Lead gen. It’s one of those phrases you hear a lot and one that makes me cringe (more on that in a moment!). There are five common lead generation mistakes that I see business owners making, and that I’ve made my fair share of too. By highlighting these mistakes you’ll be able to take action on the areas you need to improve.
Why does the phrase make me cringe? Because it’s a very “internet marketing” phrase that distracts us from what lead generation is all about – connecting with real live people.
Are you making any of these lead generation mistakes?
1. Not sharing your offers
In order to have a business we need to sell the services we offer. In order to sell those services we need to make offers so our potential clients know what it is that we do and the ways we can help them.
Sounds simple doesn’t it? Yet I see mindset wobbles tripping people up all of the time. They’ve been known to trip me up too!
We “forget” to tell readers about our services in our regular emails. We don’t want to spam people so we don’t regularly mention what we do on our social media.
We expect people to magically know what we offer and the value of what we offer. Yet that’s not their job, it’s ours! We need to show them the transformation that can occur by working with us.
Do a quick audit of your social media. When was the last time you posted an offer for your services? How consistently do you do it? Now update your content planning system to ensure that you’re regularly sharing your offers.
2. Not following up
It’s so easy for to let following up potential clients slide when we get busy. Potential clients fall between the cracks and we miss out on the chance to work with some great people.
Remember, everyone buys in a different way. From the early adopter who buys the first time they see one of your offers, to the researcher who might need multiple conversation with you before they buy to the last minute buyer.
Not everyone will buy the first time you talk to them so make sure they don’t disappear off your radar. I’ve had clients who weren’t quite ready to work with me when we talked – lots on with their business, their kids and other financial commitments. If I’d just left it at that, they may never have become clients.
Do you have a follow system in place? One that ensures you never forget to do it, that keeps track of who you’ve talked to and what you talked about AND one that helps you with any mind set wobbles?
3. Not inviting people to talk to you
As service providers we’re going to be talking directly to our clients when we deliver our services. Yet there can be a reluctance to talk to potential clients about what they need and we offer.
Look, I’m a fan of automating as much as we can in our businesses but it’s important to make sure that what we’re about to automate works BEFORE we do it.
If you’re not able to sell your services on a 1:1 call then why do you think it will work via email marketing? It can feel safer to avoid conversations as we don’t need to face possible rejections yet we miss out on finding out critical information about our potential clients.
I’ll be the first to put my hand up for this lead generation mistake. I’ve felt reluctant to talk to people in the past because I’d felt nervous – I was making the calls all about me (will they buy?) instead of focusing on the person I was talking to. What do they really need? Am I the right person to give it to them?
Nowadays I like to make talking to people fun. I’ll set myself a challenge of talking to a certain number of people each month. I even use colouring in to track my progress; whatever it takes to get me past that uncomfortable feeling.
Do you invite potential clients to talk to you? Do you do this consistently?
4. Not asking for referrals
Referrals from past clients, or business peers, can be an excellent way to build our client base.
Yet it’s all too easy not to make the ask as we don’t want to put the other person on the spot, ask favours of others or open ourselves up to rejection.
Let’s flip that around. Imagine you needed a service but didn’t know anyone who provided that service. You’d been goggling for hours but couldn’t find what you needed. Then you get an email from a business buddy telling you about that exact service. How would you feel? Like you were being put on the spot OR absolutely thrilled that you now knew exactly who to go to for that service?
By not asking for referrals you’re hiding your services from the very person who might be out there looking for you.
Do you have a referral system in place? One that ensures you always ask for a referral when your working relationship with a client comes to an end? Take a moment to update your client management system to include a request for referrals.
5. Focusing on the numbers, not the people
Numbers are important in business. There is no doubt about that. You need to know your income, expenses and profit, how many clients you need to reach your income goals, what your sales call conversion rates are.
But let’s always remember what lead generation is all about…
Connection with real live people!
By focusing too much on the numbers we can lose sight of the people we’re wanting to welcome into our business.
When you set up solid systems in your business you’ll be able to easily avoid these lead generation mistakes.
If you feel like you’re making more than one of these lead generation mistakes book in a free call with me. I’m a total systems geek and I’d love to have a chat with you about getting your lead gen, and your business, systemised.
