Is referral lead generation for Professional services a dead end?

The good, the bad and the ugly

As marketing consultants, there have been times when we have had long cycles of new business growth, almost entirely driven by referrals. It's great when it's happening and feels like you've caught the perfect wave; however, like all waves, it doesn't last forever. Sometimes that pipeline of new business from referrals seems endless, so we fail to invest in more predictable lead-generation sources. Why would we? Referrals cost nothing, their more straightforward to convert and (as long as we are doing the right thing by our existing clients) they'll keep coming. Right?

Suddenly, those referrals slow down or deliver diminishing returns, and we've discovered we gambled our business's future on something we don't control. Even when those leads disappear, we continue to pride ourselves on the fact 'we've never had to advertise', which does little to move the needle or change attitudes. We consider marketing as an option only when there are fewer prospects in the pipeline.

The discipline of lead generation

Lead generation is like any other aspect of your business. It requires an in-depth understanding of the options available, what works best in a specific sector, a realistic understanding of resources and the time necessary to be successful.

When correctly modelled and implemented, it can provide a long-term pipeline of leads to grow your business. What it is not is a fast track to building a new sales pipeline while you're waiting for those referrals to kick in again.

B2B lead generation vs B2C sales

B2B lead generation is very different to B2C sales generation. As a B2B professional service provider, the people you want to connect with have particular organisational roles. They also make choices based on their organisation's (not their own) needs. Often, they are only part of the decision-making chain, so you need to help them communicate with other key decision-makers who may have less interest and understanding of the value and importance of your offer. 

The role of Business Development Teams

Unlike B2C sales, B2B sales for professional services need person-to-person interactions. Almost without exception, high-value professional service clients want someone to walk them through the final part of the sales process, focusing on their specific opportunities and challenges. 

Professional services lead generation is there to ensure your people and teams only spend their time with pre-qualified leads, ensuring the quality of prospects and predictability of conversions. 

What are the foundations of a Professional service lead generation strategy?

As they say, 'all roads lead to Rome'; however, in the digital communications era, 'Rome' is your website. A professional service website has a lot of water to carry. It must contain up-to-date discoverable, and relevant content. It must work for experts wanting a solution now and support those who are just starting to understand a problem. 

Your website must be based on an 'intent' marketing strategy. It should include a call-to-action that incentivises the prospect to provide information that your BDMs use to finalise the sale. It must compel the viewer to spend more of their time now and return later to achieve the minimum four connections with your brand to self-qualify. 

It should also help build your brand profile and reputation in a way that clearly defines your value proposition over competitors.

Other critical elements of your professional services lead generation strategy

Visibility, value and trust and the pillars of any professional services lead generation strategy. While your website is the home of this content, you need ways to deliver a larger and more targeted audience to your website. That's done with a content strategy that keeps you high in organic searches. Social media channels like LinkedIn and Twitter play essential roles. 

Email and remarketing are critical in driving repeat site visitations, further qualifying leads with each interaction. Depending on budgets, Professionals services campaigns can extend to programmatic and industry-specific advertising, which helps expand your reach. There may also be industry-specific opportunities, such as events or sponsorship, that may be appropriate.

How to start your Professional service lead generation strategy 

Before you even begin your Professional service lead generation strategy, it's worth talking to an expert. A true B2B marketing expert can help you understand the reality of creating an effective and predictable lead generation strategy, giving you some understanding of the time and resource requirement and (most importantly) how long it will take to create a pipeline of qualified leads. 

The warning here is to avoid at all costs those spammy promotions you see online that promise extraordinary lead-generation results within weeks. It's a costly distraction you cannot afford.

Sooner is better

If you're 'riding that perfect wave' of referrals, now is the time to invest in building those predictable lead generation pipelines. If you're already experiencing a downturn, keep your business from falling into the trap of believing it will correct itself. It's more cost-effective and less stressful to start investing in your pipeline of new clients today than to wait until you're wondering how you will make the payroll.