Business Owners! Simple Ways To Generate Better Leads To Bring Your Average Cost Of Sale Down

Lead generation is all about positioning, but before we get to that

, let's address a key business issue: bringing down your average cost of sale. If you'll remember from past articles, the formula for determining Average Cost per sale is A/B=C:

(A) Marketing campaign cost divided by the (B) # of sales in a specific period = (C) Cost per sale

So, if your marketing campaign costs $5000 and your number of sales during that time period was 25 (5000/25=200), your cost per sale is $200. I don't know about you, but that's pretty high, depending on what it is you're selling and the unit cost.

To bring your average cost down, you need to generate more leads, so the "25" in sales is higher. (Hopefully, much higher.) If, for instance, you generated 100 sales, then your cost per sale would drop to $50 per sale. (5000/100=50) Wow! What a difference leads can make!

Still, one of the biggest challenges most business owners have is just that: generating leads. So, here are some tips on how you can position yourself to gain more leads, thereby reducing your costs per sale!

Positioning:

* Define what is unique about your product or service. To do this, it's imperative that you understand what your competition is up to. What do they claim is their unique quality? How are you different and better?

* Nothing sells better than success - especially when your customers are the ones touting great stuff about you! Set yourself up as an expert. Write articles: Informational; How tos; Inspirational, etc. Give advice freely.

* Invite other experts to post on your blog or site.Keep the "buzz" about your business alive by posting announcements about new products, new employees, new clients, awardsin other words, shamelessly advertise successes!

* Study marketing campaigns of successful businesses, even if you don't care for their product, and analyze why you are drawn to it and what works. Incorporate some of those ideas into your own campaigns. McDonald's, for instance, doesn't not just cater to kids, but also to exhausted parents, dating adults, hungry adults, harmonious adults, and more recently, health-conscious adults.

Print:

Other ways to generate leads include revisiting or starting up a blog or newsletter. Remember to:

* Offer unique selling points with your blog or newsletter readers

* Update blog at least once a week

* Make contact information easy to find

* Make sure your "team" knows about each new and existing offer so there are no surprises

If your campaigns have not been as successful as you'd hoped, make sure you aren't treading into the dreaded Don'ts-ville. For instance, don't:

* Push moral views and beliefs

* Offend anyone

* Put down your competition

* Ramble

* Make the publication an "ego" rag

Do, however:

* Offer "exclusive" sales to prime customers

* Give something away at a great perceived value to the customer

* Send invitations to all those you'd like to attend

* Offer real incentives * Consider offering a "deal of the week"

* Consider "bundling" products or services with "incredible savings" attached

* Develop a "Frequent buyer" program for VIPs (create a VIP card for them)

* Offer stellar customer service - Greet them warmly, help them find what they are looking for

* Treat the event like a social occasions - refreshments, networking . . . Remember, interest leads to inquiry which leads to purchase with leads to repeat purchases

* Learn before you Earn - Wisdom is power

* Tell them that you'll be calling on them again soon

Then, follow up, follow up, follow up:

* Create effective "scripts" for your team to use, including how to handle things when challenges arise

* When you do call on them, don't make the call too personal

* Keep the conversation about business and their satisfaction

* Don't talk too long

* Listen to their feedback

* Give them an opportunity to ask questions

* "Re-book" customers for an upcoming event

* Up/Cross/and Down-sell your product or service

Remember, as Brad Sugars, founder of ActionCOACH professes, "You're creating a "Cycle of Business": the owner supports the team, the team supports the customer, the customer supports the business, and the business supports the owner" - and round and round it goes

In closing, generating leads reduces your cost per sale, and involves recognizing that your customers are an investment. Like any investment, you need to figure out what you're paying to determine whether the ROI is profitable. Be proactive. Know your numbers! Find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and make it known to your valuable customers, ask for referrals, and finally, remember to reward your customers, reward your "team", and reward yourself with a business coach to help you progress through all of the above and more!

by: Peter Williamson

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