Improving Lead Generating and Conversation Rates: Think Like a Farmer

John's a freelance photographer in Ohio who called to tell me of his frustration with the advertising and promotional campaigns he has tried in the last couple of years. Each time he does a promotional mailing to his list of 10,000, he is lucky if he gets one or two inquiries. I had a similar call from a corporation that was spending its time and money driving traffic to its web site. With six thousand visitors a day, they were only getting a couple of inquiries per week.

Both businesses were spending a lot of money to get attention but weren't converting this attention to leads.

Are you having the same problem?

Marketing is a lot like farming. You can't just head out to your fields and bring in a bountiful harvest. First, you buy seed from the money you've budgeted. You buy enough to be sure that a good crop will germinate and thrive until harvest, and you're likely to plant several different crops to hedge the weather and the market.

You may not be interested in becoming a farmer, but if you want to see your business grow there are three ways thinking like a farmer can help you.

1. Learn How to Collect More Leads A farmer needs seed and lots of it to bring in a bountiful harvest. You need a lot of quality leads to increase your clientele.

If your ads or mailings aren't resulting in a steady stream of inquiries, find out what's not working and change it. By changing a couple of sentences of your marketing copy or your offer, for example, you can increase response rates by a factor of ten or more.

Could you collect more leads with the right marketing strategy and marketing copy?

2. Learn How to Increase Your Lead Conversion Rate A farmer who had spent his savings on seed wouldn't plant his field, then go on vacation and come back months later expecting to find a healthy crop. While you may be the exception, this is the way most people market their businesses. According to The Yankee Group, between 40% to 80% of new business leads aren't converted simply due to lack of follow-up.

Many businesses spend money on getting attention and then don't follow up on a prospect's interest by giving them the information or contact opportunity they want. What you tell a prospect and how promptly you respond when they show an interest determines whether they continue to stay in touch.

Of the people who see your ads, what percentage respond?

Of the people who visit your web site, what percentage contact you?

Of the people who contact you, what percentage become clients and customers?

Could you increase your lead conversion rates by improving your Internet, phone and mail follow-up?

3. Learn to Use Systems that Generate Leads, Nurture Them and Increase Conversion Rates Today's farmers are as technologically and information savvy as any of us. Farmers use GPS in their tractors to plant their crops, the web to connect to weather forecasting and crop price information web sites to track their markets.

Using high tech information and machines to get the work done, today's farmer has a system for buying seed and supplies, planting, maintaining and harvesting his or her crops. They make good use of systems and machines to increase their chances of bringing in a bountiful harvest.

In the case of the corporation mentioned above, a simple change to their web site increased their lead conversion from 1 or 2 a week to 80 a week.

Could your lead conversion rates increase with a better system for capturing and following up on leads?

If you're like me, you get hungry often. Whether you're taking photographs or growing lettuce, you want to generate more leads and grow your business. To fill your larder and bring in a steadily increasing number of clients, think like a farmer. Use your marketing strategy and lead generation system to bring in many more prospects and increase your conversion rates. When you do you'll find yourself with a bountiful crop of new clients. -

2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. - The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the F.ree Marketing Strategy eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com



Promotions for Mobile Detailers

Mobile businesses are quite unique in the way they must... Read More

Top Web Site Blunders by Coaches, Consultants and Experts

Of all the web sites belonging to coaches, consultants and... Read More

No One Gives A Damn About Your Business. Unless You Give em A Reason To

The good news is that there are thousands of people... Read More

Big Money With Folios

One of the easiest, if not the easiest, ways of... Read More

Avoid the Duds: 10 Strategies for Selecting The Perfect Speaker

Today, more than ever, the success of meetings relies heavily... Read More

Trade Show Videos Need to be Planned

A few months ago, we attended the recent Austech 2005... Read More

Writing To Overpower Your Competition

"We don't have any competition. We're a truly a one-of-a-kind... Read More

Itchin For Some Nichin

The whole idea of Niche Marketing is exciting! The possibilities... Read More

Understanding Survey Software Features

If you take a look at the features that different... Read More

Ready, Fire, Aim!

You probably read my headline and thought, wait a minute,... Read More

Two of the Biggest Hurdles

As I was preparing for a presentation recently, I was... Read More

Postcard Marketing Done Right

Say it with a post card. A well designed, colorful,... Read More

Top 5 Ways to Generate Qualified Leads for Your Small Business

Do you ever wonder if you could be doing a... Read More

Marketing Discipline and the Joy of Success

Discipline Is Important.I recently read an article about why discipline... Read More

Forget Conventional Marketing - Embrace the Web!

Tactical marketing processes are once again undergoing fundamental shifts from... Read More

The Top 10 Marketing Tools to Grow Your Business in 2004

Looking to grow your business? Make sure you have these... Read More

Creating And Maintaining A Mailing List

Starting to collect proper information to create a... Read More

Quiz: Where is Your Marketing Message?

Wondering if your marketing message is dancing in the spotlight... Read More

What the Heck is a Campaign and Why Do I Need to Do One?

Many people ask me, "What is a postcard campaign, exactly?"... Read More

How to Avoid the Line Extension Trap

If you follow the prevailing logic of most modern companies,... Read More

Why You Buy, Part Two

More of the findings of the recent studies in behavioral... Read More

Custom Lanyards - The Perfect Solution for Promotion, Branding, and Marketing

Lanyards are fast becoming the new "must have" promotional item.Events... Read More

The Marshall Plan -- Or, Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More

My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is... Read More

Have You Sold Your Internal Customers?

You can make the sale. You know your core message.... Read More

Create Your Own Rumors

A consultant new in the city asked me how I... Read More

If you'd like to keep up-to-date,
please complete the form below and we'll put you on the mailing list
to receive our twice-yearly newsletter for supporters

* Your email address:
* choes your language: