5 Cost Effective Lead Generation Ideas
Jun 27 - by Darren
If you’ve been in business for a while you’ll know that cost effective lead generation is vital to the ongoing success and livelihood of your business.
I’ve been involved in business building for over 10 years, have worked with many different types of businesses in different industry’s and lead generation is always at the top of the table when it comes to accomplishing revenue goals.
I’ve also learned (the hard way) that lead generation is not an exact science and that generating good quality leads can be a very expensive learning process – can you relate?
In previous updates I wrote about Pareto’s 80/20 rule and if we apply this to lead generation campaigns we could say that 80% of the campaigns that we run will not be very effective and only 20% will or 8 out of 10 won’t work that well and only 2 will – not a success rate that puts a smile on your face I bet!
So…How do we discover that golden 20% of lead generation campaigns that do work or the 2 out of 10 that will give the best results?
1. Discover what has worked well for others by asking questions then
2. Test & measure and by testing and measuring I mean: take an idea, implement it and then measure the response. And if there’s no response to the campaign either evolve the original idea, like changing your call to action or headline or you scrap the current idea and act on another – whatever you do, do not keep running the campaign if it’s not generating the response you need, this is just money off your bottom line at the end of the year.
In order to hopefully save you some time and some money in working through the 80% to get to the golden 20% I’ve shared 5 offline lead generation ideas below that have generated the best results for my businesses and for my clients businesses.
Lead Generation Idea 1: Proactively Ask Clients for Referrals
Do you consistently ask your existing happy customers for referrals?
Being pro-active in doing this can save you a lot of money in local advertising. Happy customers are your best sales people. Educate your customers on what type of business you are looking for regularly. Don’t assume that they will just do this for you, they have busy lives and getting you new business may not be at the top of their priority list, gently remind them, if they are genuinely getting value from your products/services they will be happy to help you. Make sure you reward them for a good referral, a simple gift that is meaningful to them will go along way in making them feel good about finding you more business. Some businesses implement a referral program and other businesses do not have anything structured and simply show the referrer their appreciation afterwards. Do what works best for you and your business.
Lead Generation Idea 2: Join a Business by Referral Organisation
A business by referral organisation can help you build a larger sales force. You join a business by referral organisation and educate the members (other business owners) on what type of business you are looking for, they educate you on the same and once you have built trust, rapport and credibility you pass referrals to each other. I’ve been a member of a local BNI chapter for almost 4 years and it’s the most cost effective marketing strategy I’ve used and continue to use. The local BNI chapter meets on a weekly basis, runs a structured agenda and its a great way to grow your network and get support from a group of success hungry business owners. BNI is a global business by referral organisation and there may be a chapter in your area. Check out the BNI website for more info.
For online referral business you could check out referral key.
One thing I will say about building business by referral whether your strategy is online or offline is that it takes action, it takes commitment and if you want to get referrals then pro-actively generate referrals for others within your network – Givers Gain!
Lead Generation Idea 3: Alliance Partner Endorsement Letter
This is a very cost effective way to generate good leads. I have used this strategy and here’s how it went:
One of my clients was an Accountant who specialises in accounting and taxation services for small business owners. I had been coaching this client for a while and we have a good relationship. I asked the client if he would consider helping me generate some leads, he said yes and I suggested we could send out a letter to his database of small business owners offering them a 1 hr consultation with me to focus on their business goals and challenges. My client happily agreed to the letter and I gave him the template to send out which outlined the offer, what the business owner would get from the session and that there was absolutely no hard sell.
This worked really well, generating leads and new coaching relationships and it did because my client the Accountant was endorsing my services to his clients and the business owners that received the letter ‘trusted’ my client already. The offer also made my client look good because it showed his clients that he was thinking of them, adding more value to them at no cost and with no hard sell. To make this idea work well you want to make it really easy for the business/person that is sending out the endorsement letter, by providing envelopes, stamps, mailing it etc. – Remember to thank them for the opportunity!
* If you need a sample endorsement letter template to work from I’m more than happy to email you one – get in touch.
Lead Generation Idea 4: Offers/Promotions in Alliance Partners Newsletters
This idea is a little similar to number 3. If you have a client or an alliance with another business that is proactively communicating with their clients via a newsletter then you could ask the client/other business to give you an introduction and an opportunity to provide some information on your products/services/ current promotions/special offers in their next mailout. This idea works really well if the client or alliance partner has a reasonable sized database of customers that read the information being sent to them. Your alliance partner will typically have good rapport, trust and credibility with their database giving your introduction a warmer rather than colder reception. It’s also good to promote a special offer to the alliance partners database as it makes the alliance partner look good by adding more value to their customers and it also make the customers feel special. If you are promoting an offer make sure there is a strong call to action and that it’s time sensitive.
Again, to make the idea work well, make it really easy for the alliance partner that is giving you the opportunity.
Lead Generation Idea 5. Value Add Presentation with a Strong Call to Action
Value add presentations delivered to your target market can be a very effective way to generate qualified leads. They can also be very expensive to run with event overheads and time commitment. One way to reduce the cost and time involvement and to have more support and fun in the process is to run a joint venture presentation with a business that has a complimentary product/service and has the same target market as your business – effectivley you’re sharing the load.
There’s heaps of possible partnership opportunities, a business coach could partner with an accounting firm, an accounting firm could partner with a law firm, a law firm could partner with a financial adviser or insurance specialist. A plumber could present with an electrician, a hairdresser could present with a beautician, the list of possibilities is huge. Think about complimentary businesses to your own, with the same target market, then approach the potential partner. If your target presentation partner is hungry to grow their business they will see the benefits in teaming up to make the event happen. If they don’t see any benefit move on to another prospect. You could also consider doing the presentation with 2 other businesses, which further reduces event delivery costs.
You will have to promote the presentation/workshop and it’s very important that you sell the benefits of attending the presentation/workshop. Make sure you outline what the person will leave with when the presentation is done, what they will know or be able to do. I believe that it’s really important to create maximum value for the people attending presentations/workshops and when you do this well, people talk and word of mouth marketing is invaluable.
In terms of cost effective promotion of the presentation/workshop utilise your existing networks first. This is a very effective way to promote the presentation. You may find that your presentation partner will also have a database that you can promote the presentation to, you could also get your local Chamber of Commerce or relevant industry organization to make noise about the presentation/workshop in their newsletters to members and at their events on your behalf.
Targeted flyer drops and direct mail can also be effective channels for promotion and from a cost perspective it’s always best to start with your existing networks first.
In terms of Call to Action at the end of the workshop, you could offer a free no obligation consultation, a free trial of a product or service. You could offer a special deal to the people who have attended and if you do this, it tends to go down a lot more professionally and naturally if there’s no hard sell.
Also, do your best to ensure that the people attending the presentation/workshop sign up to your mailing list as this gives you the opportunity to continue the relationship with the them, building more rapport, trust and credibility.
Presentations and workshops can be delivered for free or you can charge a cover cost to attendees which can help with the associated expenses in running the event. There is no wrong or right way and some would say that when the presentation is for free then attendees don’t value it as much and charging a cover helps in getting better qualifying prospects. I have seen it work well both ways, testing and measuring your conversion rates on the night will help you make a more empowered decision in the future.
P.S. You may have heard the above ideas before, nothing’s really new and I didn’t event them, they have been around for years and they have stood the test of time, I use them and will continue to do so because they work well!
The real question is Will you act on any of the ideas? Will you put any of them in place this week? This month? - If you need any help with templates or suggestions on how to put the idea into place in your business then get in touch.
P.P.S You can download a free calculator from my freebies page to help you get clear on the number of leads you need to achieve your revenue goals
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