Gem Paper

[Four] ideas to help you generate [better] and [more] leads

To generate customer leads, most organizations spend a lot of money on marketing tactics such as direct mail, trade shows and giveaways. It only makes sense that you would want to maximize your investment by increasing the number of customer leads and improving the quality of those generated.

Here are a few ideas to help you do just that:

[1] Learn what customers want - and what they don’t want, before creating mailers. Mailers will be more effective if the people creating them understand the target audience. Sales people are a good source for information about customers.

[2] Offer prospects something in return for their response to a mailing. Survey results, product samples and catalogs all work well. Don’t worry about giving stuff away to people who aren’t serious prospects. More often than not, when people go through the trouble of returning a response card, it is because they have a genuine interest in a product or service.

[3] Make sure giveaway items are appropriate for your organization. There are so many options to choose from, there is really no excuse for giving away items that don’t fit your company. Only give away promotional items that will remind your prospects of what you have to offer. For example, if you sell office supplies, you could giveaway mouse pads or desk calendars imprinted with your company logo and phone number.

[4] When holding drawings at tradeshows, target the prizes to your ideal prospects. If you are trying to reach accountants, for example, give away something that has special appeal for them, such as a particular software package. Appealing to a more targeted audience will bring in more qualified leads than giving away something with mass appeal, such as a bicycle.