The bottom line: Companies need to find and acquire new customers. But most don’t do it very well.
Companies suffer from being overly dependent in two critical areas:
- Revenue from existing customers:Executives tell me they get as much as 75% or even 85% of revenue from existing customers and very little from new customers.That’s not healthy. New customers grow market share and bring in future maintenance and upgrade streams. Worse, leaving them to be won by your competitor is a recipe for disaster.At least 50% of your revenue should come from net new customers.
- Leads from salespeople:
In 2008, over 1/2 of all company leads are self generated by salespeople, according to CSO Insights. That’s up from 40% in 2006. That number is heading in the wrong direction.If your salespeople are pounding the phones, emails, etc. to find leads — they’re not selling.At least 1/2 of all deals closed in a year should originate in Marketing.
For companies looking for best practices in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go. CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads and implement processes for business to business lead generation.
Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.
