What is the best way to reach your audience and create a relationship with them?

 

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It's based on categorizing leads by likelihood of when that lead is expected to convert to a sale. When a salesperson is requested, or any other clues are given that the prospect is ready to buy, the lead is classified as "A," and sent to the sales force for immediate follow-up. This "A" will be used for forecasting sales potential and generating management reports. Leads that are analyzed as having a continuing interest are classified as' B."

 

Among the many forms of marketing is telephone marketing. In 1982, telephone marketing surpassed direct mail in revenues spent, and the gap has been widening ever since.

 

How can leads be qualified? The best way is to build screening devices into the up-front media selection. Lists in the business field, for example, can be selected by sales volume, number of employees, or net worth. It must be recognized, however, that although such selectivity can produce a better-qualified lead, it can also reduce the number of leads, sometimes significantly. If a product or service tends to have more of a mass application, this might not be desirable. So not all leads are created equal. A classification system is needed to prioritize which ones to respond to first, assuming that they have an immediate need and will close most quickly.

 

 

In the case of this illustration, we have learned over time that the response to mailings will almost always follow this response curve, with 50 percent of total responses in the first four weeks, and the balance over the next six weeks. Exhibit 15-6 is a series of these response waves, each representing mailings. If print or broadcast were being used, a different formula for each would have to be developed.

 

The longer that lead sits, the "colder" the prospect becomes. (It differs by offer, but a rule of thumb is that a lead should be acted on within 10 days maximum. Sooner, if possible.) But, as anyone who has worked with a lead-generation program will tell you, sometimes leads come in at a greater rate than anticipated. The latter will not cause "cold" leads, but they could have impact on sales force morale, overhead costs, and so on. Whether too high or too low, it pays to have contingency systems in place.

 

Many companies create a "lead bank" system, which is a purposeful manner of always being abovecapacity. When a lead enters the sales center, it first enters the lead bank before being dispatched for follow-up. If there is always an extra week's worth of leads, and they are handled first in, first out, no leads are penalized or allowed to get "cold." Naturally, the "lead bank" would be stocked with mail responses.

It is always wise to have additional up-front communications "on the shelf that is, produced and ready to go—in the event of an underdelivery. If the lead-generation program is direct mail, for example, two weeks of additional mail packages in reserve will assure a timely response to an underdelivery problem.

 

You must handle telephone responses immediately.

 

Response Makers - Marketing Ideas