Lead generating activities are needed to guarantee a steady stream of sales. The typical sales formula is 10 contacts equal one sales lead, and 10 sales leads equal one closed sale. This means to get one sale you need to generate 100 leads.
Types
Lead generation is any activity that brings in interested customers, including direct mail campaigns, door knocking, cold calling, networking events, trade shows and Internet marketing.
Door Knocking, Cold Calling and Direct Mail
These activities take a great deal of time, and many people will not answer the door or phone to a stranger, if you even find someone home. Direct mail campaigns can be costly especially if the mailing information you are using is outdated or unreliable.
Networking Events
Networking events allow you to meet people face-to-face to get information. While you are trying to sell to them, they are trying to sell to you.
Trade Shows
Attendance at these events may be costly, but they allow you the time and space to show your product in person. If you attend the right shows for your market, you will be in front of people specifically looking for the products you offer.
Internet Marketing
Providing free information in order to get people to provide their email address is a common method of collecting leads. Driving traffic to your well designed or interactive website with regular newsletters is another. Social networking pages, such as Facebook and Twitter, are a vastly growing method of keeping customers involved with your company.
Tags: mail campaigns, trying sell