Hi,

Just finished answering a question about lead generation. My answer got me to thinkin’ – I know dangerous – always dangerous.

The question was how to develop sales leads. Innocent enough. As usual, I came up with a unique perspective -

start at the point of sale and work backwards!

Why do it this way? Well lets take a look at a sale and find out.

First let us assume a reasonably complicated sale – one that ends up with a signed agreement. This kind of sale often takes more than one meeting. For our purposes lets suppose the agreement is a relatively simple one – a standard one – that does not require extended negotiations. Even so, many agreements are signed in person, and therefore we can assume a face to face meeting. How did this happen?

It was likely set up by a phone call. Just one? For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume so.

How did you get the clients number? Ah, now here’s the rub. Even if you are an avid cold caller (for example: ringing up anyone remotely qualified for your product/service and pitching them), chances are you solidified your position with some sort of communication between the call and the appointment.

Maybe you sent a brochure. Maybe you sent and information packet of some sort. Or some articles published by you, or an extensive quote. One way or another the prospect agreed to accept more information by you and thus gave you that foothold of an email address, physical address and/or phone number.

No matter how this works in your business, I’m betting you now see the sales process I’m describing much clearer than you may otherwise.

From all the potential people who might be interested in your product or service, you entice a few to ask for more information in exchange for their contact details. Then you contact them. Eventually, you both decide your prospect can benefit from what you have to offer at a price agreeable to you. You both then come to an understanding and sign on the dotted line.

The crux to all of this is

You’ve Got to Get Folks to Raise Their Hand!

In most situations there is no way around this. How do you do this? Offer something that solves a problem. Sure there are other ways but this one is the most direct and sure-fire.

For my own copywriting/consulting business, I have adapted this generalized process to suit the needs of my clientele and my own. I rarely meet anyone in person as it simply is not necessary nor convenient. Heck, I’ve worked with clients from Europe to Australia and while I’d love to jaunt Down Under or fly to London, it is neither practical nor profitable. So most of my business is done over the phone and the Internet.

Likewise, I use any number of methods to find those raised hands. I publish articles and reports. The articles  draw people to pages where I offer a related report. I post to this blog and other places on the Internet. I am active in various forums.  In short I try to make my own contact information available in enough circles so potential clients can contact me either directly or indirectly.

What about you? Certainly I’m not suggesting you call folks up or send out agreements ready for a signature. On the other hand you may get a better idea of how to get that agreement in front of a willing person if you take a good look at the process with hindsight. This quick and easy technique may show you a glitch you may otherwise miss.

Meanwhile, if you decide you’d like some help or guidance, why not give me a call? Mention this post and our initial consultation will be free of charge. Of course if you have a project already in mind or on deck, I’d be more than happy to discuss submitting a no-obligation quote.

It’s easy to raise your hand, just call 443-254-3703 or submit a comment to this blog with your contact info. (Don’t worry, all comments need approval before they are published so I’ll just read it without making it public.)

Finally, for your convenience, I’ve added a contact form to the sidebar at the right. If you leave your phone number, I’ll call, otherwise I’ll email you.  While this is set up via my autoresponder account, you are NOT subscribing to anything and I am NOT going to bombard you with “gotta haves”.  Just make sure you are filling out the form with the phone number otherwise you’ll get my blog alerts

God bless,

Andy

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As I’m venturing into Social Networking more, I asked a question on one of the major ones and got a surprising response. The question?

“What part of marketing do you hate the most and how do you deal with it?”

Most of the answers defended the “DYI” (Do It Yourself) attitude. This can be a massive trap for anyone who runs a business or department.

One person wrote ‘delegation is also a potential risk’ (paraphrased).

Well, yeah, delegation IS a potential risk. In business what isn’t a risk? Life is a risk. As one old-timer once told me..

“If you haven’t made any mistakes today it’s because you haven’t done anything.” So make some mistakes.

Back to my question…

As I’m dusting off and polishing my shingle – moving back into copywriting for clients, I need to reconnect with what the needs of prospects and clients really are – from your perspective not mine.

It’s the process I go through when I’m working on a new project. It’s not good enough to “think” I know what customers want. I need to know. But I’ve got a problem. A big problem. The fact is, this problem could affect you too – whether I ever write anything for you or not.

I know my stuff.

I know business. I know copywriting. I know sales. I know this sounds like bragging. Maybe it is. But I’ve absolutely awed some people – people I hold to be very savvy business people in their own right. And I’ve done it right off the top of my head, never even starting to work up a sweat. And that’s a problem. Why?

Because standing too close to a problem can obscure my view.

I’ve seen this happen to my own clients over and over again.  My clients aren’t stupid people. They are smart. They are savvy. Often I find things that are staring them in the face, but they are too close to the situation to see it. They don’t hire me because I am smarter than they are – often I’m not . They hire me for my perspective and my objectivity. They know how difficult it is to be objective when you’ve invested your heart and soul (and everything you own) into your business.

On the other hand, my copywriting clients want my specific knowledge and ability to write a message people will respond to. Maybe they hate writing. Maybe they just know their efforts are better spent elsewhere. Either way – just as I hire a professional to do my taxes, they hire a professional to craft their marketing messages. And they are avoiding the DYI trap.

What about you? Are you feeling trapped? Does it seem like you’re missing “something” but you just can’t put your finger on it? If so then maybe it’s time to bring someone in. Keep in mind, this is not an admission of failure but a show of strength. You are proving you are strong enough (and smart enough) to look for chinks in your armor.

God bless,

Andy

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