The Lead-ing edge... (making leads work ! )
There has been much discussion recently on the MLM and
Home-Based business forums about "leads". Of course it is a
topic that comes up over and over.
"Leads" are the lifeblood of our business. A "lead" is a loose
term to describe someone who may be interested in your product
or service.
Of course you can generate your own leads both in the physical
world via classified ads, radio ads, flyers, face to face
networking, or you can generate leads in the virtual world via
google ad-words, search engine optimization or internet
marketing via splash pages or "lead capture" pages.
Many people simply do not have the resources or expertise to
generate leads in this fashion,.. and that is where the "lead
broker" comes in.
There are many "lead companies" out there, but only a very few
that actually generate their own leads. They do so by simple
forms that compel a potential buyer to provide information such
as email address, phone number, physical address, and perhaps
some more specific questions.
These "leads" are then distributed to the people who have
purchased them. They are, in many cases, sold over and over and
over. They are sold to other clients, sold to other lead
companies who in turn sell them to other clients, and perhaps to
other lead companies, and so on. It is not unusual for someone
to be receiving contacts even 2 years after they originally
filled out the online form.
As you can see, in many cases the "freshness" of the lead is
important. Leads that are delivered in "real-time" are the
freshest possible lead... their information is delivered to your
email address literally the minute they submit their
information. These are my second choice for the "best" lead.
My first choice is the telephone verified lead. The lead
generation company has the leads filtered through a call center.
The staff in the call center phone each person and verify that
they did indeed fill out the information on the form, and that
they are looking for a particular product and service. Only then
do they send on the information to the client. This, as far as I
am concerned, is the highest quality, most responsive individual
you can get.
Expect to pay between $4.00 and $8.00 or more for this type of
lead.
Once you have the lead information, it is up to you to make the
most of the next steps. What ever you do, DO NOT pick up the
phone unless you are armed with some basic phone skills.
Remember that once you have a voice on the other end of the
phone, this "lead" stops being a lead and becomes a warm blooded
human being with eeds, wants desires and dreams.
Your job is to relax, develop a connection, and provide
information only if the two of you feel it is a good fit.
I use this very simple opener when calling leads: "Hi Mary, this
is Shelley Penney getting back to you. You recently filled out a
form online requesting information about a ome business. I was
calling to see what you had in mind when you filled out that
form. Is this a good time?"
This is a great opener...... it shows respect for their time,
and also opens up the conversation. It takes them away from any
crisis that may be happening in their home right now, and brings
them back to what they were interested in when they filled out
the form in the first place.
Listen carefully, ask a few more questions to get to know them,
and then say, "Mary, I don't know if what I am doing would be a
good fit for you, but this is what I would like. I am going to
give you a link to a website. You can check it out on your own
and I will call you tomorrow and get your questions answered.
How does that sound?"
This method is simple and effective, non-threatening and allows
your prospect to have some control over the process, rather than
being force fed information.
With the right kind of leads, and the right approach you can
reduce your "rejection factor" exponentially!