Most people don’t notice it at first glance but managing a sports team can be a bigger game than just playing the sport itself. Is this distinction important when generating software leads? Definitely. It’s like the old saying, “Don’t see the forest for the trees.” You don’t just learn everything about what your B2B prospects do just from what they sell.
It’s like the difference between the problems of playing golf and the problems of managing a golf course. Sure, both easily connect but the connection is just another way of tying them together. It doesn’t mean your focus will be on how the game is played.
This misconception is common among first-team lead generators who don’t probe often enough and just qualify software leads based on a layman’s understanding of an industry. They don’t stop to consider if…
…they have operational problems.
Say you’re an SCM software vendor and you choose to ignore individual retailers (or even restaurants) all because you don’t care about selling DVD players or fine dining. That doesn’t mean those organizations worry about that and about how to manage their suppliers at the same time! So as you can see, the focus went from the entire business to just what they sold over the counter.
… their problems are universal.
When your mind is focused on their industry, you tend to forget problems that don’t discriminate between them. Here’s another example, a bad CRM database is problematic for businesses both in the insurance as well as automobile industry. They may have different target markets and sell different products. That won’t keep issues like recording customer data from affecting both their sales.
… such problems have nothing to do with industry.
What does presenting your regular financial report in an accurate graph have to do with, say, the quality of a new novel? Nothing. That’s the point. Your local bookstore may care about the latter but that doesn’t mean they won’t also need the former. They’re not related. They’re just needs that happen to exist in the mind of the same customer.
So just as managing a sports team can be a lot different than just playing the sport, your software leads need more information before passing them on to your sales reps. It’s true that speed can really make or break a B2B marketing campaign. However, you’ll actually make faster calls if you worked with more information. Don’t just rely on knowing the sport your prospects are playing!