Do you have new leads overflowing all around you?  As I write this post I have 513 new leads sitting in my inbox.  If you don’t have hundreds of new opportunities in front of you then how can you build your business?  You need overflowing leads.

Find a Free or Low Cost Lead Source

Last night I was at my local casino.  The gambling machine in this picture is the one that you drop quarters into and the more you drop in the more quarters drop over the edge into the payout tray.  The person who designed this was incredibly bright.  They realized that if someone heard that clinking quarter in the payout tray often enough, that they would keep dropping quarters in just because they think that there is a possibility that the whole shelf may drop a big payout.  Unfortunately you can play this machine for hours and not make any money.

One thing that the quarter machine does remind me of is a good lead source.  If you realize that there are hundreds of leads out there just waiting to tip over the edge than you’ll stay motivated and keep working to find, develop, and refine a system that gives you leads constantly.

What you need to find is low cost or free leads.  What if each lead only cost you 25 cents, it would only cost you $250.00 for one thousand leads.  What if instead of dropping a quarter in the leads machine you could put a free metal washer?  It sure would be easier to push some of those leads over the edge if you had a bucket full of washers.

Low cost or free lead options are out there.  You just have to commit to seeking a perfect lead source until you find it.  The 513 leads I mentioned were all free.  Because they are free I’ll probably have to discard over half of them, because the quality might be lower than my standards on half of them, but that still means I have 250+ quality leads.  It took me about 18 months to find a solid lead source that fit me well.  It was worth it though, now I have overflowing leads.  Your lead source will be unique to you, so take time to study what fits and what doesn’t fit, and don’t stop until you are satisfied with the cost and quantity of your leads.

Control the Flow

One thing that is critical to your success in lead management is the ability to control the flow of your leads.  Can you turn them on and off?  Do you know what you’ll get if you turn on the lead source for 90 days?  Remember it’s not really a reliable lead source unless you can control the flow of leads 100% of the time.  You need to know that for every 100 leads you’re likely to close X percentage.  This way you can turn on your leads, get busy closing some new customers and see consistent growth in your company.  Be sure you can control the flow of leads when you look at a new lead source.

Create a Solid Approach for Closing Each Lead

Once you’ve received the lead, reviewed it and pre-qualified it, then you need to put it into a system that allows for the highest possibility of converting it into a sale.  Think about the hours that you invest in each new prospect.  I know for my team we can spend 12-40 hours to close a lead.  Depending on the size of the job 40 hours may be worth it.  In some cases it might take 120 hours to close the deal.  Whatever it is, you don’t want a missing piece in your system to lower your chances of success.  When I wrote Stop Hiring Weak Sales People Now I described a method that allows your strongest sales person (often you, the business owner) to close the sales by using a system that sends all qualified leads to you.  Whatever the approach is, you should be careful to study and refine your prospecting and sales approach so that you can wisely use your team’s resources to close more deals.

Follow Up with Long Term Follow Up on Won and Lost Leads

Last week I looked to see how many dollars I invoice compared to the proposals I send out.  39% of all estimated work in my tech company ultimately becomes an invoice.  I think that is a reasonable close rate.  It’s not where I would like it to be, but it’s a good gauge on how much work I need to quote in order to reach my sales goals.  Basically for every million in sales I want to do, I need to send out estimates for 2.5 million.

One of the important pieces that I’ve been focusing on more recently is long term follow up.  No matter if I close the lead or lose the lead initially, there is a huge opportunity to do more business in the future if I am diligent to follow up.  I use a product called Infusionsoft (affiliate link) because of the intelligent tagging and automated decisions that the software can make for me after I set it up.  Whatever software or method you choose, be certain to put something in place that allows you to follow up with closed and lost leads in a consistent manner.  Follow up is key, no matter what industry you’re in, you have to have a follow up plan if you want to increase your close ratio.  Make a point today put some follow up procedures and methods in place that are automated and don’t get lost in the daily shuffle.  There is a quote in Infusionsoft that really stood out to me and I think it’s important to remember:

Don’t get too hung up on getting your copy perfect.  Following up doesn’t require prefection.  Reaching out is what makes the difference! ~ Infusionsoft

I remember that line every time I build a new automation sequence and every time I sit down to write a new post.  Although my work isn’t always as perfect as I would like it to be, I’ve committed to stepping out and producing content on a consistent basis.  My consistent actions produce results, not the perfection or lack of perfection in each action.

So there you have it, four of the pieces I think about when I work to create overflowing leads for my business or one of my clients.  Take action today and generate yourself overflowing leads!