Networking

How to Gain your Prospective Clients’ Attention and Generate the Leads You Need to Make Your Business a Success

If you’ve ever tried to get a child who is engrossed in their favorite video to do another task you know you must first get their attention. Often the best way to do this is to use their name so they realize you are speaking directly to them. The process of effective lead generation requires that we communicate with many prospective clients at one time. Before we can communicate with them we must first get their attention. And our prospective clients must each feel we are talking directly to them.

Getting a prospective client’s attention is not an easy task, especially given the hundreds of thousands of other products and services that are also competing for their attention. Like the mother who has learned to “tune-out” her kids bickering in the back-seat while she is trying to drive, our prospects have learned to tune out all the promotional clutter that bombards them daily. Here is a four step process to gain your prospects’ attention and help generate the leads you need to make your business a success.

1. Define Your Target Market: To gain prospective clients’ attention you must understand their biggest problems and greatest desires. This requires really knowing your target market. And in order to know your target market you must first define that market. What is the profile of your ideal client? Many people resist defining an ideal client. However unless you know specifically who you want to talk to, your promotional efforts will fall on deaf ears. Not having a defined target for your marketing communications is like yelling into a room full of kids watching TV, “Will someone please take out the trash?” They will all assume you are talking to someone else. The odds of actually having the trash taken out increase significantly when you say, “Bobby, will you please take the trash out now?”

2. Identify Problems and Desires: In conversations with current clients or prospective clients that fit the profile of your ideal client, what are the “themes” that continue to surface and which of these themes can you help with - a desire for a more fulfilling career; the ability to recapture romance in their relationships; a need to get spending under control and eliminate debt; a summer home on Nantucket; tools to better communicate with their teenage kids? The list is endless. The key is identifying the intersection of your target market’s most pressing problems or desires and your greatest strengths. If you don’t know and really understand the most pressing problems and deepest desires of your target market it’s time to do some research. Get out and talk with people who meet the profile of your ideal client. Be really curious about them, ask questions. Find out what occupies their mind, what keeps them awake at night, what they dream of having, being or doing. You’re not trying to sell at this stage you are only trying to get to know your target market better.

3. Start Where Your Prospects Currently Are: It is often tempting to paint a picture of a fabulous outcome without first clearly identifying the problem or desire. I used to do marketing for a psychiatric hospital that ran television advertising. The most effective ads were not those that showed happy, well adjusted kids playing on the playground - the outcome of treatment. The parents of kids with emotional issues did not relate to the images of these kids. We first had to show the child sitting all alone in the swing crying because no one wanted to play with him or her. This is what caught the attention of the parents of kids who needed treatment. Only after we captured their attention with an image they could relate to right then were we able to talk with them about the solution to the problem. Another very effective ad showed a woman sitting alone in the woods contemplating taking a handful of pills. Women thinking about taking their own lives related to that ad, they picked up the phone and called for help. Your first goal is to get a prospect to say, “Hey, that’s me, that’s my exact situation, that’s the problem I’m facing right now. If they have helped others in that same situation maybe they can help me.”

4. Talk Directly to Your Ideal Prospects: In a personalized letter or a one-on-one conversation you can address your prospect by name. However with promotional pieces such as brochures, flyers, direct mail or advertising this is not possible. In these instances direct response copywriter Alexi Neocleous suggests starting your ad, post card or letter with, “Attention (target market description)”. For example, “Attention Renters”; “Attention Business Owners”; or “Attention Parents of Teenage Drivers”. Another way of talking directly to your prospect is to ask a question regarding a problem or desire of your target market. For example, “Are you approaching retirement and concerned about what you’ll do with all the free time on your hands?”; “Are you considering a career change?”; or “Are you so busy taking care of everyone else that you don’t have time to take care of yourself?”

The key to effectively capturing a prospective client’s attention is to really understand the problems that keep them awake at night or the desires they dream of having met. People buy for two reasons:

1. To get problems solved, or

2. To have desires met.

Once you clearly understand the problems your prospects want solved and the desires they have you can utilize this information in your promotional materials to capture their attention and generate an ongoing stream of leads.

© 2005 STRATEGIES-BY-DESIGN.

Julie Chance is president of Strategies-by-Design, a Dallas-based firm that helps businesses from independent professionals to specialty retailers Map A Path to Success by attracting leads and turning those leads into loyal customers. Strategies-by-Design provides a unique combination of consulting, coaching and training to help clients improve the return on their investment in marketing and promotional activities. For more information or to sign-up for their marketing tips newsletter, go to http://www.strategies-by-design.com or call 972-701-9311.

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One of the biggest deterrents to effective networking is shyness and the lack of
confidence to get out there and meet new people. Even if you consider yourself a
naturally outgoing person, you’ve probably had moments where the thought of
entering a room full of strangers made you nervous.

First, you need to realize that the majority of people are shy - at least in certain
situations. You’re not the only one! I’ve found that once you adopt this realization, it
does wonders for you. See that executive standing by himself? Deep beneath all the
power and prestige there’s probably a shy man wishing and waiting for someone to
strike up a conversation with him.

Next, practice your networking skills with friends and family. Make a list of all the
people you see frequently, but maybe haven’t had the chance to talk with recently.
As the situation permits, practice the art of small talk with these people who you
know are friendly toward you. The same skills you use with your family and friends
can be used for “friends you haven’t met yet.”

Another good tactic is to find someone who is naturally extroverted, and get him or
her to introduce you to others. This works well for two reasons. First, it will be much
easier to meet new people. Your friend will act as the link between you and the
person you’re meeting - providing information and getting a conversation started.
Second, your talkative friend will help cover any awkward gaps in conversation.

Networking with an extroverted friend can be helpful at first, but you can’t rely on
them forever. Eventually, you’ll have to step out on your own and do the meeting
yourself.

When that time comes, I suggest you look for the wallflowers. Wallflowers are other
shy people who like to stand by themselves, away from others. People like the shy
executive I used as an illustration earlier are just waiting for others to come and talk
with them. Be that person and reap the rewards!

If you don’t want to be always seeking others out, position yourself so they come to
you. Put yourself in situations that force you to meet new people. Work at a
reception desk. Offer to be a greeter for an event. You’ll find it very easy to talk with
people when they come to you.

Finally, I would encourage you to continually develop your conversational skills. By
reading a couple good books on the art of talking with others you’ll develop your
ability to effectively communicate with others. I guarantee that when you come to an
event with 5 fail-proof ways to start a conversation, you’ll be far more confident
when it comes time to enter a room full of new people.

If you practice the tips mentioned in this article, you’re going to meet a lot of people.
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