lead generation activities

Your 3 Greatest B2B Lead Generation Activities for 2H 2020



B2B lead generation traditionally has centered around in-person engagements. Salespeople traveled by car and plane to meet with prospects and maintain relationships with buyers. Coffee shop meetings, in-office discussions, dinners and golfing filled schedules. Now, due to social distancing, buyers are turning even more to the internet to research solutions and even make B2B purchases. But where does that leave salespeople?

While B2B sellers have been adapting in the interim — and many are still hoping in-person B2B lead generation and nurturing will return soon — there are a number of activities your salespeople can invest in now, virtually and at a safe distance, to serve up value to your buyers.

Thought Leadership Counsel

Times are strange — some might even argue unsettling. Your buyer always has pains to deal with, but in 2020 these pains turned on their heads and morphed into something new and daunting. One of the greatest tools salespeople can provide right now is counsel and insight to these issues and shifting situations. Your sales team must keep a pulse on your buyer’s industry and outlook. Truly effective salespeople can turn that pulse, data trends and past experiences into insights that can guide buyers to making smarter decisions for a more successful future.

Take thought leadership to the next level! Transform from thought leader to industry navigator.

Tap into your top salespeople and partner them with your marketing department. Together, they can create valuable and thoughtful blog posts and articles that Seek to Serve, Not to Sell™ in a time when buyers need it the most — and in a digital space where they will be looking first and foremost.

Even more-so, this strategy feeds into your digital marketing space and enhances your strategy for connecting in a socially distant environment. From SEO keyword boosts to email, e-newsletter and social media, to even repurposing article content in video, podcast and infographic formats — these thought leadership pieces have great potential to effectively connect your salespeople with your buyers in relevant dialogues. Even better, if a digital marketplace makes sense for your solution strategy, this content can lead buyers down that funnel to action.

HireBetter, a leading talent management firm in Austin, Texas, can speak to the effectiveness of serving buyers and prospects with a digital resource center. Learn more about their strategy here.

HireBetter Lead Generation Activities

Sales Video Calls

Sales calls are an age-old strategy of selling. They connect buyers with selling organizations through a person they can meet, connect with, eventually trust and build a value-based relationship with and turn to for solutions.

While in-person sales calls are for the most part on hold, an alternative option is to replicate the connection via video conferencing technologies. Instead of relying on the phone or email alone, salespeople should make the most of our modern-day technologies and engage across a screen.

It is time to take virtual selling seriously. Learn how >>

Domain, industry and subject-matter experts from selling organizations have been constrained in feasibly meeting in-person with every client or prospect due to travel schedules and simple calendar space. Salespeople have thus been limited in engaging a value-added resource historically. Virtual calls with these experts is emerging as a compelling approach for salespeople and client success managers alike to create more value for their clients and prospects. And this can go even further with virtual executive briefings – a tool that has traditionally been solely executed in pristine executive briefings centers often a selling organizations company headquarters. We are witnessing a number of clients have wonderful success with virtual versions of these executive briefings.

Blasts From the Past

Client value stories are one of the top sales assets that support B2B buyers’ decision-making. This provides the proof that backs up your salespeople’s solution pitch. Yet, a high percentage of salespeople lack access to client value stories and indicate that they do not feel comfortable using them in their selling process.

Take this time before sales ramps back up with more active buyers to connect your salespeople and marketing team to develop client value stories from past successes that will help support future wins.

These stories can and should take many different formats and can not only feed your marketing fodder and strategy — but also be a key sales asset when directly connecting with buyers.


Regardless if your B2B lead generation strategy takes a different form, it is vital to drive it from a place of empathy, relevance and Seek to Serve. Now more than ever, buyers will be able to identify sellers who are committed to truly providing value versus those obsessed with making a quick profit.

Download our free eBook to learn how to incorporate a Seek to Serve strategy and culture in your B2B organization.

 

lead generation