When readers of Forbes first saw the title of this article on the Higgs boson, some of them may have been expecting something out of a college physics textbook. But on the contrary, it barely talks about science at all. In fact, it might have to do more with marketing and lead generation than it does with the significance of the discovery.
Regardless, the significance of it is somewhat the subject of the article. More specifically, it deals with why it’s only the scientists who are finding this a significant breakthrough. Unfortunately, they don’t understand why the rest of the world doesn’t!
Does this sound familiar? Well it does if you’re in an industry like ERP software and are having similar reactions from your prospects. Like the scientists, some firms are just so disconnected from the minds of their intended market and lack the capacity to make them understand the benefits of their products. That’s a disaster waiting to happen because one of the major obstacles to ERP implementation is a lack of understanding between vendor and client.
That’s why you shouldn’t be so disconnected from the rest of the world. Connecting with your market is the core of everything you do in the lead generation process. To illustrate, below are three channels commonly employed by lead generation companies:
- Telemarketing – Despite the trends of email and online marketing, many companies still use the phone when it comes to making contact with a prospect then confirming interest, business needs, and whether the two factors are enough to warrant a set appointment.
- Email marketing – It’s not as messy and not as disruptive. But for you to have a really fruitful conversation with a prospect through email, you should take care not to bombard them with too many technical details. Start with they can understand first and find ways to make the information you provide more digestible. Use visual aids if you have to.
- Social Media – Out of all these three, this the channel where the ability to connect is most critical. Being a business on a social network requires you to really relate with your audience, spark conversations, and establish yourself as a leading, expert authority in your industry. Furthermore, that just doesn’t demand knowledge but the capacity to make that knowledge understandable.
So as you can see, it may not matter how much IT or software expertise your company professes. If you can’t take that knowledge and present it in a way that less knowledgeable prospects can understand, then you can’t connect with your market. If you can’t connect with your market then you can’t tell what their needs are and from there, you will never know what gets them interested. In other words, you have no way of generating qualified leads.
Just as a disconnect is the reason for why the rest of the world can’t understand the significance of the Higgs boson, it will be the reason why your prospects can see the significance of your software solution. Don’t be disconnected from your market!