As this month draws to a close, many companies have realised that with the second quarter of the year well underway, it is time to evaluate their business. With the large number of public holidays in April, this evaluation will most likely offer disappointing results, placing added pressure on sales teams to catch up over the next few months.

If you look at the year to date, how much work has actually been done?” asks Louise Robinson, Sales Director of CG Consulting. “With December, January and April essentially being complete write-offs because of the public holidays and leave employees have taken, many companies are very far behind their targets and with a long school holiday in June which will disrupt business again. This leaves companies with nine months of the year to do 12 months worth of sales.”

She adds that there is little time for businesses to catch up. “There are six months of 2012 left, which equates to only 28 weeks, or 140 days excluding public holidays. If public holidays are taken into account, there are only 134 working days left of this year as there are another six public holidays still to come. This doesn’t leave a lot of time for sales teams to meet their targets.”

The solution to this time crunch? Lead generation provided by a specialist service provider, offering a springboard for sales teams. Robinson explains that a lead is not, in and of itself, a sale. It's a clue (or lead) that a sales opportunity exists. Successful lead generation involves finding prospects that have a genuine need and who are actively seeking a way to fill that need. Sales teams can then contact these individuals with further information on tailored offers, products and services.

“In many industries, it can take up to two months or more to close one deal; that is 20 actual working days spent on one sale. If you consider this, it becomes obvious that sales teams are losing time making cold calls to establish leads, and that instead of wasting time on the phones, they could be in front of prospective clients. Outsourcing to a lead generation company is therefore is a win-win situation, and conversion rates on qualified leads will have a higher success rate than cold contacts because the prospect is pre-qualified, before you ever receive the lead, further speeding the sales process up,” Robinson points out.

In addition, a specialist service provider like CG Consulting can use the lead generation process to help build a client’s pipeline by looking for opportunities in the market place defined by their chosen criteria.  With so much competition out there, it important for businesses to develop a strategy to continually grow the pipeline, and lead generation is therefore an essential part of succeeding in sales.

“If you need business fast, or if you want to effectively manage your company’s growth, lead generation is essential,” Robinson says. “It's an easy way to increase your ROI and get more business on your books. The key to being successful using lead generation is to brush up on your sales and marketing skills so that the leads you receive convert at a high sales rate. Do not try to approach this method of marketing without the ability to follow through and close the sale, and don’t waste precious time trying to cobble leads together yourself. You’re the expert in your business; use a lead generation expert to help you grow that business.”