campaign makes a huge difference

2. Networking Events

Networking events are a great way to generate leads

You get to meet a targeted set of audience, generally the audience you face at networking events have a similar set of problems they face, similar taste and preferences and so on, this helps you to know exactly what you can pitch and refine your script or presentation accordingly

You can get a lot of referrals and even direct sales by making relationships at networking events

Some examples of networking events would be, trade shows, chamber of commerce meetings and events, events of professional associations, BNI meetings, Rotary clubs, etc

“BNI Members worldwide generated over $18.6 billion in revenue in 2021 alone via 12.4 million referrals.” : Source

The best part, such events work for both B2B and B2C businesses

I even consider Parent-Teacher conferences as a networking event where you get to meet  parents, in short, I have sold quite a few insurance policies there, so think, innovate, and find your networking event

3. Workshops and Seminars

Workshops and seminars can help you demonstrate your expertise to your potential customers

In workshops and seminars, you provide in-depth insight into your product or service, as well as establish your authority as an expert in the mind of your prospects

Workshops and seminars will help you in getting qualified leads, which increases sales conversion

The only thing here is that you have to market those workshops and seminars, but it’s worth it

This technique works well in almost every industry 

4. Referrals

Getting referrals from your existing customers or your network i.e. family, friends, colleagues, etc. is one of the easiest ways to generate leads

It eliminates the trust gap that you will experience in cold calling and other lead-generation techniques

According to a study published by Nielsen: 92 percent of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising

Referral leads are almost always pre-qualified by the person who is referring you, so there is always a high chance for you to close the sale

The only problem in getting referrals is that you have to ask the person to refer you to their network, almost nobody will refer you unless you ask

5. Conventional Advertising

Advertising on TV, Billboards, Radio, Flyers, etc, comes into this category

They require a considerable amount of upfront cost, so you have to choose them wisely

These work great for local businesses, to increase visibility and get more walk-in customers e.g. lawyers, realtors, insurance agents/brokers, restaurants, etc.

Advertising is great for branding yourself or your company and increasing the visibility of products and services

6. SMS Marketing

SMS has a very high open rate

“The average click-through rate for SMS campaigns is 36%, much higher than email (3%), social media (0.5-2%) or display ads (0.08%) “ : Source

You can use SMS marketing to make people aware of any limited time promotional offers they can take advantage off

Direct sales by linking to a landing page can also increase the chances of getting a qualified lead

Since the content is quite short, you have to spend some time on making your offer interesting so that more people can open it and respond favourably

Digital Lead Generation Techniques

1. Website & Blogs

Website and Blogs act as your digital storefront, It is a store that is open 24X7

Concentrate on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your website as well as your blog, so that your potential clients can see your website & blog when they are searching online

Some of the essentials to increase lead generation from your website or blog is to display your contact details clearly

Have a contact and inquiry form (Keep the form as short as possible, without unnecessary questions), Product or service pages with a call to action, unique, engaging and targeted content, encourage feedbacks by comments on blog posts

I would suggest you hire a professional to do SEO, Organic search from Google is one of the best ways to get qualified leads for whatever product or service you offer

“Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don’t.”

2. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Almost all of your clients are using social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, etc

“64% of Gen Z, 59% of Millennials, and 47% of Gen X discovered a product on social media in the past 3 months.” : Source

You can get leads from these platforms by posting unique and engaging content and interacting with people on these platforms

You can guide people who are interested in your content to visit your website, read your new blog, or go to your landing page with a lead magnet to get your followers to take action

3. Pay-per-click (PPC) & Business Listings

Unlike SEO where you have to get ranked on the 1st page of various search engines to get visitors which takes some time

With PPC you can advertise your offer directly on search engines like Google or on Social media platforms like, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Your ads are also displayed on other people’s blog posts or websites if they have their ads enabled 

“PPC traffic converts approximately 50% better than organic data.”

Business Listings are services like Yelp, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, etc where you advertise your business so that people can find your product or services locally 

The advantage of PPC & Business listing is that, unlike traditional advertising, the prospective client is searching for a solution online, so the chances of that person visiting your site and making an inquiry or even outright buying are high 

4. Email Marketing

My personal favorite when it comes to lead generation, I have used it in selling to both B2B and B2C clients by sending cold emails

“Email marketing continues to be unmatched when it comes to the return on investment it drives. A whopping $36 for every $1 spent” : Source

You can create your email list by using the above techniques, or you can buy a database for various database providers

Getting the target audience right is the key here, drafting emails and subject lines that are interesting to readers helps in increasing the open rate

The strategy I use with email marketing is a basic one, I use a bulk email service that provides me the details of the people who opened my email, if they show interest then the work is done, if they have not responded to my call to action, I usually call them directly (if I have their number) and pitch my offer, this strategy works best for B2B sales

5. Sponsorship & Affiliate Marketing

I have used this technique for sale of CRM software online, it was a direct purchase of software

For this, you can register with various affiliate networks like Impact, ShareASale, ClickBank, etc., and make an affiliate program where influencers and bloggers can subscribe and market your product or service for a commission for every purchase from their affiliate link

This strategy is extremely effective for Saas software sales

“16% of online orders in the United States come through affiliate marketing.”

Sponsorships are another way to get leads, you can pay influencers and bloggers to sponsor your products and services to their followers

These are a few techniques I have personally used to generate leads

You should mix and match both the offline and digital marketing techniques according to your customer profile and your cost to get the maximum benefit

That being said, using these techniques without refining them with your unique style or content will give you at best average results, so try innovate

Trial and error is the best way to learn what works and what doesn’t