If your lead generation process involves making phone calls you are making a significant investment. You should get every return you can for that time and money spent. Your objective should not be limited to setting the most appointments and scheduling the most discovery calls. That is just the beginning.
In addition to those next steps you schedule, you should be seeking to leverage the information you gather during your call process. When you or your team calls you pick up recon information. Who is likely to buy a lot and who is likely to buy a little. Those that will buy later and those that will buy sooner. Those that may buy service 1, 2 or 3 but not 4 or 5.
If you wish to reap maximum rewards for your call efforts you must think ahead. Be prepared, train and practice to ask the few additional questions that provide the recon info you can then leverage for a very high return on effort.
Lets discuss a common scenario. In the past you have used direct mail – didn’t work. You have used newsletters – didn’t work. You have sent out postcards – didn’t work. Carrier pigeons -didn’t work. If you are like many businesses, you probably have tried various marketing tools with mixed results. Those past efforts have probably been to a broader, less focused, overall a lower probability lower potential value audience. On average, your target group is watered down on many levels.
Your Lead Generation Follow-up Is More Focused By Your Calls
But, you have been calling. 500 companies. 1,000 companies. More. In addition to setting appointments and booking discovery calls you have picked up information on the potential worth of your suspects. Now from within that group of 500 or 1,000 you have identified the 100 that you would consider to be “A” or “B” “greater than average value” potential worth suspects. Take one of those same marketing tools, postcard, letter, newsletter, and direct it to a group that you now know for sure are qualified “A” and “B” much better than average value suspects and guess what? It works. It works gangbusters.
Same touch. Better quality audience. Big bucks.
You are spending the money and making the calls anyway, why not make the most of it? Or look at it another way. If you spend the time and money to call or have a sales team calling, and you don’t prepare to collect recon data and then leverage it, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Assume for every unit of $1,000 you spend on your lead generation efforts you get result X. It is nuts and wasteful to not spend an extra $50 to get result X+25% or X+33%. That is what is at stake.
You would choose to invest in extra touches only to those that are worth it. Maybe the higher than average buyer. Maybe you would choose to send a more specific message only to those that will buy service 123 in higher average amounts. Where you draw the line of who is worth extra touches and not is up to you. But to not send extra touches to that very small qualified high worth group identified during your call process is costing you a lot of money.
What Is A Good Touch?
So what do you send these higher value targets? Well what you send them is less important than sending them something.
A good touch is…
Targeted.
Offers information the recipient considers helpful or valuable.
Delivered consistently.
Consistently builds credibility.
Anything done once is the equivalent of doing nothing at all.
Don’t get hung up on thinking that your “touch” has to be slick or expensive. It doesn’t. It has to provide genuinely helpful information to the recipient and be delivered consistently. That’s all.
If you were not sure what to do right away I personally feel that the lowly letter doesn’t get the respect it deserves. If you want to reap the rewards of touching high value qualified prospects right away, here is a suggestion.
Write a series of three one page letters.
The letter would go something like this..
TO: Distracted Dan
VP of Widgets
We are a supplier of widgets to more than 1,500 companies including well known company A, regionally known company B and respected company in your industry company C.
Here are a few experiences and observations that may be helpful to you.
Headline with benefit A
One paragraph describing before and after case study that delivered highly desired benefit A.
Headline with Interesting Industry Fact
One paragraph with a little known fact and what it means for them.
Headline with Common Mistake to Avoid
One paragraph describing common mistake, what it costs them and how to avoid it.
If ever you have questions or options with your widget supply we would be happy to help.
Sincerely,
Account Executive Danielle
Widget International
CompanyDomain.com
Direct Phone
Email
That’s it. If I didn’t know what to send or was tight on dough and had high value qualified targets that were not being touched consistently, that is what I would do. Prepare three one page letters to go out every two weeks or so. Simple. Helpful to the recipient. Consistent. Easy to get out the door.
If you are reading this realizing that you have a lot of high value targets identified and don’t know what to send them, I would encourage you to do something NOW to touch them.
If you can’t think of something to send them, mail them an empty envelope. At least they will think you meant to send something to them. (I’m only half kidding.)
But wait, there is more
So what do you think would happen if your higher than average value targets received consistent beneficial touches from you on a consistent basis? Drip. Drip. Drip.
They would recognize your name and value and you would have more credibility in their eyes. Drip, drip, drip, touch, touch, touch.
Only your highest value most desired targets are getting this extra love.
A good number of them will at some point call you when they have a need. We know what happens to closing rates when they call you.
At some point you are going to call them back and guess what happens? They remember you, you are not starting from scratch. There is much more recognition of your credibility and the value you bring. Drip, drip, drip. It is easier to book a meeting and close a sale. All due to a small marginal effort on top of the major investment of time and money you are already making.
I keep hearing it’s all about the relationship.
What are you doing to build them with your most worthwhile targets?
