Automatic Lead Generation and Gathering Market Intelligence

When working with clients on key account management strategy, I always ask how well do they know their prospects  market place and  what issues and challenges are they facing that need resolving. A good key account manager will spend time on researching client issues and then build a compelling reason to buy a tailored solution.

Much of this customer market intelligence has historically been garnered through word of mouth and “networking the account” alongside reading up on company financials including annual reports. All of this takes time and effort. Some of this intelligence gathering activity can now be automated using internet technology including RSS readers and automated alerts.

Google Alerts is a fantastic free service that can automate specific information requests and even be used for lead generation.  Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, blogs etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. I use Google alerts to keep track of my key accounts. Google alerts can also be used for lead generation.

Setting up a google alert is real easy. Having signed into Google Alerts you will be prompted to enter a search term. When looking for specific information on a given company simply type their name into the search criteria box. Next you need to choose the alert type from the drop down box. There are a number of alert types and these include, News, Web, Blogs, Comprehensive, Video or groups. I typically choose comprehensive to provide as wide a coverage as possible. Choose a search type that is relevant to you.

Subsequently choose how often you want the alert sent to your inbox. Choices range from;

1. As it happens
2. Once a day
3. Once a week.

All that is left to do is to tell Google which e-mail address you wish any corresponding alert to be sent. Save the alert and then wait for the information to be delivered right into your inbox. Google alerts often provide up to the minute information which gives me a valid reason to call the client. Recently a client of mine won a significant contract and because of the alert I  made time to speak to the client and congratulate them on their success.

On the lead generation side imagine of you are looking for organisations who have recently announced that they are to open a new office in London. Type the search “opens new office in London”. Hey presto you are then automatically sent an email with any relevant news on companies opening offices in London.

I would recommend that you play around with the search term and search type criteria to get the best results.

Another useful tool is to set up a Google Alert for your personal and company name. I posted a blog the other day and Google Alerted me within minutes that someone had posted a blog on the web with my name in the copy. Thankfully that someone was me. However imagine if it was someone who was being defamatory about your products and services. Being alerted to a potential problem provides you with valuable time to take some action and hopefully prevent any ongoing damage to your brand.

RSS readers and Yahoo pipes can also be used to collate and present customer related information. However I would suggest experimenting with Google Alerts before progressing to RSS readers and building any pipes in the short-term.

Have fun.

Best wishes,

Peter

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