[LIVE Sessions] Demand Generation: How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline (in 2022)

Demand Generation How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline in 2022 - Predictable Profits

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A big challenge we often discuss at Predictable Profits involves filling up B2B sales pipelines. It’s an issue that many business owners and sales teams struggle with. 

Due to significant changes in today’s business landscape, entrepreneurs and marketers must adapt and employ new disciplines to get ahead of the competition.

And this is where demand generation comes into play. 

Demand generation can fuel your revenue pipeline so your sales team enjoys a steady stream of leads to nurture and convert. It helps turn your business’s big ideas into new insights that educate your market and showcase your expertise and authority.

As a marketing discipline, demand generation is data-driven and helps you optimize your efforts at content creation, brand-building, and engaging new customers. 

In one of our recent Predictable Profits Live Sessions, CEO and Founder Charles Gaudet, and Co-Founder Zach Burkes discussed how demand generation helps address the three most common sales pipeline challenges business owners need to tackle today.

A lot of people have the misconception that demand generation and lead generation are somehow the same thing.

Read more about the difference between the two concepts here in our related piece, “Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation: What’s the Difference?”

Live Session Highlights for Demand Generation: How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline in 2022

(00:37) Why we must discuss problems with the sales pipeline

(02:00) Problem #1: Buyers have become researchers

(04:08) Consumption drives conversion

(05:52) Buyers make that (buying) decision on their own time

(06:18) The four magic words you want to hear in a sales conversation

(06:36) Leveraging the Law of Effective Frequency

(07:30) How you should stay top-of-mind

(08:09) Buyers today have to wade through all this noise

(09:05) The importance of leveraging your unique advantage points

(11:58) Problem #2: Relying too much on word-of-mouth and referrals

(14:29) Creating scalable systems and different profit centers

(16:35) The market changes every few years

(18:37) Why scalability is important for founders and business owners

(20:35) Problem #3: No systematic follow-up

(23:29) You’re not in the business of just saying, “Buy me! Buy me!”

(23:56) Creating demand is a lot of work. Are you ready and willing to roll up your sleeves?

(25:40) How we “found” $1.35 million for a company in just 20 minutes.

(27:37) The importance of bridging the gaps

(28:35) The Predictable Profits Bridge Analogy

(29:56) Wrap-up and recap

Key Takeaways

What are the Usual Sales Pipeline Problems for Marketers and Entrepreneurs?

According to Charles and Zach, at the core of today’s B2B sales pipeline issue are three formidable challenges:

  1. Buyers have become researchers.
  2. There is an over-reliance on referrals and word-of-mouth.
  3. Many companies don’t do a systematic follow-up.

“One of the reasons why we’re talking about this is that it comes up all the time,” said Zach. 

Having worked with hundreds of business owners throughout the year, the challenge of filling the sales pipeline is a clear priority of many sales teams, if not the most important.

“A lot really has changed in the last several years, which obviously is no big surprise,” pointed out Charles, adding that much may be attributed to the upheavals brought about by the pandemic. “But I think the more important and surprising thing is, really, how did things change? And why did things change?”

How Does Demand Generation Help to Fill My Sales Pipeline?

With those three core issues in mind, how does demand generation play a role in filling your sales pipeline with more qualified leads (and, eventually, more conversions)?

A strong demand generation strategy means sharing your quality content with as many people as possible (and as freely as possible). While simultaneously working alongside a suitable lead generation strategy to measure (and continue to optimize) all your B2B marketing efforts.

  • Continue publishing helpful, market-relevant content across your many channels – via your blog, email efforts, social media, video, virtual events, online ads, downloadables, etc.
  • Understand your buyer’s journey and create extraordinary content for them at every stage.
  • Go for that “I see you everywhere” reaction by embracing an omnichannel approach to your content marketing and brand-building efforts.
  • Use your Unique Advantage Points to bring more value.
  • Build out your different revenue-generating strategies so you’re not dependent on only referrals or word-of-mouth marketing.
  • Leverage social selling to stay top-of-mind and be seen as an authority in your space.
  • Have a more systematic approach to following up on your leads.
  • Provide solutions and fresh perspectives to give your customers much-needed a-ha moments.

Other Concepts Discussed in This LIVE Session

Consumption Drives Conversion

As you put out quality content for your audience, it is more likely for them to convert eventually. 

Today, buyers have become researchers. The more they encounter you during the buyer’s journey of awareness, interest, consideration, and taking action, the better your chances of converting them. 

The concept of “consumption drives conversion” was also discussed in The Beyond 7 Figures podcast, “Curt Maly on the Future of Social Media Marketing & Advertising.” 

Buyers Buy on Their Own Time

Buyers buy when they feel ready. Or commit when they want to commit. 

From the Live Session (via Charles):

“When we looked at our research, we found that of marketing-qualified leads (not sales-qualified leads which are going to convert much higher) — just people very early in the buying process that raise their hand – 7.5% of those marketing-qualified leads will do business with you between zero and 90 days. 

“But 42.5% of those marketing-qualified leads will do business with you between 90 days and two years from now.” 

The Law of Effective Frequency

A common philosophy that the most successful ad agencies follow is the Law of Effective Frequency.

The concept of Effective Frequency is a cornerstone of media planning. It relates to the number of times consumers must be exposed to your advertising in order for it to be most effective. 

“When somebody first hears about you,” explained Charles, “[your customers] really don’t know who you are or why they should do business with you. But by the 20th brand impression, demand starts to build, and they want to do business with you.”

The Four Magic Words You Want to Hear in a Sales Conversation

“The best thing that could ever happen when you’re having a sales conversation is they end up saying the four magic words: I see you everywhere,” Charles said.

You know that you have created demand when a client tells you, “I see you everywhere.” You create familiarity and build trust by leveraging the Law of Effective Frequency. 

Leveraging Your Unique Advantage Points

Remember, your Unique Advantage Point is what defines who you are AND highlights the most compelling reasons your existing customers rave about you.

When you leverage your Unique Advantage Points, you offer a differentiating factor to your consumers, which positions you as the obvious choice among other competitors. The more Unique Advantages you have in your business, the stronger your overall positioning.

Read more about the concept of Unique Advantage Points here.

Create Scalable Systems and Different Profit Centers

Especially now that we see fundamental changes in the market, we can’t stress enough the importance of developing new profit centers for your business. 

These new profit centers make you less dependent on referrals and word-of-mouth. They also help you future-proof your business and weather turbulence in the market.

If you want to learn more about building new profit centers for your business, check out our “21 Advanced Profit Centers” course.

The Money Wheel Concept

The Money Wheel is another staple concept we talk about at Predictable Profits. This collection of income-generating strategies works continuously for your business, providing stability and predictability.

Learn more here: “Mastering The Money Wheel: The Secret To A Secure, Profitable Business.”

The Importance of Bridging the Gaps

We see the sales process as building a bridge, 

Every piece of content sparks a new understanding — a new a-ha moment or a fresh perspective — helping connect one end of the bridge to the other.

That bridge forms when the sale is made. So keep delivering high-quality content that helps your customers solve problems or understand a new perspective. 

About Predictable Profits Live Sessions

Charles Gaudet and Zach Burkes take on hot topics and burning questions on growing, and scaling businesses in our weekly Predictable Profits Live Sessions. 

Live Sessions drop every Thursday afternoon on our YouTube channel and Facebook Page. Contact the Predictable Profits team today if you’d like to suggest a topic for Charles and Zach to discuss.

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