Fazley RabbiLead generation is the work of finding people or companies who might buy from you and getting a conversation started with them. A lead is not yet a customer. It is a name with a reason to talk: someone who filled in a form, replied to an email, sent a WhatsApp message asking for a price, or agreed to a call. Lead generation keeps the start of your sales process full, so that you or your sales team always have someone worth talking to.
What counts as a lead
Not every contact is a lead. A phone number on a bought list is just data. It becomes a lead when there is some sign of interest or fit. Many teams use two levels:
- Raw lead: a contact who matches the kind of customer you serve but has not shown interest yet. For example, the purchase manager of a garment factory in Gazipur whose details you found on the company website.
- Qualified lead: someone who has shown interest and seems able to buy. They have the need, a budget, and the authority to decide or know who has it.
Keeping these apart matters. If you count every name as a lead, your numbers look large and your sales team wastes time on people who were never going to buy. A simple scoring method helps here; see how to qualify and score leads.
Inbound: buyers come to you
Inbound lead generation means making it easy for the right people to find you and get in touch. The buyer starts the conversation. Common inbound sources include:
- Your website and articles that answer the questions buyers search for on Google
- Facebook and LinkedIn pages, posts and groups
- Ads that send people to a form or a WhatsApp chat
- Referrals from satisfied customers
- Trade fairs and directories where buyers look for suppliers
Inbound leads are usually warmer, because the person already has a need. The downside is control: you cannot choose exactly who arrives, and building search visibility and trust takes months of steady work. If people visit your website and leave without getting in touch, a genuinely useful lead magnet can help.
Outbound: you go to the buyers
Outbound lead generation means you choose the companies you want and contact them first, by email, phone, LinkedIn message or a visit. For example, a software firm in Dhaka might list clinics that still take appointments only by phone, then write to their managers.
Outbound gives you control over who you talk to, and it can produce conversations within weeks. The cost is effort and rejection. Most people you contact will not reply, and careless outreach can harm your reputation or push your emails into spam. It works best when your list is accurate and your message is clearly relevant to each person.
Inbound and outbound side by side
| Inbound | Outbound | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts | The buyer | You |
| Speed | Slow to build, then steady | Faster to start |
| Control over who you reach | Low | High |
| How warm the lead is | Usually warmer | Usually colder |
| Main skills | Content, SEO, ads, reputation | Research, writing, calling, follow-up |
| Main risk | Waiting for visitors who never come | Annoying people, poor data, spam folders |
Which suits your business
Ask yourself these questions:
- How many possible buyers are there? If your buyers are a short, known list of factories, hospitals or importers, outbound lets you reach them directly. If they are countless shops or households, inbound and ads reach them more efficiently.
- How large and how frequent is each sale? Large, occasional B2B deals justify personal research and outreach. Small, frequent sales usually do not.
- Do buyers already search for what you sell? If people type your service into Google or ask about it in Facebook groups, inbound can catch them. If your offer is new, or buyers do not yet know they need it, outbound has to start the conversation.
- What is your team good at? A team that writes well may enjoy content. A team that is comfortable on the phone may do better with outbound.
- How soon do you need conversations? Outbound starts faster. Inbound pays off over a longer period.
Most B2B businesses end up with a mix. A jute products exporter, for example, might write directly to foreign importers while also keeping a clear English website and directory listings, so that buyers who check the company find something trustworthy.
Common mistakes
- Buying contact lists and sending the same message to everyone
- Counting likes or website visits as leads
- Generating leads with no plan for follow-up, so enquiries wait days for a reply
- Measuring only the number of leads, not how many turn into real conversations and deals
A practical first step
Write down who your best customers are and where they first heard of you. That tells you which channel already works. Then pick one inbound and one outbound activity you can keep up every week, and record each lead in one place, from first contact to result. A simple spreadsheet is enough to begin.
If you would like help planning this, see my lead generation and B2B outreach service, or read how the B2B sales funnel moves a lead towards a signed deal.