Selling vs. Marketing: Is There Really a Difference? Are you selling a product or marketing your business? Did you know there is a difference? If you aren’t sure what you are-or should be-doing, you aren’t alone. Running a business take a lot of time and energy. Getting the name out about your product or services […]

Much is made about the importance of identifying a qualified lead. Equally important, however, is deciding whether a lead is a dead-end.
If you want to meet your sales quota, it is important that you spend time on leads that are likely to make a purchase. Unfortunately, many leads that have no intention of buying can suck up a lot of your time. That’s because these leads talk a lot about buying without having any intention of doing so.

In order to identify leads that are all talk but no action, we’ve come up with nine surefire ways to pinpoint leads that are likely nothing but time-wasters. And once you identify them, you will be free to concentrate on leads with real potential.

  1. Conduct background checks. Find out exactly who the lead is and if they fit into your target audience. If they don’t fit your criteria, go no further.
  2. Find out what their problem is. Ask the lead what problem your company can solve. If there isn’t one, you can bet there won’t be a sale, either.
  3. Ask about their budget. If your product or service costs more than their budget allows, it’s time to move along.
  4. Discover what they think your company can do for them. If a lead has an unrealistic view of what you can do for them, things aren’t going to work out.
  5. Ask about the competition. Serious leads are likely getting a variety of bids or checking out different companies. If you are the only one they have approached this is a red flag.
  6. Identify the decision maker. If you are not talking to a decision maker ask if you can, if the answer is no, there’s no point in pursing this lead.
  7. Get an address. If a lead is located outside your service area it’s time to move along.
  8. Check their level of engagement. If a lead is really interested in your company or service, they likely would have visited your website or connected with you on social media. If they haven’t, you can bet that they aren’t that into you.
  9. Consider how easy they are to follow up with. If you can’t get in touch with a lead after the initial contact (despite a few good attempts), it is probably best to move on. If they were really interested, they wouldn’t be avoiding you.

While you don’t want to discount a lead that may convert into a sale, neither do you want to waste your time on a dead-end lead. While being too picky may seem like a bad thing, being specific about what types of leads to pursue will pay off in the long run.

Seven Ways to Come Up with Blog Topics. Blogging can do wonders for a business. Driving traffic to its website and converting that traffic into leads are just two important benefits of blogging. Blogging also helps a business become seen as a thought leader in its industry which helps establish trust with current and prospective customers.

While it is easy to see why blogging is so important to a business, blogging itself can be much more difficult. Many times it isn’t the blogging itself that causes issues, rather the ability to come up with blog topics over and over. In order for blogging to successfully promote your business, it must be done on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, coming up with new and fresh ideas can be extremely challenging.

If you feel as if you have hit a wall in terms of blog post topics, rest easy. What follows is a list of ways to spark your creative juices and have you back at the keyboard in no time.

1. Ask questions. These questions don’t have to be profound. Next time you are talking with a client just ask that client what his or her biggest challenge is right now. And customers aren’t the only ones you can get ideas from, either.

2. Interview experts. People love to read interviews with leaders in their industry who have been successful. Interviews are great blogs because you don’t have to come up with the content, the interviewee does that for you.

3. Brainstorm. It seems simple but how many times have you asked your co-workers and sales team to sit with you for a few minutes and just throw out ideas. You might be surprised at how many topics you gain from such meetings. Bring donuts and the room will be packed!

4. Use personal experience. Think of a time when you learned an important lesson from a failure. Or when you stuck with an idea no one else believed in and it paid off. These types of blog posts make for great reading because they personalize the author.

5. Spy on your competitors. What are your biggest competitors writing about? If they are getting a lot of likes on their blog posts see if there is anything you could learn from their methods or topics.

6. Keep up on current events. This is a great way to write timely and creative blog posts. Sporting events are a good example. How about a post on how hiring employees is like preparing for the NBA draft.

7. Take a look back. What were your most popular blog posts? Consider updating those posts or expanding on them. Chances are they will be popular once again.

Blogging can be difficult but is essential to the success of your business. Hopefully the ideas listed above will make the task of blogging a little easier.