LOCAL e-commerce expert and chief executive officer of Mobile EDGE Solutions Leighton Campbell is encouraging entrepreneurs to be more detailed in their selling strategy to convince potential customers to buy their products and remain loyal.

He shared at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) Virtual Biz Zone on June 7 on the topic ‘Lead Generation: From Prospects to Customers’.

Campbell agrees with Oxford’s description of lead generation being “the action or process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business’s products or services”. He added to that description that, “Lead generation is not a one-time activity but instead it is a series of activities that come together to provide meaningful engagement with your prospective audiences, that gets them to choose you.”

Participants were encouraged to not settle for one-time sales but to build a strategy that produces repeat sales and loyalty. “When looking at developing a lead generation strategy, it’s not only about getting your prospects to make the first sale but to continue buying from you and bringing more people on board and advocating for your business,” he said.

Campbell told entrepreneurs to “build communication policies that include ways to optimise how you approach hot leads. Hot leads are those individuals that are aware of your brand, fit your target audience and have possibly visited your website and filled out a form. These persons have taken a desirable action to learn more about your business”.

Continuing he said, “You want to invest time and energy into leads that are showing the most interest and not waste your advertising and marketing dollar on those that are not. This is why you must create a profile and thoroughly think about and detail the persons you are targeting.”

In an effort to carry hot leads straight through the funnel to becoming loyal and repeat customers, Campbell noted, “You must do immediate follow-up and check-in to see if they need more information on your product or service”.

“An important question entrepreneurs must ask themselves is, how am I equipping my customers with more information for them to make their purchase today? Giving as much information as you can helps to create buyer’s confidence, so go ahead and provide your product descriptions, allow your prospective clients to see the true value of your business.”

He added: “There are communication tactics entrepreneurs must use to create buying urgency, that will move prospective clients into actual customers. Some of these include utilising call-to-action, free and limited time offers as well as allowing them to pre-order at special rates.”

The JBDC Virtual Biz Zone webinars are geared toward stimulating entrepreneurs within the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise sector.