No matter what people say about these times, especially old, or rather shall we say well-experienced salespeople say about all of these newfangled software programs, CRM programs and social media programs, the fact of the matter is that these are the best of times to generate leads. There have never been so many great ways to generate leads with ease from the comfort of your laptop. No matter where you are, your office, a hotel room, a restaurant, a coffee shop, you can work on that laptop. You can sit there and in a matter of minutes you can generate new leads for you to go after. No longer do we need those unwieldy directories with their SIC codes. Remember those beasts? Nor do we need those overpriced outdated-as-soon- as-they-were-published regional customer lists.

Nope, now we can just sit on our laptops, anywhere and find new potential customers.

To make my point here is a list of modern tools we can use to get out there and not only find customers, but approach them, get in front of them and tell them your story to the point where done correctly you will be able to convert those companies to customers.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: A powerful tool to find and connect with potential leads in your industry. Utilize advanced search filters to target the right prospects. It has never been faster or easier.

HubSpot: I consider this one of the best all in one CRM programs available today. It helps you manage and nurture leads. And it includes lead capture forms as well as email marketing and analytics. HubSpot is one of the best ways to get customers to not only know about your company and what you do to actually following you as well.

Salesforce: A comprehensive CRM system that offers lead management, marketing automation, and sales forecasting. It integrates with numerous other tools for enhanced lead generation.

Pipedrive: Also, a sales CRM and pipeline management tool that helps in tracking leads through the sales funnel. Pipedrive offers automation and integration with other marketing tools.

Mailchimp: This is a particularly good email marketing platform that helps design, send, and track email campaigns. It is extremely useful for nurturing leads and maintaining engagement.

Google Ads:  A platform for running pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. Target specific keywords to attract potential leads searching for related products or services. This one can get a bit expensive but done right, the more you spend, the better the results.

Facebook Ads: You can create targeted ad campaigns to reach potential customers based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. One of the best things about Facebook Ads is retargeting to re-engage visitors who have previously interacted with your site.

LeadPages: This is a great tool for creating landing pages and lead capture forms. This is also a great tool for specific targeted sales. You can quickly create specific landing pages to sell specific products and services. LeadPages is great for optimizing conversation and testing different page designs quickly evaluating them to see if they are working effectively.

Hootsuite: This is a social media management platform to schedule and manage posts across multiple social networks. This allows you to engage with potential leads and monitor social media conversations.

SEMrush: This is an SEO (search engine optimization) and online visibility management tool. It helps in identifying and targeting keywords that potential leads are searching for. We all need to get much better at learning and using SEO. I consider it the most powerful of all of the lead generating tools.

ZoomInfo: This is a great software tool. It provides access to a large database of business contacts and company information and is especially useful for B2B lead generation and market research. But beware it is extremely expensive, about $25K a year. But I know some salespeople who have chipped in and shared Zoominfo which is not a bad idea.

Clearbit:  Enriches your lead data with additional information such as company details, job titles, and social profiles. The best thing about Clearbit is that it Integrates with CRM systems for better lead segmentation.

OptinMonster: This lead generation software can create opt-in forms and popups which is great for targeting and segmenting visitors based on their behavior to increase conversions.

Quora: Give you the opportunity to participate in discussions related to your industry and answer questions to establish authority. Quora is a great and easy way to drive traffic to your website by providing valuable insights.

Drift: This is a conversational marketing platform that uses chatbots and live chat to engage with website visitors in real-time. You can qualify leads and direct them to the appropriate sales representatives.

As I said earlier there has never been a better time for generating new leads for your company. By leveraging these tools and adhering to best practices, you can effectively generate and nurture leads, ultimately finding your next customer. And that frankly is fantastic. It’s only common sense.