|
5
Ways to Generate Leads with Your Web Site
By
Charlie Cook
If you sell services one of the biggest challenges is identifying
qualified prospects who want what you have to offer and are ready
to buy. It is possible to waste time on cold calls and other marketing
activities that turn up little in the way of sales. Wouldn't you
rather have a steady stream of hot leads, leads that not only include
contact information but give you an idea of what the prospect needs,
the problem they want solved?
You have a web site, and hundreds if not thousands of people visit
your site each week. If your site is working well it should be providing
you with a list of hundreds of people who want to be on your marketing
list each week and dozens of qualified leads, people who want you
to call them right away about your services.
Use the following five tactics to generate a list of qualified
prospects.
1. Collect Contact Information
Strive to collect the email address of every person who visits
your web site and is interested in the problems you solve. Offer
a free article, tutorial or guide as bait to motivate people to
give you their email address so you can market to them again and
again.
Offer prospects something they want, and place your sign-up form
prominently at the top of your home page and in a side navigation
bar on the other pages of your site. This should help you capture
the email addresses of 10-20% of the people who visit your site
each week.
2. Use Auto Responders to Collect Detailed
Information
If you use a free giveaway and the briefest of sign up forms to
get people to give you their email information you can market to
prospects but wouldn't it be helpful to have more information?
Use an autoresponder to send people a confirmation when they request
your free article or sign up for your newsletter. In the email ask
them for detailed contact information and ask them a couple of questions
about what they're interested in.
3. Get People to Tell You How You Can
Help Them
Many people use the web as tool to find solutions and to hire people
who can help them solve their problems. If you are a financial advisor,
giving away an article on financial tips is a great way to get contact
information but what you really want to do is to identify those
people who have an immediate interest in your services.
Prompt people to contact you by including an inquiry form on your
web site, but don't make the mistakes made on most web sites. Too
often inquiry forms are buried on the site, multiple clicks away
from the pages most frequently viewed by your visitors. Include
your form on high visibility pages, at the bottom of your homepage
and other key pages about your services and products.
Use your inquiry form to both collect contact information and to
identify the services your prospects are interested in and how you
can help them. When you make your follow up calls you'll know where
to start the conversation.
When you receive completed inquiry forms you can sort through them
to identify which ones are worth following up on based on the answers
provided. Then pick up the phone and use these qualified leads to
find new clients and grow your business.
4. Collect Feedback and Learn More About
Your Prospect's Needs
When people visit your sell pages, the web pages that describe
your products and services, they've expressed an interest. Some
will move directly to purchase, others will discover they don't
have any further interest and a large number will fall into the
middle. These are people who are interested but not ready to commit.
Before visitors leave your web site sell pages, you can use exit
pop up windows to collect feedback and to find out what they are
looking for.
Offer a free article to motivate visitors to fill in the form.
When you get these feedback forms, follow up with a call. Use this
conversation to find out why they didn't buy the service or product
or to get further information about the problems they want solved.
Once you have these prospects on the phone you'll be surprised how
many you can turn into clients.
5. Send out Surveys to Identify What Sells
If you have a newsletter you can leverage the trust of your readers
to collect ideas of what they want to buy. If you've been sending
out ideas and information to your target market periodically they
will be more than likely to respond when you ask for their input.
Two to four times per year, send an informal survey to your subscriber
base, asking for their ideas. Ask them which of your product or
service ideas they like best and what they need and want. Tabulate
their responses and develop the products and services they asked
for.
Use these five lead collection strategies to identify prospects
with a problem, one you can solve. Once you know who needs your
help, its easy to follow up, close the sale and grow your business.
2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.
About the Author
The author, Marketing Coach, Charlie Cook, helps independent professionals
and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful.
Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Guide and the 'More Business'
newsletter, full of practical tips you can use at http://www.charliecook.net
ccook@charliecook.net
Back to the Article Bank Directory
|
