Lead Generation Services: A Selection Check List
Buying lead generation services can be a good way to outsource the sales function for a professional firm or a small business. Buying the service involves a commitment to a contractual price, but it should offer stability in the cost of a sales force.
On the other hand, buying lead generation services is not the best option for some firms and small businesses. Some organizations are simply not comfortable outsourcing such a critical function of the business. Other companies want to be able to exercise more control over the way the company is perceived by potential customers and existing customers.
Deciding to use lead generation services is generally a balance of cost, image, control, immediate need and other commitments.
The most important matter for many companies is the number of services available and how they match the needs of the company. There is a clear difference between B2B lead generation and B2C lead generation. The majority of the companies found in most online business directories tend to focus on B2B leads.
Lead companies offer an array of services. Some offer more breadth, some more depth. But most companies provide the following lead generation services:
-- Simple list of leads
-- Follow-up with people who make inquiries
-- lead qualification
-- building a lead profile
-- leads gathered and qualified through telemarketing services
-- use of direct mail to identify leads
-- lead management to the first sale
-- customer relationship development
-- cross selling
-- up selling
-- Customer referral solicitation and management
It is sometimes possible to select lead generation services needed immediately and then add others as business growth warrants. Proceeding slowly is recommended.
Lead generation services can be a good way to handle sales for some companies. Sometimes this is the only way a company can afford a sales force. Lead generation services can also be very helpful when a new product is introduced to the market.
Lead generation services can be a good way to handle sales for some companies. Sometimes this is the only way a company can afford a sales force. Lead generation services can also be very helpful when a new product is introduced to the market.
If you are a small business owner or professional and want to learn more about lead generation, view the short video, "How Article Promotion Can Send 25,000 - 50,000 New Prospects to Your Web Site Each Month - For Free."
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Marketing To Ideal Customers: What Every Small Business Should Know
Not all customers are ideal customers. The truth is there are customers who are costing you time and money. There are other customers that are profitable. When making the decision on where to spend marketing dollars, to the extent possible, you want to focus on contacts that fit the ideal customer profile.
This is an investment. So make the smartest investment and look to attract customers who value your products, services and expertise. These are the customers who do repeat business with you. These are the customers who readily refer your business.
One of the pitfalls of trying to be all things to all people is that when you talk about your business, the message has to work with the lowest common denominator. As a result your message becomes vague and generic, failing to capture the imagination of anyone. You want a message that resonates with particular clarity to the recipient. The message tells them that you understand them and can deliver what they need.
Unfortunately the fear among many small business owners is that if they don't cast the net wide, they may not get any inquiries from their marketing. I've seen people invest in large campaigns thinking that if they only get a fraction of a percent response, at least they will get something. It rarely works that way or it only serves to attract unqualified prospects that are not a fit for your products and services.
Marketing Reality: It is better to market to 100 people 10 times, than 1,000 people once.
Remember you have to develop credibility with this group. Right now they don't know you. The quickest path to credibility is an ongoing campaign where you build their trust by demonstrating you understand what they need. It's going to take more than one attempt to communicate this message which is why marketing to large diverse lists is a waste of money. You can't afford to market to the unqualified. By focusing on the qualified, the list will become smaller and allow frequent outreach. When that ideal customer visits your website or takes that call from you, you will be better positioned for a meaningful discussion with much greater odds of closing the business.
How do you identify your ideal customers? First and foremost they value you. They are not beating up on your staff. They do repeat business. They refer business to you. Make a list of those people. Are there characteristics that they share? Some of these characteristics may be traditional demographics: zip code, income, SIC code, number of employees, years in business, etc.
Look for more subtle characteristics as well. To give you an example: I was responsible for marketing a software solution for nonprofits. The universe of nonprofits in the United States was 1.5 million. I didn't have a multi-million dollar budget. So I pared that list to about 80,000 just based on their annual budget. Then, based on interviews with my best customers, I was able to identify some subtle differentiators. My ideal customers were organizations who had more than 5 funding sources and had a professionally trained accountant/finance director on staff (someone who would not have sticker shock when seeing the price of the software because they would understand the ROI). Those two characteristics dropped my list down to 50,000. I further segmented the list into like organizations resulting in much smaller lists of between 500 and 3,000 contacts.
I tested a small segment of each type of list. Both the small targeted lists and larger diverse list received monthly mailings. The smaller targeted lists had response rates of 12 - 30%. The larger lists had response rates in the single digits, with much lower conversion rates.
The message to the smaller lists had the advantage of being more relevant to the recipient - it was all about them and the challenges in their world. By writing about the particular problems facing these more targeted groups, and more quickly gained credibility with the recipient. Marketing to the larger did not allow the more potent messaging. I had to use more generic language, more generalized business scenarios.
Don't be afraid of a small list. It's a starting point that will allow you to be memorable, valuable and frequent with your marketing. Once you have identified the ideal future customer, it is a much easier exercise to proceed to the next step which is "Where do I find more people like this?
Learn more about keyword #1. Stop by Dawn Westerberg's site where you can find out all about strategic marketing for small business and what it can do for you.