10 Content Questions To Ask Clients During Discovery To Improve Lead Generation

Even when a client is specifically building a lead generation website, the whole concept of lead generation frequently gets lost in the shuffle. Instead of keeping their eye on that ball, agencies and clients tend to be consumed by design and branding issues throughout the Web development project, resulting in a beautiful website that produces very few sales leads.

The Questions

Copywriters can prevent such an outcome by keeping their focus solidly on the lead generation ball. During discovery, I have found it very helpful to engage directly with the client and ask questions that will help our content team write content that does a good job of persuading users to engage and inquire. Here are 10 useful questions:

1. Can you describe in detail your best prospect?
2. What are the 3-5 most important reasons prospects buy from you?
3. What are the 3-5 most important reasons prospects don’t buy from you?
4. What are the 3-5 most important strengths you have versus the competition?
5. What are the 3-5 most important weaknesses you have versus the competition?
6. Why do customers keep buying from you?
7. Why do customers stop buying from you?
8. What are the typical steps in your selling cycle?
9. What are the most effective offers/inducements you’ve used to secure new business?
Can you let me hear your sales pitch?

The Commentary

A few key points about these questions:

1. Questions should focus on prospects and customers. A lead generation website needs to persuade prospects to start buying, and customers to keep buying. The motivators can be quite different.
2. Hearing directly from sales and customer service personnel helps immensely, since they understand customer psychology and speak the customers’ language. This is why I find hearing the sales pitch is helpful not only for factual information, but also for arriving at the appropriate style.
3. During the questioning process, certain themes are bound to come up again and again. These high-priority themes can be woven into body content and calls to action, as repeating key buying motivators will have a cumulative effect.

It’s also worth noting that the repetition of important lead generation themes strengthens branding. In addition to all of the client’s other branding priorities, being known for strengths that matter to prospects and customers only makes the business that much more attractive to do business with.