Prospecting is tough enough when you KNOW what you’re doing.
Many business owners dread it. To them, prospecting represents rejection. Pushiness. Stress.
We all depend on attracting new clients and customers to our businesses. So is there a better way? Yes. You can stack the odds in your favour if you start leveraging the power of POSITIONING instead of relying on prospecting.
Prospecting locks you into the role on unwanted intruder.
Positioning differentiates you and is welcomed by your qualified prospects who often desperately want you to help them solve their problem or fulfill their need.
Make no mistake: the successful future of your business depends on one main skill – the ability to attract new clients and customers.
Now, I’m going to be blunt.
You NEED to have a lead generation magnet.
(more about this in a sec.)
Not because I say so but because, without one, you’re virtually steering sales right into the hands of your competitors who understand the selling power of this important tool.
Follow along and see if you don’t agree.
First things first, what is a lead generation tool?
A lead gen tool is anything you can use that allows your prospect to get a better understanding of the value you offer.
Some common lead generation tools include videos, free introductory webinars, online courses, white papers and free reports or guides.
Anything you can offer to your prospects that helps them move further along in their buying process (your selling process) will be effective.
Now here’s the key: it must be free and your prospect must ask for it.
Why do you need one? Because without one, you’re pushing your message at prospects HOPING they will be intrigued enough to find out more. This is prospecting – the old fashioned way.
By using a lead generation tool, you are actually inviting your audience to learn more about you, the way you think, what you have to offer but in a non-threatening educational way your prospects actually appreciate.
A lead generation tool POSITIONS you as an authority and allows your prospect to see you through a completely different lens.
Why? Because instead of using a “stop me when you see something you like” approach, you’re adopting a “here’s something free for you that will help you solve your problem.”
See how that transforms you from peddler to valuable resource?
Now, when someone requests your report or signs up for your online course, they are essentially putting up their hand and identifying themselves as someone who needs help.
So what’s in it or you? What do you get? Something very valuable – a warm prospect who voluntarily gives you his email address so you can keep the relationship going.
Don’t forget it takes a number of “touches” with your prospects before they will be ready to buy from you.
It’s a romance. And it’s during this courtship phase that you are helping your prospects see how you can make their lives better.
My personal lead gen favourite – the free report.
A free report is basically salesmanship in print. Its job is to do what you would do in a face-to-face selling situation.
The idea is to create a “know, like and trust” factor. Without that, it’s an uphill climb to a sale.
You MUST build credibility and confidence and the report allows you to begin that process.
And, if you don’t have a way to recontact someone who visits your site, how are you ever going to nurture the relationship?
Answer: you won’t. They will visit your website, poke around and go ‘that’s nice’ and then head straight to the next stop – your competitor.
Think of it this way: You’re in business to help as many people as you can with your product or service. That ain’t gonna happen if you have no way of continuing to “talk” to them.
Most visitors to your site will not be buying or calling you up the first time they visit. Even the pros – the people who make a living based on direct sales from a website – only get 1%-3% of the people to make a purchase.
What they want is the name and email address because they know the real gold is in the follow up.
Basically, if you don’t find a way to maintain contact – via a lead gen tool of some kind – you’re actually spending time and money that is sending potential sales directly to the enemy.
That’s right. All the money you invest to get them to your site – whether you use search engine campaigns, ads and other promotions is most likely steering your prospects right into the clutches of your competitor who IS set up to keep the relationship going.
If you aren’t using a lead gen tool to position yourself to your prospects in a meaningful way, you’re going to lose out on sales that probably should have been yours.
