Lead Generation

Welcome to the start of your new business via the secrets of lead generation.

Tip 1 - Don't Market To Everyone "You can't be all things to all men."
I know this may come as a shock to you, but it's true. You cannot hope to market your products to everyone, even if you think everyone needs your product. I'm not saying you can't be successful doing this, but you are limiting your potential by not focusing on select groups of people or businesses. These specific groups are called "niches."
By focusing on one or more niches you're able to connect with these people at a much higher level, and consequently you automatically gain more business. I'm sure you've heard people say things like, "This person really connects with me, they really understand my
business." This is what you do when you choose to market to these different groups.

If you were to start a new business tomorrow and you had the choice of two accountants, which one would you use? One that markets to everyone (a generalist) or one that focuses on start-ups and new businesses? Do you even have a choice? I doubt it. That's the power of niche marketing. By concentrating on specific groups, you can achieve very high market shares in that particular category because people automatically come to you.

You'll "own" the market. You are viewed as the only choice because your product is
'designed' to solve the specific problems of those people. Identifying the people or businesses that have a want for your product, can afford your product and can be easily
reached is your goal. Find the 'starving crowd' and you'll be rewarded handsomely!

Once you've defined your target market(s) everything else you do will be easier to accomplish, and as a result your sales and profits will increase. This is perhaps the most overlooked strategy that new businesses can use. Don't worry about 'restricting' your market. I hear this concern from many people. Believe me, if you focus on one or more carefully selected niches you'll be amazed at your results.

But how do you know if your chosen niche(s) is BIG enough to make you wealthy? Good question. Now this is only a guideline, but it will give you a good benchmark for assessing the size of the niche…

1. Calculate the total size of the chosen niche (if you've selected more than one niche just add the numbers together).

2. Now calculate the average order value of each customer (i.e. if you've got 20 customers, and they each buy from you three times each year, and the total value of all the sales is £6,000, then the average order value is £100.

3. Then determine how many times they'll buy your product over the duration of the relationship (i.e. how long they keep buying from you). If we take the above example, let's say on average customers buy from you 3 times a year for 5 years. That means on average they buy your product 15 times. You also need to include referrals here - but to keep the
math simple we'll leave them out for now - but understand when you put a referral system in place (yes, you can systemise referrals, the results can be staggering).

4. Now you can calculate the value of the customer, which in my example is £1500 (15 times they order x £100 average order value)

5. Now calculate your gross profit on each sale to give us the 'Lifetime Customer Value (LCV).' Let's say in our example our gross profit is 60%, giving us a LCV of £900 (£1,500 x 60%)

6. Now assume over a 3 year period you'll get 25% market share of your niche (often it will be much higher when you apply the tools and strategies contained in this course, but let's be pessimistic at this stage). So if the market size in my example above is 5,000, the total customers we could acquire is 1,250 (5,000 x 25%)

7. Now calculate the profit from this market share and decide if this figure is enough to make you wealthy? In our example above we'd generate £1.125m over a 5 year period
(1,250 customers x £900) Remember this is a guideline. But if you use it wisely you'll be able to gauge the potential of your chosen target markets and their ability to bring to you the rewards and wealth you seek.

Tip 2 - You Must Have A Unique Perceived Benefit(UPB)
UPB or (Unique Perceived Benefit) is the one thing that differentiates you or your product from your competitors in the minds of your customers and prospects. Your UPB is what makes the difference between a very powerful and sustainable lead generation system or NOT! and ultimately having a truly outstanding business - or a faltering one. Often your UPB can be found in your business or your product - you just need to articulate it in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd. I can't stress enough how important this is to you.

How can you expect your customers to be able to choose you, over and above any of your competitors, if they can't quickly see what it is you do that is so unique? The good news is You don't have to have something that's truly unique. As long as your competitors aren't communicating this uniqueness it is perceived as unique - and when it comes to sales and marketing - perception is REALITY! Other outstanding businesses have been founded on a UPB alone. For example, here's a very well known UPB...

"Red hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less- guaranteed."
Tom Monahan of Domino's Pizza created one of the most successful fast food businesses in the world from the strength of this UPB. Another is "When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight -FedEx. "

Please don't dismiss the importance of UPB. I guarantee your competitors are unlikely to have a UPB. This will make a massive difference to your business. There are other VERY IMPORTANT factors to consider...If you are viewed by your customers and prospects to be the same as your competitors, what do you think becomes the important criteria when they want TO BUY your type of product? That's right - PRICE or FEES. If you're one of those people that thinks their industry or customers are price sensitive - you must ask yourself if
that's because YOU don't differentiate your products and your support services from your competition. It's rare that price is ever the motivating factor in any market.

There's no hiding the fact that as soon as you create your UPB, you automatically take your business out of the "price war" and into the nirvana of higher prices - and less competition! (Or at the very worst you keep charging the same - but you win most of the business!). That's the power of UPB.

Tip 3 - You Must Use A Multitude Of Lead Generation Strategies

It amazes me that people say things like, "I'm just not able to grow my business. I've tried lots of things, but I just can't seem to generate the volume of leads I need." The first question I ask is this, "How many lead generation tools are you using at the moment?"
The reply is often like this, "Well we do some Yellow Pages advertising and send some letters out." Now I'm not saying you can't have enormous success just from using the likes of Yellow Pages advertising and sales letters, because you can, but just think what you could do if you used 5, 10, 15, 20 or more lead generation tools to grow your business? What effect would this have if each lead generation tool was working well for you?

I've identified 43 proven lead generation tools you can apply to your business right now. How many are you using at the moment? Here’s my list in no particular order:

Follow Up, FREE Special Reports, FREE Tip Sheets, Press Releases, Endorsement Relationships, Networking, Joining Clubs and Associations, Books and Articles, Newsletters (on-line), FREE Consultations/Estimates/Meetings etc, Make It Easy for Your Prospects to
Buy from You - Credit Cards Accepted etc, Profit on Repeat Sales, Email, Seminars, Direct Mail Sales Letters, Direct Response Classified Adverts, Direct Response Yellow Pages Adverts,
Direct Response Fax Broadcasts, Newsletters (Print), Telemarketing, Direct Response Inserts Direct Mail Postcards, Direct Mail Postcard Decks, Direct Response Print Advertising, Direct Response Radio Commercials, Free Gifts, Gimmicks and Incentives, Special Events, Web Site
Take-One Boxes, FREE Samples Of Your Products, Trade Shows, Business Name and Product Name, Window Displays, Reprints of Adverts and Publicity, Posters, Signage, Questionnaires
Gift Vouchers, Letters of Thanks and Appreciation, Speed, Interior Décor, Business Cards
Audiotapes and Videotapes

This is as simple as it seems. The more lead generation tools you use - the more income you'll generate. The key however is to use productive and proven lead generation tools. Tools that give you a return on your investment (ROI).

Many lead generation tools were originally developed years ago. You must adapt the way you use them to be successful when marketing your products. When you use more lead generation tools you stabilise the growth of your business. If you're using 5 or 10 lead generation tools, and one of them starts to fade, you've still got numerous other tools working tirelessly for you. On the other hand if you're using one or two lead generation tools and one of them fades, your lead generation system is cut in two - making your business less stable!