| Looking for Leads in All the Wrong Places |
|
It All Begins the Same Way - Whether these are walled-off departments in your organization or two guys across the hall, the process begins the same way: someone needs to find the leads! Back in my AT&T days, we had very clear demarcations in our sales force. There were hunters and farmers. Hunters had to find leads and were provided some decent resources by marketing to do so. Today, businesses are lean and need to work together to find leads. The domino effect usually begins with a management led; brainstorming meeting that goes something like this: Big Boss: 'We need more closings. Let's brainstorm and come up with some ways to generate more leads. Currently, we have our website, brochures, sponsor 5 local kids sports teams and are members of the Chamber, Rotary and my golf club. Where else can we generate leads?' Suck Up #1: 'I think we should get on Twitter. Our competitors are, so I bet there are lead there.' Suck Up #2: 'I hear a lot of good commercials when I drive into work on KBOR. There are lots of people stuck in traffic with me, so maybe they are listening to those ads.' Suck Up #3: 'Yes, those are really good ideas. What about those magnetic signs on cars? We could get them for everyone.' Big Boss: 'I like those signs. Let's work out some budgetary numbers and increase sales quotas next quarter. I don't want to pay a ton of commission to sales if I'm generating all the leads for these guys.' Begin With the End in Mind - The problem here? It's not the tactics themselves. Many of them are great ways to generate leads, but are they the right tactics to use to generate the kind of leads you want? You see, the problem started with Big Bosses second sentence: 'Let's brainstorm and come up with some ways to generate more leads.' Instead, they should have been brainstorming on what kind of leads they want first.I'll go into much more detail in my next post, because this simple concept tends to freeze businesses in their tracks and they need to think on it more. You are not alone. Marketing Wisdom from Bazooka Joe: I recall an old comic that made me laugh as a little girl that rings true for finding leads. Kid 1 is on his hands and knees and the Kid 2 asks, "Whacha looking for?" Kid 1 says, "I lost my keys." Kid 2 says, "I'll help you look," and proceeds to crawl around. Time passes and Kid 2 says, "I'm not finding them. Are you sure you lost them here?" Kid 1 says, "No. I lost them over by those bushes. Kid 2 asks, "So, why are you looking over here?" Kid 1: "The light is better over here." Are you looking for clients where 'the light is better'? STOP! Figure out the right way. |
Stay Connected!
