Lead Generation Tips – Understand the Value of ALL Customers

Possibly one of the only problems with the 80/20 rule is that it still risks cutting off minority customers in favor of a majority. Honestly, if you think going into B2B business is going to free you from the politics of discrimination, profiling, and partisanship, you’ll find yourself sorely disappointed.

There are ways that your lead generation campaign can accidentally turn off a particular percentage of your target market with dangerous consequences. History is full of cases where a minority grows bolder to challenge the status quo.

Here’s a real business example: Facebook and retail. According to one article on Forbes , people who criticize the use of social media marketing are just as correct as those who believe it generates valuable business. For the critics, the use of social media didn’t impact a majority of customers but data from the advocate side showed the ones that did, became high-value clientele.

Now you might think that this is just another version of the 80/20 rule in play. After all, it’s clearly obvious that the 80% here are the customers spending 50% more than the non-Facebook fans, right?

Don’t be so sure. Maybe instead of 80/20 it’s actually 50/50. And if you ever decided to invest in more marketing to just one half, you end up losing the other.

What you need to do is to better establish who is the 20% that’s really generating 80% of your revenue. Better yet, maybe you shouldn’t see it in terms of percentages at all. Some alternatives could be:

• Understanding their connections –Perhaps the more loyal customers act as an extended marketing arm to those who aren’t. That means if you’re trying to implement a referral-based marketing strategy, you need to keep marketing to both buyer personas.

• Use appropriate lead generation techniques – Different buyer personas might require different techniques. A viral campaign might work for the larger part of your audience. But for the more critical personas in your target market, it might not help.

• Restore balance – Sometimes you realize that you have already made the mistake of favoring one segment of your target market. Thus, like the old cliché, you must restore the balance. Take a second look at your target market and see if you’ve ever accidentally marginalized prospects fitting a particular persona. What can you do to learn more about them and what products can you pitch (or even develop) to better your relationship with them

Many lead generation resources will tell you that it’s not good to waste too much marketing on the least interested buyers. However, that’s a bit different from not recognizing the value they still have to your business. No matter where they are between the 80% to 20% understand that it takes both to result in a hundred.

Lead Generation Tips – Understand the Value of ALL Customers