Generating Better Qualified Prospects

 One of the primary objectives of advertising is to attract highly qualified prospects. You want prospects who really want your products and services, and can afford them. 

 You want prospects who have the power to decide, and the willingness to do so. Let's go get them.  

Different Types of Ads Attract Different Prospects

 The type of ad you run will have a big impact on the number and the quality of prospects you get. So, What quality of prospects do you want? 

 Maybe you really are going after everybody. Or maybe you don’t want a huge number of “prospects” that don’t lead to much business.

 A generalized ad with a broad focus, or an ad that features low price, will normally generate a large response. But the overall quality of your prospects will be lower. 

 Your attractive offer will get lots of shoppers and low price buyers. This is great if it’s what you want, but expect a lower closing rate, and less repeat business from these prospects.

 Also, when you calculate your lifetime value per customer, you will find that this group of prospects is worth less per person than a higher quality group of prospects. And your sales staff will spend a larger amount of time sorting through these lesser quality prospects.

 And if you are selling based on low price, remember that you are teaching people to buy on price. They will switch as soon as they see a better deal. For more information, please read Pricing Strategy in Advertising.

 On the other hand, an advertisement that sells value instead of low price will get a lower response rate, but that response will come from higher quality prospects.

 And a highly targeted ad that features a specific problem and a specific solution will get a smaller response still. But that response will come from prospects who have that particular problem. Your more specific advertisement will bring in higher qualified prospects.

Example

 A dentist may not want to offer a loss-leading “Special Low Introductory Price" for a cleaning and x-rays. Why? Because the dentist will be swamped by prospects who come only once. The percentage of repeat customers will be very low. 

 Perhaps the dentist would do better to make a different offer that would attract fewer, but higher quality prospects. These customers are more likely to come back in the future.

Ease Of Response Affects The Quality Of Your Prospects

 As a general rule, you want to make your ads as easy as possible to respond to. You print your 1-800 phone number large and clear. You make sure your coupon stands out on the page. You include a map to your store. You offer credit. 

 But there is a tradeoff. The easier it is to respond, the lower the quality of prospects you will get.

 To make it a little harder for prospects to respond, an exclusive store or restaurant may require reservations. If you are giving something away, you might want to make prospects send you a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Or you might include your address, but not your phone number in your ad. Any time you make it harder for prospects to respond, response will decrease, but the quality of your prospects will increase.

Multi-Step Marketing Increases The Quality Of Your Prospects

 One way to to get higher quality prospects is with a multi-step marketing program. The goal is to generate a large response upfront, and then to quickly sort through the group for the high quality prospects.

 This kind of marketing starts by giving away something for free. You might offer your prospects a newsletter, a report, a seminar, a brochure, a catalog, or even a consultation. 

 Your offer of free information should be carefully targeted at your desired prospects. You want to offer a real, interesting, immediate benefit that is attractive to the group.

 A lot of people will come forward for the free information, and they are all potential prospects. But the ones you are really interested in are the people who later identify themselves to you. 

 The prospects have had a chance to learn about you, and if they are interested, they will make contact. You benefit because the people that come forward a second time are serious prospects.

 In contrast to discount pricing, giving away something free does not indicate poor value, nor does it lead to lower quality prospects. 

 “Free” will overcome initial objections, skepticism, and financial concerns. Often it keeps prospects from eliminating themselves as customers. And "free" is the way to generate a large list of potential prospects.

 By giving away something free, you give yourself the chance to make contact with your prospects if you choose. Many businesses are very good at closing prospects once they have come forward the first time. Alternatively, you can let the prospects sort themselves out by waiting to see who makes a repeat contact.

 Please note that you don’t want to give away free or highly discounted services – that would just attract the price shoppers. You are trying to determine how to make high quality prospects come forward and identify themselves to you.

 Note also that your free information does not necessarily have to be directly related to your business. If you can find a way to talk to your target prospects about relevant and related material, you will find that you have an attentive audience of real prospects.

 This strategy contrasts somewhat with the idea of following up with your prospects as we discuss in Why Follow Up Works. But the goal here is to generate a large pool of potential prospects, and then let that group self-select down to the prospects that you really want to follow up with. You want people to come to you.

 What do you end up with? You get prospects that are screened, qualified, and pre-sold on your products and services. Your free information has impressed them with your professional abilities, and they are ready to do business. Multi-step marketing, when done right, will bring you a steady stream of high quality prospects, and that is what Professional Advertising is all about.

Ask For Help

 As always, Professional Advertising is here to help you. We recommend that you hire a professional designer for your ads and your other marketing materials. We also recommend that you run your work past a marketing professional for assistance or a second opinion. It’s a cheap investment for something that is as important as your entire advertising program. Please contact Professional Advertising for additional help.  

Back   Home   Email Us Now