How to Generate Better Leads
Michel Fortin
A
big mistake businesses often make when they market themselves is the
fact that many try to sell directly in every communication they produce.
And, as a result, they generate huge amounts of "prospects" that lead
to little or no business (or what I call "expects"). They think that by
selling themselves right in the ad they will get not only an immediate
response but also immediate business. This oftentimes backfires and can
even take away customers.
Many clients I've dealt with usually get
as a result of this type of approach a lot of calls but no clients --
or at least no long term clients. They end up dealing with a lot of
people who are merely curious but never serious. Because of
hypercompetition and the fact that we are constantly bombarded with
information, trying to find qualified prospects and get them to buy can
sometimes be worse than a needle in the haystack. It's frustrating and
often self-effacing.
Needs Versus Wants
A
concept that's been around for years but has recently become very
popular is multi-step marketing. It's a process in which businesses seek
an immediate response from their marketing efforts but use this
technique to offer a free report, item, sample, or service. Little do
people know that the immediate response strategy is usually not the true
goal of the advertiser. People who come forward are not unqualified
prospects. They are indirectly being screened since, once they "show
up," they are pre-qualified. And after they've been enticed with free
information, products, or services, they are pre-sold and ready to do
business.
As a consultant to cosmetic surgeons, I've realized that
this process is obviously essential if not vital. For instance, no one
can call a person on the phone and outright ask if that person wants
more hair, especially without knowing if that person is bald in the
first place! However, doctors will first advertise a free information
kit offer, explaining the procedure and the potential results, whereby
people who respond will naturally fit into that specific demographic.
The
doctor then sends a brochure describing the surgery, the possible
risks, and the potential results, but without any pricing -- it is
impossible to determine the cost until the doctor personally sees the
patient beforehand in order to measure the degree of hair loss. However,
the information package along with its lack of pricing causes patients
to come forward once more to arrange for a personal consultation with
the doctor. Consequently, those who show up are, by and large,
practically ready to have surgery -- they fit the surgeon's
psychographics.
You see, people who need your products or services
may fit your demographics. But people who want what you offer fit your
psychographics. As in the previous example, a hair transplant surgeon's
demographics encompass those who have hair loss. But psychographics,
though, are comprised of people who have hair loss and want to do
something about it (since not all of them do). In short, they are not
only experiencing hair loss but also suffering from it. This is the
awesome power of "funneling" fuel into your marketing and prospecting
machine.
Lead Generation
In your case, if you
offer a specific product or service that caters to a target market,
find ways to make your market come forward with minimal effort on your
part.
The best way to do this is to offer a freebie of some kind.
It's like the "try-before-you-buy" approach. Being in the age of
information, I prefer giving away "free reports." Your free report
doesn't have to be product-specific, industry-specific, or
benefit-specific. As long as it targets an audience that fits within
your demographics (and eventually your psychographics), you're ahead of
the game.
Let's say you're in financial planning. Your product
involves investments, mutual funds, stocks, savings plans, and
mortgages. Rather than place an ad that directly markets these services,
you could advertise a small classified ad promoting a free course,
seminar, or report on helping people save money. Let's say you're a
beautician. You could offer a free kit that may include a free makeover,
a sample makeup kit, a gift certificate, a free initial consultation,
or a free report on makeup styles and colors that will match one's
unique complexion.
Nevertheless, the idea is to have people come
to you rather than you to them, and the incentive you offer doesn't have
to relate directly to what you do or sell. In general, the portion of
the general public that fits into your product or service's demographics
is merely made up of suspects (you suspect that they might need what
you have to offer). When a portion of them comes forward to
get your freebie,
you've isolated the true prospects from your suspects. Then, if they
want more, they're now expects (people expecting to do business with
you).
The Free Report
I used to work as a
salesperson for a music store specializing in pianos and keyboards.
Older pianos usually require considerable repair since the wood inside
holding the strings with which the piano creates its sound may be too
old and broken beyond repair. Many unscrupulous salespeople will "dope"
pianos so that they remain temporarily in tune until the instrument is
sold. For one, they spray water onto the wood inside, causing it to
expand and grip the tuning pegs more firmly. But the water eventually
evaporates as the piano returns to its original state.
A
salesperson at the store had a small classified ad. It said: "Beware
parents in the market for a piano! Many parents usually buy used pianos
for their kids because they don't know if they'll love music and want to
minimize the risk of losing their investment. However, to the
unsuspecting buyer many used pianos are internally broken beyond repair
and 'doped' in order to be sold quickly, only to become broken again
when it's too late. Before you buy any piano at any price, call for our
free report, 'Don't Let Piano Problems Put Your Bank Account Out of
Tune: 6 Ways to Find Commonly Hidden Problems with Used Pianos'."
His
report not only explained the possible hidden faults commonly found in
older pianos. But since he was catering to a target market (i.e.,
parents), his report went on to explain how used pianos fall out of tune
quickly causing the child to learn the piano the wrong way and
eventually to lose interest -- let alone the parents' money! Of course,
what the salesperson really wanted was to get these parents to buy new
or professionally refurbished pianos from him. The resulting effect,
though, was that the report not only brought prospects to his door but
also instilled in them a greater confidence in the salesperson in
addition to the reasons for buying a certified piano rather than a used
one. He made a fortune using this technique!
In essence, look at
your free report as a résumé. People often send bulky résumés to
potential employers in an attempt to sell themselves as much as
possible, when very often their attempts get filed away -- the "round"
file, that is! Successful career consultants stress the importance of
summarizing a résumé as much as possible, include one's achivements and
results (not one's previous duties and responsibilities), and putting it
all on one single page. Simply put, the résumé is not meant to land a
"job" but to land an "interview."
Lead generation should be
regarded in the same way. Your free offer must be small, contain a
concise message, stress an immediate benefit, and cause the prospect to
come forward. What can you offer your prospects to arouse their
curiosity and interest? What can you give away for free so to entice
them to get more? If you're giving something away, you'll realize that
what you're really doing is generating better leads. Nevertheless,
realize that the cost of offering freebies is far less than the cost of
mass marketing (and more effective too)!
Specialized Advertising
Now that we've talked about lead generation advertising, the trick to
having as many qualified prospects come forward is to have your ad read
by such a specific group of people as much, as often, and as effectively
as possible. General publications won't do that and they certainly cost
a lot of money. Many people have their ads published in large,
high-circulation, general newspapers or magazines. In the end, the
cost-per-lead can add up significantly.
On the other hand,
specialized publications have the distinction of appealing to specific,
targeted audiences, which increases the chances of your ad being read by
higher quality leads. For example, if one publication has a readership
of 100,000 but only 25,000 fit into your demographics, where another has
only 40,000 but all of which fit into your demographics, which one do
you think will give you the greatest response? In other words, rather
than fishing for minnows in the middle of the ocean, you'll be catching
whales in a small pond.
Think of the specialized publication as a
sonar that will help you to find the kind of fish you really want. This
is due to the fact that not only will the readership match your
demographics but also people who buy specialized publications have a
tendency to read them from cover to cover. For instance, unlike a
mass-published newspaper that will be skimmed (i.e., it is bought by
many but read in its entirety by few), a specialized publication will be
read more intensely and thoroughly (i.e., it is bought by few but read
in its entirety by many).
Target Your Market
If you advertise a free offer to a specific target market, your per
capita hit-ratio will dramatically increase than if you would have
advertised your product or service directly in a major publication
that's too general or too vague. Your little ad can easily get lost in a
sea of ads. These days, specialized publications exist by the
truckloads! Occupation-specific, special interest, or industry-specific
publications can include newsletters, magazines, e-zines, web sites,
trade publications, newsgroups, journals, reports, corporate e-mail,
directories, specialty newspapers, catalogues, and communiqués from
specific organizations.
Publications for uncommon or highly
specialized topics are out there in some form or another. If you go to a
library you will find newsletters for specific home-based businesses,
journals written exclusively for corporate executives, e-zines purely
about cigars, newspapers strictly published for police officers, and
even magazines geared for gerbil breeders. As long as the readership
logically fits into your target market and, if possible, into your
psychographic criteria, this is where you will get the greatest bang for
your marketing buck.
For example, an advertising agent
specializing in computer-based firms can advertise an offer for a free
report in computer magazines or, better yet, in e-zines that cater to a
same target market. A medical consultant should advertise a free
consultation in medical journals, medical association newsletters, and
medical equipment manufacturer catalogues. You get the drift.
The Newsletter
By the way, having your own newsletter is also a powerful way to
attract prospects. Your newsletter may be offered for free or at a
nominal cost, but the idea is to have the people who read it want more
and come forward to get it. As well, you can sell advertising space in
your newsletter to firms also catering to your unique clientele. But the
obvious advantage is the fact that you can "swap" ads in newsletters
written by other firms that cater to your target market.
Your
newsletter can be strictly information-oriented and your ads can
advertise your newsletter offer. However, don't make your free report or
newsletter readily available. If you choose to use the
multi-step marketing process I described earlier,
you want the names and addresses of those coming forward. In this case,
have a special application process and a contact management program to
mass mail their information to eager subscribers.
Remember, you're
not trying to advertise with the hope of stumbling onto a trickle of
suspects. You want an endless stream of pre-qualified, pre-screened, and
pre-sold expects. Those who request your free report or subscribe to
your newsletter will hopefully want more. But even when only a small
portion do, you know that they are much more qualified, which saves you a
lot of time and effort than trying to fish in a dried up desert of
possible suspects.
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Make it a great day,
Charles Kaluwasha
260-801-1910,
Buildawealthsystem@gmail.com
buildawealthsystem@gmail.com
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