Convert Your Sales Leads Like A 9-Ball Billiard Game

Lead Generation is Like a 9 Ball Game

Most marketers view their sales process as the popular sales funnel: sales leads come in at the top and as they progress through the sales process, the path narrows.

I, on the other hand, like to view my sales process as a pool table, the various business sales leads generated through b2b telemarketing are the billiard balls, and I'm playing 9-ball. I find this analogy more apt for describing what happens during sales conversion as not all business leads follow the path of the funnel; hot sales leads can suddenly get cold if a sales person makes a mistake, and cold leads sometimes turn warm or even hot when positions in the corporate ladder change.

Just like the rules of the game, marketers start first with the lowest numbers or the low-hanging fruits. These b2b sales leads are the hot or warm leads that are most easily converted, and the nine ball (money ball) are those high converting leads which we all covet (or perhaps having your company bought by Facebook or Google for “x” billion dollars).

Of course, when you play 9-ball, you have to pocket the money ball to win the game before the other player does. In sales and marketing, this means going after the highest converting business sales leads before they go to your competitor. In the game, this can be done in three ways:

1. Pocketing all the lower numbers first 
2. Set the balls on the table so you can hit the nine ball with a lower number. 
3. Accidentally pocketing the nine ball while you were aiming for a lower number.  

When aiming for “the big fish” in business lead conversion, those 3 ways can be translated into the following:

1. Going after the small business leads first and converting them, slowly gaining more insight into what defines a truly qualified b2b sales lead for your business. 
2. Asking your existing clients for referrals to those in their business network who might also benefit from your product. 
3. Your b2b telemarketer cold calls a business lead who either declines (or converts) and refers you to another business lead without your asking or, there is a sudden change in the management of that business lead and the new decision maker finds your offer beneficial.  

In business, if we follow the rules of 9-ball, getting to the highest converting leads means you have to pocket the “smaller” leads first. When your company is just starting out, this is the best way to go. As you get more clients and gain more experience, you learn to better identify your b2b sales leads, which eventually allows you to target that high-converting lead (how about a long-term contract with a Fortune 500 company?). “But what about those companies who hit the nine ball right at the beginning?” you ask. As stated above, you either accomplish this through experience or sheer dumb luck. Seasoned entrepreneurs are like professional or exceptionally skilled pool players, they know how to plan their business right at the start. Others were simply more blessed by lady luck.

When you play 9-ball, you have the option of pocketing all the lower numbered balls first or aiming for the nine ball right away. This is the same with business, meaning, all the b2b sales leads you get with a targeted telemarketing lead generation campaign can be converted, some just convert faster than others. And depending on how you throw your pitch at them, you can either miss, pocket, or hit the money ball. When you miss the shot, your competitor gets a turn, and you just have to hope that the ball remains on the table till it’s your turn again.