No small business owner will argue that the life blood of their business is lead generation.
Some people call it prospecting for new customers.
What ever term you use, finding people who are interested in your product or service is critical to the success of any business.
What I Noticed While Getting My Car Washed
The other day I was at a local car wash getting my SUV washed. There was a waiting area where customers could sit down and watch TV while their car was getting washed.
Being the observant student of marketing that I am, I noticed a great little lead generation marketing tactic caught my eye sitting right in the waiting area.
It was a stand that was advertising not one, but four free car washes.
Knowing that there is a catch to everything that uses the word "FREE" I approached the stand to see what it was all about.
Want to see a photo of this lead generation stand?
http://url123.com/2mszw
The Fine Print
If you looked at the photo carefully you probably noticed that this company is giving away four free car washes or a f r e e dinner for four couples in exchange for viewing a "complimentary home fire safety awareness program."
It's kind of hard to see. You need to read the fine print.
On the stand was a small form that you had to fill out to get the f r e e car washes or dinners.
Here's a photo of the form.
http://url123.com/2m58m
Here's What I Liked About This Simple Lead Generation System and Why It Works So Well...
This is an ingenious little lead generation system.
Here's why...
1. It's hands free. (You place the stand in the lobby and it automatically generates leads for you.)
2. It gets the car wash to generate leads for them by using car washes, paid for by the home security company, as a referral reward.
3. It leverages the reputation (and customer base) of the car wash to generate leads.
It's a win, win, win lead generation system.
The customer wins by getting something for free.
The car wash wins because it sells more car washes.
The home security company wins because it gets leads.
How to Apply This Prospecting Tactic to Your Business
This lead generation system can be used by just about any business you can possibly think of.
Here's how to do it...
Step 1 - Make a list of all the businesses in your area that serve your target market.
Step 2 - Familiarize yourself with the products and services they provide, including pricing.
Step 3 - Determine which businesses have the products and services that you might be able to buy and then turn around and give away as a gift in order to entice the prospect to give you their contact information or an office / store visit.
Step 4 - Take the list you created in Step 3 and approach those businesses with your proposal.
NOTE # 1: Remember to position your proposal as a win - win - win situation. Focus on how their business will benefit from the proposal.
NOTE # 2: When proposing this strategy, don't talk about a big rollout. Simply suggest to the business owner a small pilot to test the concept. It works!
Here's What Will Happen When You Do This Marketing Tactic - - From My Own Personal Experience.
I've personally used this marketing tactic before. Here's what you'll find when YOU do it.
1. You'll have a difficult time finding and talking to
the decision maker for 50% of the businesses.
2. Once you find the decision maker, about 60% will
automatically say "no" because they just don't understand the nature of joint ventures.
3. About 40% will consider your offer.
4. About 20% will actually agree to your proposal
(Remember to pitch a small pilot program first).
From those 20% you'll be amazed at how many leads you can generate.
But Here's How to Turn that 20% Into 50% to 60%!
Once you have your lead generation system working in 20% of the complimentary businesses, the next step is to get some testimonials from them.
Document their positive comments and then take those comments back to the other 80% you proposed to previously.
What you'll find is that 50% to 60% of the businesses will want to sign on with you and your program.
People want proof before they make decisions.
Once you give it to them, they sales process becomes 10 times easier.
Conclusion
In this article I've given you a simple lead generation tactic that you can use to get in front of more new prospects.
The best thing about this tactic is that it's non-intrusive, very inexpensive, and it works!
It does take a bit of leg work, but the payback is handsome if you apply what I've taught you
An Ingenious Autopilot Lead Generation Tactic - To learn more about this author, visit David Frey's Website.
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David Frey
(Visit David's Website)
David Frey is the author of the
best-selling manual, "The Small Business
Marketing Bible" and the Senior Editor of
the "Small Business Marketing Best
Practices Newsletter
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