I always think it odd how disconnected most sales people are from marketing. In most cases we sit back and wait for (hope for) marketing to feed us leads. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been comfortable trusting my sale number that completely to anyone.
I’ve also thought sales leads generated by marketing are often some of the hardest to convert. Most of my big sales have come from referrals or people asking for me by name.
Good Sales is Personal, Conversational
So, after looking at all this (highly scientific) data I come to an interesting revelation–selling is personal. Your customers value the personal touch and familiarity as much as you do. No one wants to be tossed into the sales blender. They would much prefer the insider treatment.
Think about it…Isn’t this why you ask your friends and neighbors for their mortgage broker, plumber, tax expert, or (insert other) person. We’re always trying to find someone who knows someone in the business.
We, in sales, like this too. There’s nothing better than getting a call for Bobby or Susie and hearing, “I gotta a friend who’s looking for someone in the (blank) business.” You know you have at the very least an easy sales call ahead. No need to rehearse your cold call intro or how to hook their interest–they’re expecting you.
What’s more, conversations that start on a first name basis dramatically increase the probaility f closing the deal.
The Best Lead Generation is Personal Too
Why are you relying on marketing to pump you full of impersonal sales leads?
It time to get off the sidelines and make lead generation personal. There are lots of ways to get you and your value proposition out there. Pick one or two channels and perfect your attraction strategy.
Start with what you sell and think about what makes your customer the most comfortable opening up a conversation. Usually this requires some level of education and trust.
This is why social media, social networking, or a blog can be a perfect personal lead generation platform. And the good news–none of these options take a lot of technical know-how any more.
Personal Lead Generation Tools
We’ll talk more about strategy and tactics in upcoming personal lead generation articles. For now (if you haven’t already) I want you to dig into these specific tools.
- Blogging
You’re first reaction might be to think there isn’t much to dig into, after all you probably already have accounts or maybe even a blog. Here’s the twist I want you to noodle on until my next post:
- Who are the people you’re most familiar with in each of these venues?
- Why are you so aware of them? What did they do to get your attention?
- What do they do? What is their expertise?
- How do they spend their time in these channels? What’s their angle/objective?
- What seems to work and what doesn’t in attracting fans?
- Who seems to be able to rally the community or start trends?
Save these notes. I’d love to see some of them in the comments below. We’ll use them soon.
Bettercloser.com - Personal Lead Generation
About Bill Rice
