The goal of lead generation is simple: Get the greatest response from your marketing efforts by offering prospects the ability to contact you in any manner they choose.
You can't try to funnel everyone to the Web because you want it that way. If the person reading your advertisement or direct mail piece isn't next to their computer, they will most likely fill out the reply card or pick up the phone and dial your toll-free number. But if you haven't used a reply card or placed a toll-free number in a prominent place, the potential customers will say to themselves: “I'll get to them later.” Later never comes for most inquirers.
By letting people have a choice of response portals, the total response always gets a lift. Some inquirers want to respond immediately, so they pick up the phone. They are action people and they want information now. Others might not be near a computer, so they fill out the BRC and drop it in the mail. In any event, customers want things their way, and it doesn't always include the Internet.
It is important to allow the use of as many inquiry entry points as possible so that the prospect will feel free to contact you in the most convenient manner. There are many different points of entry into every company:
- Business reply mail (BRM)
Also known as a business reply card (BRC), this form of response is very much alive. It is used in direct mail and as a tip-in reply device in print media. And yet, with people's obsession with the Web as the landing site for all inquirers, some companies and their agencies are not using a BRC.
When you use a BRC make sure you are asking qualifying questions. Of course, you say, everybody asks questions on a BRC. Not true. Too many BRCs end up in the mailer and only ask for an address without asking four to six questions.
- Inbound calls (toll or toll-free)
Don't believe that inbound toll-free calls are dead and not used by prospects. If you start placing the 800 number in a prominent position in advertisements or on a BRC or the Web, the calls and hot leads coming in to the company will increase. Of course, the Web is the most often-used method of response, but you must allow people to use the response method they want to use. While you may only get 3% to 5% of your response from toll-free calls, these are likely to be the most highly qualified, immediate need, hot inquirers. I often hear a company president say, “If they really want our product, they'll pick up the phone and pay for the call themselves.” I wondered if these company presidents have forgotten who is selling what and to whom.
To use your toll-free number effectively, make sure that:
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The toll-free number is visible. Don't hide the number in your address block. Make it bold.
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You use the number in the copy and someplace in the advertisement or direct mail piece at least three times.
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You use the word FREE (in all caps) next to the number. Especially with the 866 and other toll-free prefixes, you need the word free next to the number. “Free” is a magnet that draws the eye. If the inbound calls go to your customer service department, either make sure that operators are trained to handle the call, ask questions and put the answers in a database, or direct the calls to your inside sales department, a telemarketing group that just handles inbound calls or an outside vendor.
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- Direct marketing Web landing pages
When using direct mail, it isn't enough to send inquirers to your Web site where they are lost and not counted as inquirers; you should be sending people to campaign-specific landing pages built only for a particular campaign. These landing sites can be simple one-page setups for getting a name and address with a few questions to elaborate sites that can be many layers deep to make good on registration for offers, presentation of educational materials, and, of course, the obligatory questions.
- Coupons in advertisements
Small coupons or reply devices printed on a portion of print media advertisements are still found in many magazines. You may have to talk your agency into including the coupon on the advertising page since they often complain it ruins their “layout.” Even on these small coupons you can fit two to three questions asking about the buyer's intent. Good examples of these coupons can be seen in airline magazines. These advertisements aren't inexpensive, and there are always coupons used by long-term advertisers.
- Tip-in reply cards in print magazines
Tip-in reply cards are still popular in most magazines. Whether they are bound in or blown in (loose), these cards are used because they work and there's always space on the card for profile questions. While you will often pay a one-page black-and-white advertising price, experts tell me the use of the card can double and triple responses for an advertisement running next to the card.
- E-mail and letters
Possibly the most neglected of the inquiry sources, e-mails to the company and even letters often go begging for a response.
“Who will answer the e-mail?” is a common plaintive cry from marketing. The answer is that more often than not the e-mail or letter is sent to the inside sales group to follow up. It could go to the telemarketing department for qualification. Many of these are lost as sources to lead-generating campaigns.
- Trade show lead retrieval systems and forms
Aside from a phone call into the company, trade-show inquiries will bring you the most qualified inquiries. A live person has spoken to the inquirer, questions have been asked and answered, and the needs identified. A relationship has been started. The trade show lead form must allow the salesperson who speaks to prospect on the show floor to completely record the inquirer's needs. The form (or computer screen) should have the four to eight ideal questions you want answered. There should be room for open text comments. Salespeople have to be trained in the use of the forms and why it's important to fill out the document completely.
Unfortunately, hidden within trade show leads are often the most unqualified inquiries that have been created through borrowed interest. The marketing person must be careful to avoid mixing the best and worst together.
- Live seminars
This source, possibly as good as trade shows and almost as good as an inbound call, is a great way to find high-quality inquirers. Most often the person has taken time out from his or her day or evening to show up and listen to your product or educational pitch. The people who register for these events but fail to show are almost as valuable as those who actually attend because you now have their name. For the people at the event, let them opt out if they're not interested in your products and do not process them as inquiries. You may want to put them into the marketing database to be sold to in the future, but they don't belong in the database as a sales lead.
- Online seminars
While used more for education than sales, these seminars still find people interested in your products. This group probably will have to be called and mined to avoid polluting your inquiry database. This inquiry entry point draws many competitors and students. Similar to the live seminar, the online registration list, regardless of attendance, may be almost as good as a file of people who attend. A direct marketing agency hosted an online seminar that had the usual attendance of about 55% to 60% of those who registered. Within four months of the program, one of the no-shows signed a contract for a substantial ongoing DM program, subsequently spent in the seven-figure range and created many thousands of inquiries for his salespeople and resellers.
- Reader service numbers in print advertisements
This old-time vehicle is still alive and well. The reply page (some are pre-addressed), which normally is in the back of the magazine, allows you to enter your name and circle the number that corresponds to the ad. You will get these names electronically or as a printout.
Be cautious about inquiries that come from magazines that use the RSN for press releases. They may be passing along names from someone who's checked a box that indicates they're interested in a product category and have not picked you out by name. While it's nice to have these names to market to, sending them to the sales force may contribute to your reputation as a marketer who uses unqualified sales leads.
This is excerpted from “Managing Sales Leads: Turning Cold Prospects Into Hot Customers,” by James Obermayer. It is published by Thomson/South-Western with the American Marketing Association and Racom Communications (www.racombooks.com).
