You’re here because you want more manufacturing sales leads—and you’re not alone.
Recent research shows that 63% of manufacturers consider marketing a “high priority”. It makes sense: good marketing produces quality leads, who can then be sold to by sales teams.
The question is, how do you market your manufacturing business effectively? The tips and tricks in this article will help. Once you implement them, you’ll fill your pipeline with industrial sales leads.
Let’s get started!
9 Ways to Generate Qualified Manufacturing Sales Leads
Does manufacturing lead generation make your head spin? These nine strategies will simplify this all-important task for your sales team. That way you can engage more prospects and close more deals.
Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Who does your manufacturing business sell to?
You need to have intimate knowledge of these companies. For example, you should know what industry they’re in, how many people they employ, and the amount of revenue they produce. You should also know what the buyers at these companies’ goals are and the challenges they face on a daily basis.
When you have these details, assemble them into an ideal customer profile (ICP). If you’re unfamiliar with the term, an ICP is a fictional character that represents your target audience. It should include demographic and psychographic information, like we discussed in the paragraph above.
Prospect With ICP Data
Now that you’ve created an ICP for your sales team, you can use it to find quality leads.
What does that look like in real life? If you’re a SPOTIO user, navigate to our platform’s Lead Machine feature and use the filters to find leads that match your ICP. For example, you might search for automotive companies that have been in business for 10+ years and produce $1M+ annual revenue.
If you’re not a SPOTIO user, compare the leads you generate via other means to your ICP. Those that match can be added to your CRM and contacted. Those that don’t can be cut loose.
Use a Multi-Channel Approach
Quality manufacturing leads won’t help your business if they just sit in your CRM. You need to contact these companies and pitch them your products. Just make sure you do it the right way.
What is the “right way” you ask? Take a multi-channel approach. In other words, contact your leads through a variety of channels, like in-person visits, phone calls, emails, and text messages.
This will help you and/or your sales reps generate more responses. After all, potential customers have options if they decide to engage. They’re not forced to call you back if they hate talking on the phone. They can send you a quick text message instead to start the sales process.
SPOTIO’s industry-leading Multi-Channel Communication feature will automatically log customer interactions for your sales reps. It can also be used to automate email and text message sequences.
Purchase Lead Lists
What if you didn’t have to generate your own manufacturing sales leads? What if they were handed to you on a silver platter? Would you be interested in that? Then let’s talk about lead lists.
A lead list is exactly what it sounds like: a list of leads that sales teams can contact and pitch products or services to. You can buy them from lead generation companies. Just make sure the company you work with is reputable, the leads on the list match your ICP, and you have enough budget.
A lot of sales teams have been burned by lead lists. Many of the lists out there are full of low-quality prospects—or prospects that your competitors have already contacted. That said, if you find the right list, it can pour rocket fuel on your sales efforts. This is especially true if your sales team is brand new.
Attend Trade Shows And Events
Trade shows and other industry events can be a great way to meet manufacturing leads.
Buy tickets to these gatherings and attend the networking sessions. Better yet, purchase a booth and run product demos in the exhibition hall. Do what it takes to connect with potential buyers.
While this isn’t the most cost effective manufacturing lead generation tip—event tickets, airfare, lodgings, etc. aren’t cheap—it can produce some of the best leads. Almost every person you meet will be your target audience. And they’ll actually want to talk about manufacturing with you. Win!
Optimize Your Website for Conversion
Your company’s website can be an incredible source of manufacturing sales leads. You just have to optimize it first. Here are a few tips to help in this area:
- Match the design of your website to your brand’s identity
- Ensure your site is responsive and looks good on mobile devices
- Make it easy to navigate to different web pages and contact your sales team
- Offer valuable resources in exchange for email addresses (more on this below)
- Take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and use keywords
Website optimization is a BIG topic. But the tips above will get you started. Do your best to implement them. Then experiment with different ideas to see if you can increase your manufacturing leads.
Use Gated Resources to Capture Leads
As mentioned above, you can offer valuable resources in exchange for contact information. Said contact information can then be used to engage potential customers in the sales process.
“Valuable resources” come in all shapes and sizes. You can offer ebooks on relevant topics. Or case studies that explain how past customers benefited from your company’s solutions. Or research reports that reveal important information about your industry. Or anything else your target audience wants.
Collect and Promote Social Proof
Reviews and testimonials and other forms of social proof build trust.
Once you have them on your website, you’ll generate more industrial sales leads because your target audience will have confidence in your brand. They’ll think, “These other companies enjoy working with this manufacturer. Why wouldn’t we enjoy the process too?” Then they’ll agree to listen to your sales pitch.
The best way to collect social proof is to simply ask your best customers to review your company on relevant websites. If they’re up for it, ask if you can interview them for a case study as well.
Nurture Leads With a CRM
Last but not least, use a CRM to nurture new leads.
You can do this by contacting potential customers at regular intervals. For example, you might contact them the first time to see if they want to buy your products. Then contact them again to share an industry article you read. Then contact them a third time to see if their needs have recently changed.
You’ll want to track all of your follow-up messages in your CRM. That way you know exactly who you contacted, when you contacted them, and what you contacted them about.
Not sure which CRM to use for your manufacturing company? Give SPOTIO a shot!
Engage Manufacturing Sales Leads With SPOTIO
Your business won’t grow without a steady stream of manufacturing leads. After reading this article, you know exactly how to generate them. Now you just need to implement the tips we shared.
You know what else will help with manufacturing lead generation? A quality CRM and sales engagement platform like SPOTIO. Use our tool to find potential customers, schedule appointments, automate communications, track sales, build custom reports, close deals, and a whole lot more.
Sign up for a free demo of SPOTIO today to see if it’s the right solution for your manufacturing company.
