I’m pretty sure that you are like most business owners in that you would love to have more enquiries coming in. Am I right? Well, you can! This is one of the simplest “things” to improve yet it’s one that most business owners are fearful of as they sit it in the “too difficult pile”. Well, all you need to do is take action. Lead generation is a numbers game; the more you do, the more likely you are to get a result. Think of it like you are controlling the speed at which your lead generation tap is allowing leads into your sales funnel. The more you turn that tap on, the more leads will flow into your funnel.
There is a health warning on this though…you can spend loads on marketing but if your target audience, message or channel are wrong it won’t work. I’ve talked about finding your ideal clients and writing messages that do the selling for you before. Today I’m going to talk about increasing the number of enquiries you are receiving.
The best way to increase the number of enquiries you are receiving is to increase the amount of marketing you are doing. My personal preference with this isn’t to necessarily do more of whatever you are already doing, but instead to add on additional marketing channels. When I talk to business owners and ask them how they market their business they usually tell me they use these 3 channels:
1. Word of mouth referral
2. Networking
3. Website
Usually their website isn’t really doing anything for them and they rarely get a lead through it so that just leaves 2 channels. Word of mouth is a fab way of generating new leads but it is quite often a very passive process as it relies on others to take action for you. I love networking and I’m a huge believer in the power of networking but it shouldn’t be the only significant marketing that a business does.
There are LOADS of marketing channels that a business can use. My advice to my clients is always to build up to 8 different marketing channels into their marketing plans. When you think most people have 2 that means quadrupling their marketing efforts. Before you start to groan you can add them on one at a time so it is a nice steady increase in marketing effort rather than an extreme act.
To know which additional channels you need to add to increase the flow of enquiries into your sales funnel you need to think about who your ideal clients are and where they hang out. This should naturally lead to some obvious new channels to add on. Here are some examples of additional channels that could work well for you:
1. Exhibiting at Business Shows
2. Speaking at events
3. Blogging (especially if you want to be considered an expert in your field)
4. Advertising (this is actually my least favourite especially if it’s offline advertising. Having said that it can work well if you sell your products/services direct to consumers)
5. PR
6. Direct mail (this can be hugely effective)
7. Email-marketing
8. Content marketing (similar to blogging)
9. Online marketing (this is a massive area and includes social media, webinars, teleseminars and so on)
10. Strategic Alliances
The key to successfully adding on new marketing channels is to do it one at a time. Decide on a new channel that is the most likely to generate the most leads based on your target audience, message & budget. Get it implemented and working well and if possible automate it or outsource it so you can focus on building in the next one.
To give you an idea of scales, I consistently use 10 marketing channels. My most significant ones are: networking, strategic alliances, speaking & elements of online marketing. By using 10 channels my sales funnel has a lovely steady flow of enquiries coming through it.
The number of enquiries you have is a direct effect of your marketing. You have the ability to have even more. What action are you going to take today to increase your volume of leads?
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