What You Need To Know. To Grow GETTING GOOD OOD LEADSL SPECIAL REPORT. by Gerry Foster. Gerry Foster Marketing. All rights protected and reserved.

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1 What You Need To Know... To Grow 1 GETTING GOOD OOD LEADSL by Gerry Foster Gerry Foster Marketing

2 What You Need To Know Getting Good Leads The Bible says, Where there is no vision, the people shall perish. Well, I say, Without good sales leads, you struggle. To Grow. A big mistake people often make when marketing their products or services is not having a system or methodology the machinery - in place for attracting qualified prospects (people who are eager, willing, and ready to take action now). Instead, it seems that many entrepreneurs do a better job attracting suspects (people who might, someday, maybe, when-i-get-around-to-it, possibly buy your products or services). I mean, let s deal in reality here. There s nothing more frustrating and demoralizing than dealing with people who are merely curious and not serious. Is this bad? Yes. Is this sad? Definitely. CONTENTS Effective lead generation is crucial to the success of any business. Discover a simple system that is sure to bring in the types and numbers of customers you want. Install Your Machinery...3 Get Customers Step Prospecting....5 See, many entrepreneurs believe that strong, positive word-of-mouth is all they need to grow and expand. Others are more realistic and know they re doomed to failure if they don t keep the pipeline filled with a steady stream of new, nonreferred qualified prospects to talk to! The fact is, referrals are no longer a sure means to success. I can t put a dollar amount on it, but loading the apple cart with good leads will keep an avalanche of new customers rolling in to you. One thing s for sure, once your lead generation machinery is in place, just put it on automatic pilot and spend each day reaping all the financial rewards you can. Stop wasting your time and hundreds to thousands of dollars on ads that don t work, referral sources that don t refer often enough, phone calls that don t produce, and so on. Stop wasting your time and hundreds to thousands of dollars on ads that don t work, referral sources that don t refer Instead, why not get business to come to you with minimal effort and expense on your part? And you can by connecting the right emotional message to an interested audience to get qualified prospects to come forward TO CONTACT YOU. 2 2

3 Install Your Machinery Let me illustrate exactly what I m talking about: Let us suppose, for example, that you are a business consultant. And one of your areas of expertise is in advising manufacturing companies on how to increase productivity and achieve greater operational control. You have a proven track record, are an authority in eliminating the end of the month rush and late shipments that increase overhead costs, and are known for offering practical guides on productivity improvement, particularly for metal manufacturers. You make a quick decision: you are willing to consult with presidents of metal manufacturing companies that are being hurt financially by low productivity and poor operational control. You will analyze their situation and render good advice. Without a doubt you can save these companies hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in pre-tax profits, and help them avoid costly oversights such as tying up cash in excessive inventories and not taking advantage of shorter lead times. Accordingly, you know exactly what unique value your service will provide. All you need to determine is WHO to offer your services to your best prospects, the ones MOST LIKELY to become your clients. And how you can avoid wasting your precious time, energy and money on deadbeat suspects, and attract qualified prospects instead quickly, easily, and as inexpensively as possible. So, you weigh your options. One option is running print advertisements in major trade journals. But that is... attract qualified prospects instead quickly, easily, and as inexpensively as possible prohibitively expensive. Direct mail is another option. But a little investigation shows that a morethan-likely low response rate makes that a bad idea. You consider others ways to market. Exhibiting at trade shows, speaking at the local trade or professional association that presidents of metal manufacturing companies belong to or are affiliated with, and giving seminars. But none of those appeal to you. Another possibility is to rely upon positive wordof-mouth advertising. Unfortunately, you have little control over referrals; you essentially have to wait for them to happen, which makes that option too hit or miss. Besides, you need to land some new accounts NOW! You can t afford to just sit back and wait for the phone to ring with referrals. What s more, it has been pointed out quite convincingly, by both current and past clients that what they really bought from you were not your consulting services per se, but actually the 3

4 solution to a problem, a promised desired result, an incredible contribution of some sort, or an emotional payoff (i.e. in other words they bought something of unique value from you). So, after much contemplation on your part, you decide the best prospects to pursue are metal manufacturers that not only need to increase productivity and improve operational control but also are suffering from it. Specifically, they are losing customers to inferior competitors with lower prices and want to do something about it. Furthermore, you find there are two requirements you must meet when marketing to this client group: 1. You must find a way to win the prospect s confidence. This is because he (or she) is going to rely heavily upon your judgment, technical expertise and knowhow, and is probably going to risk important decisions based on your input. Therefore, your image is everything. It is important that you come across as a dignified, qualified, and highly respected master in your field a worldclass consultant. 2. Any kind of marketing that makes it appear as if you are chasing, soliciting, or begging for business is off limits. Instead, the proper marketing to do is to find a way to attract prospects that are already interested, pre-qualified, and pre-sold on you. At a minimum, you will want to engage in what s commonly known as a 3-step sale. Specifically, you funnel prospects that want (not need) to stop losing customers to inferior competitors with lower prices into your marketing churning machine, you followup by phone to screen out the tire kickers and idle curiosity-seekers, and enroll those that can be enrolled into hiring you (i.e. make the sale), signing a contract. What does this mean for you? Your marketing and/or sales plan must take these two items into account, especially the first one. Therefore, your next step is to determine how to reach those company presidents you decide are your best prospects. Since most people are skeptical and mistrusting when it comes to hiring consultants they ve never worked with before, right off the bat, you must become a trusted advisor and counselor. You must let go of wanting to sell your products or services at the outset. Get Customers To Come To You See, the best method for meeting your two marketing requirements is direct response marketing. With such a branding strategy you dangle a carrot offer a freebie that makes the presidents of metal manufacturing companies (your target market) come forward with minimal effort and expense on your part. 4

5 The freebie could be a special report, booklet, audio or videotape, workbook, audio or video CD-ROM, articles, software, ebook, or service. Just as many manufacturers give out free samples of their products, direct response marketing is a try me out first approach. Personally, I prefer offering free reports by snail mail or on a website. My clients have found this to be a very effective and inexpensive way not only to separate prospects from suspects, but also a quick way to get a boatload of clients at the rates they want to charge (just check out some of my client testimonials on my website). 3-Step Prospecting Its part of the 3-step, gradual qualification process that significantly increases your prospect-toclient conversion rate by building a prospect s level of desire along the way. Having consulted and coached many entrepreneurs of color over the years, I ve come to the conclusion that the availability of something useful that is FREE is not only clever but is essential. This applies pretty much across the board, to a wide range of business types. The title and content of the report, however, must whet the prospect s appetite. It must have sex appeal arouse their curiosity and stimulate interest and entice them to want more. Of course, the report must be a good fit. It has to appeal to your specific target audience. Here are a few enticing free reports I ve come across in the marketplace: How to Safely Invest in Tomorrow s Best Companies No Matter What Happens in the Stock Market: You Can Double Your Wealth Each and Every Year for the Next Ten Years offered by an investment expert How You Can Attract New Patients For Little Or Nothing offered by a dentist Winning The Game of Credit offered by a credit improvement expert 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Moving To A Large Home offered by a real estate agent How To Write A Book On Anything in 14 Days or Less A Guide For Professional Speakers offered by a writing expert The 7 Biggest Marketing Mistakes Your Design Firm Can Make And How You Can Avoid Them offered by a design professional The Little Known Secrets Of How To Get The Highest Price When You Sell Your Home offered by a real estate broker Suffice it to say, the possibilities are endless. Going back to my example with the consultant, your free report could be entitled, 25 Secrets Every Metal Manufacturing President Must Know Today To Achieve Greater Profit and Operational Control. 5

6 The report itself could showcase specific ways to increase productivity 50%-100%; provide specific studies, analyses, etc. that would be of interest to the reader; details of the most common, costly oversights found in metal manufacturing companies; and proven methods for greater operational control. Naturally, presidents who respond by ordering the report are identifying themselves as interested prospects. They are in the market for a solution. Best of all, it gives you instant credibility, positions you as a master an expert and an authority and instills in your prospects a greater level of confidence in your skills. Last but not least, you ll also be glad to know that this strategy will save you a lot of time, money, and aggravation (the cost-per-lead of offering a freebie is far less than other forms of mass marketing). As if this weren t enough, not only will your prospects be prequalified and pre-sold on you, they are much more likely to hire you. And that, my friend, is what it takes to truly succeed today when marketing products and services. Look for ways to give, not take strive to make a difference, not just make a sale. 6

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