Lead Gen - The Evergreen Problem of Business Owners
Sales is the lifeblood of a business.
If nothing is selling, nothing is happening in the business.
No sales = no business (sooner or later).
The Problem?
The evergreen problem?
No matter what industry you’re in, or what the economy is doing?
Lead gen.
Finding people interested in your product/service.
Nearly every business owner I talk to has this problem.
It’s pervasive, but you can fix it.
How?
Let’s start with 2 examples of what NOT to do:
1 - The "Force" Salesman
I know a gentlemen, a salesman, whose favorite term was “force”.
A couple of his actual favorite phrases:
- “When I find my prospect at a tradeshow, even if they’re talking with someone else, I just force my way into the conversation. Sometimes I literally just run right into them.”
- “We just need to force them to sign.”
- “We have to force this to work.”
Force isn’t a good strategy.
Forcing someone to do something generally doesn’t leave them with warm & fuzzies about you.
No-no.
2 - The "I made it up" Guy
I went on a sales call with someone I admire.
Family guy, successful in sales, had a lot going for him.
On this sales call, his prospect started asking questions about the product.
This guy dove in, rattling off all sorts of statistics & functionality.
I sat there thinking, “Wow! This guy knows his stuff!”
After the call, as we were walking out, he turned & asked, “How did I sound in there?”
“Great!” I said, “I didn’t know you knew so much about the product!”
His response, “… I was just making stuff up.”
In case it needs to be said, lying = no-no.
My Take
When I get on a sales call, my goal isn’t to SELL you something.
Nope.
My goal is to have a legitimate conversation, learn about your situation, and see if my solution actually helps.
If so, great! Let’s work together.
If not, no problem. We left no stone unturned & can part ways as friends.
I’m serious.
This^^ is how I sell.
This^^ is how I coach other salesmen to sell.
Net Net - Be a Human
Assuming you’re selling to humans, it pays to be a human yourself.
In your outreach, in your sales process.
Want to get more leads?
Be a human.
It works.