Building Your Business Leads Bank, Part 3

Referrals, business networking leads, social networking leads and purchased leads have their strengths and drawbacks.  Now, I want to introduce you to leads that may not, at first, appear to be leads.  They are free, readily available, and don’t take much time initially, but require ingenuity and initiative on your part to gather and utilize.  First, you will need to have a good idea of your target market and the types of businesspeople you want to have as referral partners or mentors.  Once you have them clearly in mind, follow this three-step process.

Accumulate your leads (don’t spend much time on this, but be thorough)

1. Each day, make a quick pass through your junk mail.  Reject national companies or mail from those so unrelated to your business that you would never approach them.  Keep those that are “iffy.”
2. Keep all circulars and business publications in your mail or that you pick up.
3. When out and about, in one or two minutes assess any free brochures or circulars wherever you happen to be.  Take those that “might” be worthwhile.  These will be at the library, grocery store, doctor’s office waiting rooms, municipal buildings, community center, etc.  Be creative.
4. Local event announcements; keep all, unless definitely something you would not attend.
5. Stop by target businesses or businesses which you think your target clients would use.  Pick up business cards/brochures.

Assess your leads (keep it lighthearted, but focused)

1. Find a place near your TV chair to stack your “finds.”
2. Assemble a pen, scissors, highlighter, post-it notes, stapler and paper clips.
3. At least once a week, while you are watching TV, use the time during commercials to whittle down the leads.
4. Take a little bit longer to assess those leads that were “iffy.”  Ask yourself if you will really follow-up on them.  If you aren’t sure, toss them.  Don’t keep a stack of “maybe’s.”
5. Go through each circular and brochure and circle with your pen, cut out, tag or highlight businesses or people that you intend to contact.  Paperclip or staple contacts from the same source together so you can reference it when making contact.
6. Expect to get, at most, ten good leads a week using this method.  Exception: a business list or brochure with a list of people or businesses that you can target.

Act on your leads (be persistent and have fun with it)

1. Do a little research, e.g. LinkedIn, manta.com, listed business website.  This will help you toss, or keep, some of the “iffy” leads.
2. Contact the companies based on cost and time constraints, but try more than one method until you see what works best for you, e.g. letter, email, walk in.
3. Be consistent in the action(s) you take and give your chosen method(s) time to bring results.
4. Make no more than three attempts to establish contact, then toss them.

Of all the types of leads, these are least likely to lead to an immediate appointment but:

• Because it is unexpected, the person may not be on  guard and may appreciate your initiative.
• You will become more familiar with your chosen territory and can use that information when talking to other prospects.
• You can use the community information to build more complicated referral relationships, e.g. lawyer, accountant, financial advisor, reference librarian, community center director.

You will need to use a unique approach and have a specific objective, ideally a non-sale idea.  Give out a small item as a way to introduce yourself, or be direct and say you are looking for a referral partner.  Sometimes a market survey approach is the least threatening and can gather valuable information.  It is a good way to “test the waters.”  Results can take a long time, but will entrench you in the community.

I am interested to hear whether other entrepreneurs think this is a viable lead source, or a waste of time.  I’d also like to know if this three-part article has been informative.  Also, if you have used another process for acquiring leads, let me know.