By: Mike Schultz
A lot of service business leaders feel pressure - from their competitors, their shrinking revenue and margins, from internal staff, from increasing commoditization in their industry - to "do more marketing and lead generation." Unfortunately, they too often take the easy ways out:
- Throwing money at advertising and graphic design
- "Redoing" their websites just for the sake of changing the look
- Delegating billable staff who are currently not-so-billable to drum up some business
- A host of other "maybe if I do this the problem will go away" tactics
Read the complete article for five behaviors that are common in leaders who are able to effectively execute lead generation and marketing.
Upcoming Breakfast Seminar: The Future of Professional Services Lead Generation - **Last Chance to Register**
Benchmark Research on Which Tactics Work From Over 700 Professional Service Firms
In this highly interactive session, Mike Schultz will share with you the newest research from RainToday.com on the future of lead generation. In this research, conducted in late 2006, over 700 service businesses reported on what has worked, what has not, and what they are planning to do in the future. At this executive breakfast seminar, you will learn:
- What has worked and what hasn't for 700 professional services firms to generate new leads
- Which tactics are most effective to generate leads
- Which offers are likely to generate the highest response
- What other companies have done that works (real-life case studies, examples, and results data)
- How to avoid making common mistakes in lead generation tactic choice and implementation
When: Wednesday, February 7, 2007 8:00 to 9:30 AM
Where: Newton Marriott - 2345 Commonwealth Ave., Newton, MA
Registration: Register online or call 508-626-9991
*Special Offer: All attendees will receive a complimentary executive summary of key results from our newest research on The Future of Professional Services Lead Generation. Learn more.
Blog Post: It's Getting Hot in Here
By: Mike Schultz
In our forthcoming research report, The Future of Lead Generation Benchmark Report (to be released in early February, 2007), we asked 726 leaders in professional service businesses a number of questions about their lead generation practices.
One question we asked was, "In the next two years, how do you expect your lead generation efforts to change?" We gave them 5 choices of answers. Here's what they said.
- 41% said, "We'll significantly increase our lead generation efforts"
- 43% said, "We'll moderately increase our lead generation efforts"
- 13% said, "No change"
- 3% said, "We'll moderately decrease our lead generation efforts"
- 0% said, "We'll significantly decrease our lead generation efforts"
For more survey results, visit Mike Schultz's Services Insider Blog.
Other Recent Blog Posts:
- Boring Post - Big Opportunity
- Who Was the Ad Wizard
- 15 Ways to Kill Your Lead Generation Effectiveness
Services In Demand: Lead Generation Services to Create True Demand
Wellesley Hills Group's Services in Demand Process is a comprehensive lead generation program that helps professional service businesses generate leads for new clients and more business with current clients. There's no better reason for engaging Services in Demand for your organization than the outcomes that it produces.
- Creates short and long-term leads for your services
- Builds brand recognition and preference with your target market
- Decreases price pressures on your services
- Nurtures leads already in your pipeline
- Creates marketplace buzz through ongoing campaigns
- Generates referrals for your services
Download our complimentary white paper, Making Lead Generation Work for Professional Services to learn more about how we approach lead generation. Or contact us for a complimentary lead generation consultation where we will share with you best practices in lead generation.
New Webinar: How To Meet Your Best Prospects Through Cold Calling
Cold-Call Selling: Maybe it's not your favorite selling technique now, but when you know how to approach potential prospects over the phone, with the goal of establishing a relationship with them the right way, cold-calling can become your go-to method of bringing new business into your professional services company. Learn how in this 50-minute webinar today.
In this webinar you will learn how to:
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Overcome anxiety associated with cold calling
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Build a successful prospect list for cold calling
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Determine the best value proposition for your prospect meeting
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Craft your cold call conversation with a loose script
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Secure a spot on your prospect's calendar
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Nurture prospect relationships once you've made a connection
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Overcome objections your prospects express about meeting with you
Led by Sandy O'Dell, head of the Wellesley Hills Group's lead generation practice, this webinar will help you gain a fresh perspective toward cold-call selling and get ready to start your own calling efforts to grow your business.
Watch this must-see on demand webinar now.