Do Leads or Referrals Make your Marketing as Smooth as Milk?
It's a chicken egg debate- both chock full of protein
And nuts! Chock full of protein and nuts. Which is better, a lead or referral. The obvious answer is a referral. But it depends on how you get the referral.
I worked at a company that required one on one interviews with clients to determine need. At the end of the interview, we were required to ask them for the names and phone numbers of two people, "just like them" who wanted to change their lives.
This was called a warm lead. We were then instructed to call the person and say "Hi, this is Lowrychris, and so and so is starting school here and they told me you might want to change your life." or some such nonsense. Why were they called a warm lead? Because they were referred to us by someone who was using our service.
But the method is just as effective when you call out of the phone book. Think about it. Do you know anyone named John? It's the most common name in the English language, so chances are, you do. When the pressure was on for us in sales (which is different from marketing) they would print up old leads (anyone who contacted our system in the past year) and we would call them. I tried the old "I was talking to John, and he said to give you a call." Sometimes I got called on it, most of the time people let it pass, but 99% of the time, leads were a failure.
Think about how many times you wanted information answered then and now. You didn't want to wait, you had a question, you wanted an answer, and you wanted to move on. But most websites are designed to capture your information for a call back. Now, guess what, you are a lead. Welcome to the world of dumb ass marketing. I can now sell your information to twenty different companies, and have them telemarket you or e-mail market you until you're all spammed out. You didn't ask for the intrusion, but you have it none the less.
You'll keep getting it to, until you get fed up, and contact your Congressman to pass a bill that makes it illegal for you to be called anymore without permission. Oh, wait, you all ready did that.
Okay, now what if you need your car fixed. What if you asked your neighbor, "Say Joaquin, what was the name of that place where you took your car." That's a referral. That's gold.
Why? You have an active customer getting in touch with you to give you permission to accept their money. They will exchange that money for a service. It works across the board. Need a handyman? Get a name from a friend. It's money.
So referrals are 10, no 100, no 1000 times better than leads.
When I first graduated college, and tried my hand at sales, my boss literally put a phone book on the table in front of me and said "Start calling. You have 10,000 solid leads right there." That's how much value is placed on a lead.
Contrast that with talking to someone who got your name from a client. "Hey Lowry, Noel told me you did a great job on his newsletter, and I want to talk to you about doing one of my own."
If you never had to cold call anyone, if you had clients calling you and asking for your input, know what you would be? An expert.
How do you become an expert. Read books. Attend seminars. Then, host a seminar. Just don't collect names and phone numbers of everyone who attends and then call them up.
I'm a big fan of trading. Trade info for my name and phone number. Then keep giving me information. When I'm ready to buy, guess who I'm going to turn to.
And nuts! Chock full of protein and nuts. Which is better, a lead or referral. The obvious answer is a referral. But it depends on how you get the referral.
I worked at a company that required one on one interviews with clients to determine need. At the end of the interview, we were required to ask them for the names and phone numbers of two people, "just like them" who wanted to change their lives.
This was called a warm lead. We were then instructed to call the person and say "Hi, this is Lowrychris, and so and so is starting school here and they told me you might want to change your life." or some such nonsense. Why were they called a warm lead? Because they were referred to us by someone who was using our service.
But the method is just as effective when you call out of the phone book. Think about it. Do you know anyone named John? It's the most common name in the English language, so chances are, you do. When the pressure was on for us in sales (which is different from marketing) they would print up old leads (anyone who contacted our system in the past year) and we would call them. I tried the old "I was talking to John, and he said to give you a call." Sometimes I got called on it, most of the time people let it pass, but 99% of the time, leads were a failure.
Think about how many times you wanted information answered then and now. You didn't want to wait, you had a question, you wanted an answer, and you wanted to move on. But most websites are designed to capture your information for a call back. Now, guess what, you are a lead. Welcome to the world of dumb ass marketing. I can now sell your information to twenty different companies, and have them telemarket you or e-mail market you until you're all spammed out. You didn't ask for the intrusion, but you have it none the less.
You'll keep getting it to, until you get fed up, and contact your Congressman to pass a bill that makes it illegal for you to be called anymore without permission. Oh, wait, you all ready did that.
Okay, now what if you need your car fixed. What if you asked your neighbor, "Say Joaquin, what was the name of that place where you took your car." That's a referral. That's gold.
Why? You have an active customer getting in touch with you to give you permission to accept their money. They will exchange that money for a service. It works across the board. Need a handyman? Get a name from a friend. It's money.
So referrals are 10, no 100, no 1000 times better than leads.
When I first graduated college, and tried my hand at sales, my boss literally put a phone book on the table in front of me and said "Start calling. You have 10,000 solid leads right there." That's how much value is placed on a lead.
Contrast that with talking to someone who got your name from a client. "Hey Lowry, Noel told me you did a great job on his newsletter, and I want to talk to you about doing one of my own."
If you never had to cold call anyone, if you had clients calling you and asking for your input, know what you would be? An expert.
How do you become an expert. Read books. Attend seminars. Then, host a seminar. Just don't collect names and phone numbers of everyone who attends and then call them up.
I'm a big fan of trading. Trade info for my name and phone number. Then keep giving me information. When I'm ready to buy, guess who I'm going to turn to.
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