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Back when I was in the car business, we had a saying that would pass back and forth from one salesperson to another. It was a simple two word question, "who's up"? This pithy comment was triggered by the sight of a person wandering on to the car lot, and would designate who's turn it was to go out to greet the person, and try and turn this 'lead' into a buyer. The reason this simple system was put in place was to prevent the potential buyer from being harassed by numerous salespeople which more often than not had the effect of chasing the 'lead' from the car lot. In much the same manner, many of those involved in Network Marketing and other business opportunities often use similar marketing techniques in chasing after leads that often does little more than irritate and chase away potential customers. Just what is a lead, and what is the best techniques for converting leads to customers? When people talk about leads, they are usually referring to someone who has shown some interest in something that they are marketing. It could be any number of commercial or non commercial offerings, but usually involves someone who has come to a website looking for something related to the offering. While leads come in numerous shades, the distinction should be made between 'targeted' and 'non- targeted' leads. Targeted leads are people who have shown a specific interest in a product or service. These type of leads are much more likely to be able to be converted into sales, and are therefore of much greater value than non-targeted leads. For instance, if you place an ad for a business opportunity with a generic ad such as; 'start your own home business', you will most likely get lots of responses, but the respondents will be of dubious value since the leads are generic in nature. On the other hand, if you are selling a book about 'Flattening Your Stomach in 15 Minutes a Day With Bill's Power Exercises', someone responding to your ad will be a very targeted lead that is an excellent prospect for what you're selling. While some prefer to generate as many leads as possible, there is a lot to be said for quality as opposed to quantity when it comes to generating leads. By honing in on your target audience as much as possible, you'll produce fewer leads but they will be of much higher quality, and will lead to higher conversion rates. Once you're captured a lead, the next step is building a relationship with them. Generating a lead is just the first step in the process of turning a lead into a customer and buyer. After making contact, you need to build that relationship and trust, and this is where many people fudge things up by trying to sell their business opportunity or product before laying the proper groundwork. When it comes to leads, you need to understand that your lead is like the person on the car lot who is constantly getting bombarded with numerous pitches from competitors all trying to reach into their pocket. You need to use a different approach. How do you do this with something as faceless and impersonal as the Internet? While the approach that you take varies on what type of business or product you are promoting, one thing of vital importance is to let the lead know that you're a real person that is available to answer questions and provide support for them. One way to do this is to think about the other persons needs and concerns and how you can help provide them with a solution as opposed to looking at them as a sale. You need to understand that your prospect or lead is vitally interested in themselves, and want to know what's in it for them. Focus on their motivations; why have they have come to your site, and what problem are they trying to solve? Why should the person sign on with you as opposed to the multitude of other opportunities available? In conclusion, while leads are the lifeblood to your Internet business success, changing the way you approach and communicate with your leads will go a long way towards building lasting success and help create satisfied repeat customers. As Charleton Heston said in 'Soylent Green' "leads are people". Treat them as such. Bill Thomas is actively engaged in E-Commerce and Internet Marketing. He also contributes articles on life, business and other topics. Bill is currently involved with a business that allows anyone to make excellent money without recruiting, sponsoring or investing large sums of money. Discover how you too can earn money from home...Residual Moola
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