How to Capture Your Leads to Capture More Dollars?

No matter where your leads are generated from, you are not the only person trying to sell to the
“hot” lead. I’m aware of several lead generating agencies that farm identical leads out to several
small business owners. And they still charge an arm and a leg for the leads. I’m not telling you
to ignore the “hot” leads. Quite the contrary. Get the sales you can now, just don’t ignore the
value of your other leads.

Here is the strategy I hope you carry away from this building block. Assign ALL your leads the
value they deserve. Treat each prospect as if they were already your customer, and remember
that a vast number of them will be. There is no way to gage right now what a lead will be worth
in the future. Why take risks with potential dollars?

For small businesses to reach those daunting financial goals, they must generate and “keep”
their lead information. Leads are only worth the sales that come from them. But you never know
when the sale will occur. Remember, consumers are working on their schedule, not yours.

So, the next natural question is: I’ve got my leads, where do I go from here?

I’m so glad you asked.

Assign ALL your leads the value they
deserve. Treat each prospect as if they were
already your customer, and remember that a
vast number of them will be.
Your next customer?

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

Becoming a Better Salesperson

I’m going to admit something that may sound a little arrogant. I have tens of thousands of
customers. They just might not be buying from me right now. Have you ever noticed what an
impact perspective has on our actions? Whenever I’m talking to any small business owner, I am
thinking, “This is one of my customers.” I don’t even have a chance to tell them what Infusionsoft
does before I have categorized them as “Customer” in my head.

Many times, it is due to my perceived value of this person that small business owners want to learn more about Infusionsoft. It’s because I treat them differently. Unlike the story about the
pest control salesman, my initial conversation gives me a chance to begin a relationship with
this person. And I take advantage of that moment. Whether they buy today, or go in my funnel,
I treat every small business owner I talk to in exactly the same way. Because you never know
what is keeping this person from buying your phenomenal product or service.

And then, as I pointed out before, some people just aren’t ready to buy yet. But with a prospect
database you’re saying, “You know what? Whether you buy from me today or not, you’re important to me. I am going to keep your information.” The prospect may not have a clue that you
have a database waiting in the wings. But they’re going to feel it. Because they can sense the
importance you attribute to them.

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

You Don't Have to Be the Pushy Sales Guy let me show you

When you start to understand the importance of EVERY lead, you’ll notice your sales tactics change. Think of the way you, other small business owners, and salespeople attempt to make a sale. What tactics do you use? And what do you do when you realize a sale is just not going to happen?

A young couple I know were down on their luck. They’d bought and lived in a new house, paying
all kinds of new bills for one year. Then without warning, the husband lost his job. One day, a
pest control salesman stopped by to see if he could sign the couple up for quarterly treatments.
The wife tried to politely decline, but the salesman kept pushing. After three attempts to get
rid of the man, the wife explained that her husband was currently unemployed. The salesman’s
response was a disappointed, “Oh.” Then he left. After all, he wasn’t getting a commission from
that house. Why should he bother to be polite?

That young couple soon got back on their feet, and when they started spotting Black Widows
around their yard, they wanted to call a pest control company. Guess who they didn’t even consider?

Imagine how this story could have been different if the salesman had simply said, “I understand
you may not be ready for pest control now. May I come by later in the year?” What if he had
filled his funnel with a future customer?

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

What is The Price of Lost Leads

What is the ultimate result of lost or discarded leads? Well, really there is only one answer to
that question. You’ll have to seek out more leads. And thus the process begins again. You’ll pour
more money into lead generation or purchase, make the quick sales, lose or discard the rest,
and have to find more leads again.

And in this process, not only are you spending more money in marketing
efforts and in purchasing leads, but you’re leaving thousands of dollars just
sitting on the table.

I want to do a quick calculation. Let’s say your company spends $2,000 on marketing materials
and is able to generate 100 leads. Of those leads, 5 people instantly become customers and
spend about $300 a month. Over the next 12 months, your company brings in $18,000. That’s a decent return on your investment.

Now, what if 20 of those leads will eventually become customers but weren’t ready yet? However, you followed up with them until they were. To make this easy, we’ll say all 20 warm leads sign up after one year. From your $2,000 marketing effort, you brought in $18,000 the first year AND $72,000 later on down the road.

Had you thrown away the leads, that additional income would be lost. That’s certainly not something you can afford when you’re trying to double your sales.

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

today’s leads are tomorow’buyers!

In this chapter, I am going to introduce you to the funnel. The funnel will be

used for several of the building blocks, because it is imperative to small business

improvement. So, before I explain what I mean by “Fill the Funnel,” take a

look at the graphic below.

Let me ask you a question. What do you do with your leads once you have them? “Fill your Funnel”

is about gathering, sorting, and using lead information to begin creating moments of interaction

with your prospects.

You see, leads are a powerful resource to have. Today’s leads are tomorrow’s
buyers, or next month’s, or next year’s. So you need to understand
the importance of your leads. The entire basis of this chapter is to encourage
small business owners to create a workable, prospect database that
they can market to later.

By putting those leads in your database, you are securing a lucrative future for your company.
The more leads you have in your funnel, the more buyers you’re going to have down the road.
(Because you’re going to be constantly standing in front of them.)

What happens when leads are not put into the funnel? Where do they go? Let’s say you or your salesperson went through the entire list of leads and found the ones that were ready to buy now. What did you do with the rest of them? My guess, they’re gone for good. It may not be intentional, but because of the overwhelming nature of running a small business, those other leads are usually lost, or wind up in the trash.

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A struggling loan officer decided to quit his job. He had tried the mortgage business for six
months and only closed two small loans. At the mortgage broker’s request, the loan
officer decided to give the mortgage business one more month.

“Great,” the broker said, “Go back to your leads.”

“What leads?” came the response.

“You pre-approved seven people in your first month. What happened to them?”

The loan officer shrugged his shoulders. “One hadn’t found a house yet. Two had some
credit issues. One was waiting for her husband to get back from Iraq. And I never heard
from the other three.”

The mortgage broker said, “Well, it’s a good start. Give them a call today.”

The loan officer stared in horror at his boss and confessed, “I threw their stuff away. I
didn’t think I would need it.”

Granted this story shows the employee’s ignorance in not filling the funnel, but it’s a good
illustration of the pain losing or discarding leads can cause.

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 © 2008 By Clate Mask