Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr11/shbjv1.zip/LEADGEN.DOC

Text File | 1993-06-10 | 18KB | 333 lines

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****** SMALL & HOME BUSINESS JOURNAL ON-DISK -- VOL I NO I ******
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       COPYRIGHT 1993     PAT FLANAGAN PUBLISHING & DESIGN
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HOW TO MAKE A STEADY PROFIT FROM NATIONWIDE LEAD-GENERATOR CARDS

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

You're probably already familiar with lead-generator cards. They run in card
decks. But, for the sake of clarity, let's begin by defining some terms.

  1) card-decks are packets of post cards that are sent in cellophane packages
     to very targeted universes of prospects. The most common multiple of
     cards sent is 100,000, although the size can be smaller if the universe
     of prospects is highly select (like veterinarians or certified public
     accountants). Most cards in the deck are devoted to just one
     advertisement and are themselves usually used to generate leads for a
     product or service.

  2) lead-generator programs are a spin-off from card decks. Here, a host of
     advertisers (generally from 30 to 100) are sold space on a card and the
     lead-generator company buys card space in a series of decks; as a result
     you get to hundreds of thousands of prospects for a price that would
     otherwise be prohibitive. The card layout looks rather like this (as
     taken from my own lead-generator card):


Jeffrey Lant's Nationwide Lead-Generator Program

    Return this card fast for FREE OFFERS... FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS... FREE
    GIFTS... FREE PROFIT-MAKING DETAILS... FREE SAMPLES... FREE NEWSLETTERS...
    FREE CATALOGS and MORE!

Just check what you want... and return this card with your business card to
/address/. No card? Send your letterhead with phone number, please! We must
have your phone number to respond!

                             Get your offer on this card and start generating
                             ALL THE LEADS YOU NEED for RIDICULOUSLY LOW COST!
                             Your leads start 6-8 weeks after you sign up.
                             Call Dan McComas now at [phone]!

Advertiser #A01 / / check-off box  /ad copy/
Advertiser #A02 / / check-off box  /ad copy/, etc.


Unlike a card deck where all leads and direct sales go back to the
advertiser's address, in a lead-generator program, the leads go back to the
company which bought the space. They then sort the ads and send them out at
regular intervals to the advertiser, who can -- and should -- follow them up
promptly to close sales.


THE FIRST TOUGH QUESTION: DO LEAD-GENERATOR PROGRAMS WORK?

Over the years a lot of people have run their ads in lead-generator programs,
like those run by Venture Communications, Visual Horizons, Select Information
Exchange, RHI and, yes, my own Nationwide Lead-Generator Program. To be
perfectly frank, some of these people have not had a good experience with
them, and I think it's worth discovering why.


 -- Poor Lead Quality

Many people running in lead-generator programs complain that the leads they
get are of poor quality. And often these people have a point. As a
lead-generator card publisher, I want to share a couple of key points with
you. If a card has, say, 50 advertisers on it, there are people who receive
the card and return it who will check 20, 30 or even more items. Personally, I
detest these "freebie-seekers" since they probably have a real interest in --
NOTHING AT ALL EXCEPT GETTING LOTS OF MAIL! Most lead-generator proprietors,
however, feel differently. Say they're selling these names to advertisers on a
per-lead basis at $1 or more each. The freebie-seeker who checks 30 items on
your card is to you, the publisher, a $30 bonanza -- whatever the loss to the
actual advertiser. Obviously, the publisher of the card doesn't tell you what
the average rate of response is per card (he'd call that proprietary
information and suppress it)... but you need to know! The truth is, a person
who checks three or four items out of 50 is a better prospect (all things
considered) than someone who checks 20. That just stands to reason.

Thus, if you've had a bad turn with a lead-generator publisher but didn't ask
about how many items are checked on the average returned card... and what the
publisher does with a card where the prospect has checked a host of items...
you forgot caveat emptor. You were fleeced all right... but it's partly your
own fault.

Note: In my lead-generator program, we do two things to ensure the quality of
our leads:

  1) when someone checks over 8 items on a card, we put that person's name
     and address in a "suppress" file so that we can delete such prospects
     from the mailing list for my own Sales & Marketing Success Card Deck,
     one of the card decks in which my lead-generator card runs. This way
     presumed freebie-seekers don't get my deck -- and you don't get a bum
     lead. If other card-deck publishers would do this, the industry might
     have lower response rates but a far better quality of lead.
     Unfortunately, these publishers like to inflate responses and blame poor
     results on inadequate advertiser follow-up. Frankly, I'd rather have a
     lot fewer leads... and those of a lot higher caliber, but this opinion
     is not yet general among my fellow card-deck publishers.

  2) After the freebie seeker's name is put in the "suppress" file, the card
     itself goes into another file -- the circular one on the floor next to
     the computer. These cards, you see, should be rigorously disposed of...
     to ensure that the freebie seekers don't end up on anyone's mailing
     list... much less yours!


  -- Lack of Telephone Numbers

Most people selling through card-decks are not going to be able to sell direct
from their card... and no one who uses a lead-generator program is able to do
so. Thus, anyone who uses card-decks needs respondent telephone numbers (and
whenever possible these days fax numbers, too). Unfortunately, most
lead-generator programs don't provide this information! The main reason for
this is publisher convenience. It's another step with extra added expense to
the publisher to input telephone numbers in prospect files and then output
them (along with prospect name, business name, address, etc.) again for
advertisers. As a result, most publishers just don't bother. Naive advertisers
are somehow left with the impression (I wonder how?) that they really don't
need this crucial information... that all they have to do to make their
fortune is get a prospect name and mail their information and make a dinner
reservation at the Ritz to celebrate their new riches. But you can now
understand why this just doesn't make sense. If a prospect has checked, say,
even 10 things... and if 10 advertisers send their information promptly...
the prospect isn't going to jump at all of them... or perhaps even any of
them... WITHOUT TELEPHONE AND OTHER FOLLOW-UP! Which brings me to my next
point...


  -- Inconvenient Output of Information

All lead-generator publishers spend a lot of time and money inputting prospect
follow-up information into databases. In fact, without the computer,
lead-generator programs couldn't exist. Unfortunately, however, these same
publishers don't spend a lot of time and money outputting the information the
advertiser needs to make more sales. Most publishers, in fact, simply output
names on label stock. Sometimes the really tacky publishers put prospect phone
numbers at the top of the labels to save money! THIS IS REALLY DUMB!

What advertisers need is prospect data that is:

 - already available on diskette
 - doesn't have to be re-entered in their own computer system
 - includes phone numbers as part of the prospect package.

Almost no lead-generator program provides this service; (I'm pleased to tell,
however, that I do!)

Say, for instance, that you go with a lead-generator program that simply
provides prospect data on label stock... even down to putting the prospect's
phone number on the label! What then?

  1) At the very least you have to enter all the data again. A real pain.

  2) If you don't reenter the data, the minute you use the label, your
     investment is gone and the success of your advertising program now
     rests 100% on the prospect getting back to you AFTER A SINGLE CONTACT.
     This is absurd! Have you read about my Rule of Seven in my other books
     and articles? (If not, it's time for you to study my well-known marketing
     book MONEY MAKING MARKETING: FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO NEED WHAT YOU'RE
     SELLING AND MAKING SURE THEY BUY IT. 285 pages, $39.50 postpaid). All
     prospects need to be hit at least 7 times with a client-centered
     marketing message before it dawns on them you have something of value and
     that they ought to jump up to get it.. Seven, mind, not one!


No, you need a program that provides complete prospect data -- which means
including telephone number -- on diskette in the format of your choice.

Note: Actually, I offer prospect data output in three formats,

  1) on either 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskette;

  2) hard-copy laser printer output, and

  3) for those who just don't get the message, on label stock like everyone
     else!

Having provided you with all these details, at last I can answer the question:
do lead-generator programs work? They certainly do, IF...

 - the publisher is conscientious about providing advertisers with quality
   names;

 - advertisers get prospect phone numbers;

 - advertisers get prospect data in a convenient form.

This is the publisher's job, and it is just plain stupid to work with any
publisher who doesn't give you, the advertiser, what you need to make the
program work for you!

... But you, dear reader, are not absolved from responsibility either. The
lead-generator publisher has got to do things to make the program
profitable... but SO DO YOU!


QUESTION TWO: HAVE YOU DONE ALL YOU COULD TO SPEED THE SALE?

It's time to remind you of a significant fact: the purpose of a
lead-generator program is not just to get leads. IT'S TO MAKE AS MANY SALES
AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. This crucial point is often lost sight of in discussions
about how many leads an ad will get, what's right with the card, what's wrong
with the publisher, etc. In the final analysis, GETTING THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF
SALES IS ALL THAT COUNTS! Here's what you can do to achieve this objective:


  -- Be Prepared for Your Leads

Time and time again, advertisers sabotage their own chances by their poor
preparation. What's predictable about lead-generator programs is that leads
will arrive at regular intervals, usually every 14 days (in the good programs)
and every 30 days (in the less good programs). Thus, YOU HAD BETTER BE READY
to take maximum advantage of these leads. To do this means thinking through
not just the ad you'll run on the lead-generator card itself (relatively easy)
but each step in the entire closing process -- and getting everything arranged
and all necessary marketing materials produced accordingly. In other words,
don't just concentrate on the ad you're running... concentrate on mastering
and implementing the entire process that produces the ultimate sale... of
which the ad is only one, though a significant, part. Walk through each step
in the lead-generation and response closing cycle, including:

  -- preparation of the ad

  -- reviewing your first response package to make sure it is unrelentingly
     client-centered... packed with benefits... user-testimonials... and a
     whiz-bang offer that makes the recipient WANT to take faster action

  -- reviewing follow-up communications to be used in the entirely predictable
     event that not all your prospects respond to your offer promptly, and

  -- looking at how you'll handle first telephone contact, the occasional need
     to fax materials, and later, necessary continuing follow-up.

In short, do you have your profit process in place?


JUNKING INFERIOR "ME-CENTERED" MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, REPLACING THEM
WITH ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY "RECIPIENT-CENTERED" MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

One of the main reasons why so many advertisers in lead-generation programs
fail is because the materials they're sending out are not rigorously
recipient-centered. That is, they lack client focus, consisting instead of...

       -- feature-ridden prose instead of BENEFITS;
       -- testimonials that don't talk about RESULTS;
       -- weak OFFERS... or worse, no offers at all;
       -- lots of marketer-centered information, and of course
       -- puff words galore like "world-class", "unique",
          "unbelievable," etc., etc., etc.

Dear reader, all marketing communications between you and your would-be buyer
must be based on four simple words: YOU GET BENEFIT NOW! Thus, all your
marketing communications must hammer home CLIENT-CENTERED BENEFITS... while
always stressing THE NEED FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION and providing the necessary
incentive that motivates that action.

Is this what you do?

Allow me to doubt...

Time after time, when reviewing the response materials of lead-generator
advertisers and prospects, I am appalled to discover just what they think is
going to motivate FAST ACTION from the mammal at the other end of the
marketing process. "Me, me, me, me, me" doesn't cut it. YOU GET BENEFIT NOW!
does.

What's more this benefit-rich and motivating copy must be featured in every
part of every marketing communication. It needs to be on the envelope... it
needs to be on the top of the page... in the post script... on the response or
order coupon. In short, EVERYWHERE. Creativity doesn't count here.
Response is all that matters!

Note: Let's face it. All business people cannot write this kind of copy...
although all business people need it. If you're willing to learn, I commend
two of my books to you, CASH COPY: HOW TO OFFER YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SO
YOUR PROSPECTS BUY THEM... NOW! (480 pages, $38.50 postpaid) and NO MORE COLD
CALLS: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GENERATING -- AND CLOSING -- ALL THE PROSPECTS
YOU NEED TO BECOME A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE BY SELLING YOUR SERVICE (680 pages,
$44.95 postpaid). But if you either don't have the time to learn or just won't
bother, then for goodness sake get yourself a cash-copy copywriter who can
produce just what you want. We provide this service through our National
Copywriting Center. For a free consultation, call Director Dan McComas at
[phone]. He knows just how to write lead-generator and other card-deck
ads -- and all other marketing communications -- that get results. Call him!

(Editor's note:  See our next issue for a full-length review of NO MORE COLD
 CALLS: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GENERATING -- AND CLOSING -- ALL THE PROSPECTS
 YOU NEED TO BECOME A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE BY SELLING YOUR SERVICE!!)


CONCLUSION

Using these methods, not only will you get better qualified leads... but
you'll start making money from them... regularly! And this is just what you
want. No one should expect any single marketing program to make them
millionaires overnight. But each of us marketers has a right to expect that
the marketing programs we select do make us a profit on a regular basis. This
is just what lead-generator programs are for. Properly handled, they are like
a bank account: deposit so much time and money at regular intervals, withdraw
so much gross income and, hurrah!, predictable profit at equally regular
intervals. Lead-generator programs are not, in short, the crap-shoot that
casual users, who came to the table naive and unprepared, might like to
believe. Properly used they are a CERTAIN and PREDICTABLE means of regular
profit production. As such, so long as you are selling your product or service
nationwide, they have a legitimate place in your overall marketing program.


***********************************************************************
*                                                                     *
* ABOUT THE AUTHOR                                                    *
*                                                                     *
* Use Dr. Jeffrey Lant's Nationwide Lead-Generator Program to get a   *
* regular stream of qualified leads for your product or service --    *
* whatever your product or service! the only qualification is that    *
* you sell nationwide! Also use his quarterly Sales & Marketing       *
* Success Card Deck going to a different list of 100,000 business     *
* decision makers every 90 days for the lowest cost in the entire     *
* card-deck industry. To get information on these programs -- and     *
* to order copies of the books referred to in the article and all     *
* his other audio tapes, books and special reports on marketing and   *
* business development -- contact JLA Publications, 50 Follen St.,    *
* Suite 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or call [phone]. Don't forget *
* to request your FREE YEAR'S SUBSCRIPTION to his quarterly Sure-Fire *
* Business Success Catalog featuring over 350 ways to make your       *
* business more profitable NOW!                                       *
*                                                                     *
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