Get All Access for $5/mo

How To Get More Sales Opportunities, Leads, And Clients To grow your business, to have more paying clients, and to increase return on investment through high leads and appointments, it takes work, a lot of real work.

By Kayode Adeniyi

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Shutterstock

Irrespective of the nature of the business you do or its present level, be it just a startup or already a brand, it is always the aim of every founder and CEO to get more clients. However, sales opportunities do not magically present themselves- your positioning determines the level of quality of sales prospects that you get.

The fact that you are reading this means that you have a business whose conversion rate you would like to increase and maximize your profit or return on investment. It is irrelevant whether your business is at its early stage, or you started it years ago. Also, your return on investment might be on a gentleman's scale, or you might still be on the break-even side, or you might be a little more established, with multiple six, seven, or eight figures of revenue at regular intervals. Wherever you fall on the highlighted spectrum, we all have one thing in common- we consistently seek to get more clients and increase profit level.

There is no doubt about the fact that, in order to get one's next client, it is necessary to first get one's next lead. Without a "lead", it is not feasible to sign a paying client. And the only way to land your next client, the next one, and the one after the next is to position yourself in front of your prospects, convert a percentage of them into leads, schedule appointments, and do all your possible human or alien best to turn at least two of them into clients.

Related: As An Entrepreneur, Selling Is Something You Should Celebrate- Not Delegate

It is true that, at some point, today's experts were once novices and were uncertain about what worked best for their business, so let's start learning what it takes to grow your business to your dream level and even beyond.

Here are three most important steps to follow:

  1. Align properly in order to be visible to prospective clients.
  2. Make sure that a reasonable percentage of your communication with your prospects translates into solid leads and appointments.
  3. Ensure that a minimum of two of your leads become your clients.

These pieces of advice sound simple, but should I ask you whether you have been doing it consistently and strategically? When you get a prospect on the phone, or you sit down face-to-face with them, there is a good chance that they are going to do business with you. However, you simply have not been getting enough opportunities, right?

For that reason, let's look at the three steps in more details.

1. Align properly in order to be visible to prospective clients

One of the best ways to be more visible to prospective clients is to develop a compelling digital environment, starting with a website with simple and welcoming home page. This will make it easy for prospective clients to have a good view of your services. Furthermore, optimize your profile on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. If you do not know how to do all of this, hire a professional because you cannot afford to be hidden. If you're not a secret service agent, visibility counts.

It is important to systematically target the right prospects through digital marketing and business profile optimization, because these processes work on a deeply ingrained psychological trigger which will get them to agree to meet with you.

Related: Want More Business? Try Building Solid Personal Relationships

2. Make sure that a reasonable percentage of your communication with your prospects translates into solid leads and appointments.

You cannot grow your business by cutting costs, although costs do need to be properly channeled. The only way to expand is to create a steady flow of leads. Without this, your business could be in jeopardy. Therefore, it is important that you build a system to generate a consistent flow of opportunities in odd and even periods. Schedule appointments with your prospects and ensure that you are considerate of their time. It is always good to maintain a high level of professionalism throughout the meeting.

During the meeting, occasionally talk about your successes and do not forget to mention times when you failed and how you overcame that. This will make you genuine and authentic and a person who can help their business see the light at the end of the tunnel. Don't feed them with too many feel-good messages, state realities when need be. Before the appointment ends, ask how long they plan on working with you and let them understand what they stand to gain with long term agreements.

3. Ensure that a minimum of two of your leads become your clients.

It is really sad, but the fact remains that most people do not know how to close a deal or are not ready to put in the work. They are either being misguided by individuals who advise strategies that do not really work for anybody, not even for them. Or they are one of the dreamers always looking for the get rich quick methods, and they are still employing the "effort down the drain" techniques to grow their businesses.

Keep close tabs on a minimum of two of your prospects and ensure that a good term of business is presented to them. Have a close look at what they do and tweak your terms to suit their needs. Make it a solution to their problems and desires.

To grow your business, to have more paying clients, and to increase return on investment through high leads and appointments, it takes work, a lot of real work. And always remember that quantity has a quality of its own, do more strategically and earn more.

Related: Sourcing New Clients? Decide On A Marketing Strategy First

Kayode Adeniyi is a Nigeria-based writer and an environmentalist who helps companies improve return on investment through increased visibility on search engines.
Business Ideas

87 Service Business Ideas to Start Today

Get started in this growing industry, with options that range from IT consulting to childcare.

Leadership

Emirates Inks Partnership With HiDubai To Strengthen Dubai's SME Ecosystem

Under this agreement, Emirates will reach out to and engage with over 180,000 SMEs on the HiDubai platform.

Leadership

Harvard Business School Professor Says 65% of Startups Fail for One Reason. Here's How to Avoid It.

Team alignment isn't nice to have -- it's critical for running a successful business.

Entrepreneurs

Here Are The 20 Startups Selected For The Eighth Cohort Of The MBRIF Innovation Accelerator Program

The final participants of the year-long program were selected from over 200 applicants from across 35 countries.

News and Trends

Entrepreneur Middle East And Lucidity Insights Launch New Report On The State Of The US$244 Billion Healthtech Industry In The MENA Region

The latest research shows that the digital health market, a growing segment within healthtech, in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia alone could reach $4 billion by 2026.

News and Trends

Shifting Mindsets: Growing A Culture Of Impact Investing In The MENA Region

Impact investing is built on the foundation of translating intention into results with robust impact measurement. That makes articulating impact or sustainability alongside financial metrics crucial.