There’s an old saying in sales about knowing your ABCs—“always be closing.” As important as that is for small business success, there’s another ABC that’s perhaps more important:
“Always be capturing.”
Capturing what, you ask?
Always be capturing contact information. You can’t follow up if you don’t get their contact information (and their permission to follow up).
Whether it’s visitors on your website, foot traffic in your store, callers on the phone, or people you meet on the street, get their contact information and give them a reason to ask you to follow up. And make sure your team is doing the same. You might be shocked to find out how many leads you’re losing from folks calling your office every day—and hanging up, never to be heard from again.
Far too many business owners simply hand out a business card or pass along some information, believing the person will contact them when they’re ready to do business. It doesn’t work like that. Instead, the successful businesses cultivate a practice of constantly building a list. They practice their ABCs when it comes to list building.
How might you do that?
- Offer a consumer’s guide by email that addresses the questions in your prospect’s mind
- Give access to a free trial of your product or service
- Offer a free consultation
- Give valuable advice in a free report
- Record a webinar or audio interview with a celebrity or industry expert that will appeal to your audience
We call these “lead magnets” because they attract the right contacts to your business. In short, give value to get value (the contact info) and you’ll quickly build a list of leads you can follow-up with over time.
SBS Idea of the Day: Identify one place in your business where leads are slipping through the cracks because you are not capturing contact information. Create a lead magnet to attract and capture leads in your database.
