What Is a Lead Generation Specialist? Job Duties and Skills

Effective sales and marketing teams can play an instrumental role in the success of a company. Regardless of the product or service a company sells, a streamlined sales strategy can boost sales and improve customer satisfaction. Lead generation specialists can provide valuable contributions to a company's sales and marketing goals. In this article, we discuss what lead generation specialists are, the skills they use in their role and tips for generating leads.

What is a lead generation specialist?

A leads generation specialist is a professional who collects and evaluates potential sales opportunities. They often work for companies who focus on selling their products or services to other businesses. As business prospects expand, companies may need to hire additional personnel to assist sales team in acquiring and analyzing new leads. In these cases, a leads generation specialist may come in to manage the excess lead generation work load and refine the sales process.

What does a lead generation specialist do?

Depending on the size and goals of the company they work for, lead generation specialists may perform a variety of duties, such as:

Establishing viable opportunities

To save time, lead generations specialists may browse existing buyer profiles to determine the probability of a lead showing interest in their product of service. During this part of the lead generation process, they might determine viable leads, and they work with the sales team to focus on their efforts on the interested companies.

Related: What Is a Sales Lead?

Contacting prospective customers

Once a lead generation specialist decides a potential customer represents a sales opportunity, they may begin a conversation with the customer. These initial conversations can take place via telephone or over email and can establish a lead's interest in the product or service.

Related: 17 Tips for Effective Cold Calling (With Scripts)

Evaluating leads

A lead generation specialist may qualify and score the viability of an interested lead for the sales team. This part of the process can sometimes depend on research. Researching a company beforehand can help the sales team understand the likelihood of a sale and pursue more probable leads. It's the lead generation specialist's responsibility to distinguish between companies that are simply interested in the product and companies who intend to purchase the product.

Lead generation specialist skills

Here are some skills that can be helpful for lead generation specialists:

Communication

Effective communication skills can be an asset for lead generation specialists. A major function of a lead generation specialist's job might be to connect with other members of the marketing team, potential prospects and the sales team. While specialists don't carry the title of a formal member of the sales team, they might still deliver an initial pitch to a lead. Communication is important so specialists can accurately represent their business and build rapport with potential customers.

Related: How To Be a Good Communicator

Proficiency with CRM software

Many business-to-business (B2B) companies rely on customer relationship management (CRM) software to help them manage interactions and analyze client information. Having a general understanding of CRM software can allow lead generation specialists to navigate the programs their company use to track and analyze leads.

Read more: What Is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System?

Understanding of sales processes

To identify sales leads, it's important for lead generation specialists to have comprehensive knowledge of sales processes and goals. A sales funnel or purchase funnel refers to the journey a customer takes toward ultimately buying a product or service. The sales funnel outlines the steps of a sale. Understanding the sales funnel can aid in the lead generation process and remove unnecessary confusion that could disqualify a sale.

Data analysis

While strong interpersonal skills and communication can be important, some aspects of a lead generation specialist's job may include data analysis as well. To assign a score to a lead, specialists may need to analyze multiple points of data and summarize their findings for the sales team. It's also important for specialists to interpret the information from the CRM accurately.

Tips for generating leads

If you are a lead generation specialist or are interested in becoming one, here are some tips you can use to help you generate leads:

Understand your product or service

When generating leads, it can be helpful to comprehend your business's mission and offerings fully. This way, you can accurately answer questions, explain your product or service and evaluate if your offering is a good fit for the lead's company.

Related: What Is Lead Generation and How To Generate Leads In 3 Steps

Review prospects' websites

Reviewing websites can be a great way to learn more about a company and decide early on if your product or service is a good fit for their needs. Websites may outline a company's goals and reveal if they are using a competitor's product. Properly researching a lead can save time by eliminating unlikely opportunities early, identifying issues your product or service could address and revealing if their business can accommodate your product or service.

Check your CRM

Client relationship management (CRM) software can be helpful in identifying if there are multiple leads from a single organization. Checking the CRM before reaching out to a lead can help eliminate repetitive calls. It can also help you identify the best person to contact regarding a potential business transaction.

Communicate with the sales team

While lead generation specialists evaluate leads and perform initial sales steps, ultimately the sales team takes over worthwhile leads to close the deal. For this reason, it can be helpful to communicate with the sales team about their goals and experience so that you can optimize your strategy to better assist their processes.

Cater your approach

Different leads may require specialized approaches. Depending on your product or service, you can change your key points to fit the individual prospect. Doing so can help generate more enthusiasm for your product, which can increase the likelihood of an eventual sale. Understanding a prospect's exact needs and goals can help you cater your approach and interactions in a way that moves the conversation forward in a positive direction.