I've lost a lot of money in my life. None of it ever felt more wasted than the act of buying leads. I hate leads. I hate having spent hundreds or thousands of dollars and counting off how much I've lost with every call that is a complete bust. They already bought, they have no memory and no interest, a spouse or someone else filled it out and they have no interest. Yes, yes, I know, you can talk your way through and that's all about the art of selling and these are all objections. But, I love time, most people don't love time, most people don't seem to respect or enjoy or appreciate time.
I Love Time
Time is a commodity that I have only a finite amount of just like everyone else, so, why do I want to waste it with people who aren't going to be buying from me, or have no interest in buying from me, or who I don't know what they were told to give their information. See, I don't like leads, not because I don't want to build relationships, not because I just want customers, but, because, I want to help people that want help, but, more importantly, I want to educate those who don't know that they need help.
When you buy leads, you get a sheet of paper, some online document, something that gives you a name and phone number and what service they're looking for. Sometimes, it might skip the phone number, other times, it might skip some other piece of information. A screaming indictment that these people aren't serious and yet you just paid $35 or $75 or $200 for the lead. You're also left with days, weeks, and hopes that they'll have leads in your area.
When I got into lead generation as a business, I did so, first and foremost with custom websites, custom design, and specific messaging meant to get leads that were at the best possible level for clients. But, there was a jadedness to online leads, and more importantly, a difficulty in understanding how to use those leads. More importantly, even though the leads were often times 5x times cheaper than what they would usually pay, the conversion rates were lower on the leads, but, not 5x lower. But, I didn't like that.
Not the fact that leads didn't convert, but, that, I as an agency, was simply creating a branded message for agents, and hoping on them to succeed. I hate leads. I love conversions, I love taking people from one place to another, not just getting them to raise their hand.
I Hate Leads
Marketing is a journey. Most people don't understand that and that is why most people fail with their marketing. Today, there's too much noise to just put up an advertisement and hope people find it. So many courses, so much information out there today is about that very subject. Test, test, test, and find that ONE ad that people love. But, today, it's not about that one ad.
It's about creating a message and taking people on a journey. Taking them from someone who is looking for a service, to someone who commits to your service. It's about educating them, while at the same time, making yourself an expert in their eyes.
Getting rid of leads was the best thing I did for my business, because, instead of working on how I can get a person the most leads, I worked on what systems had to be in place to get them the next client. In doing that, I saw the gaping holes that appear in the marketing and advertising of others.
If you're making offers before giving value, you're going to struggle.
If you're not having multi-touch campaigns to inform, educate, and truly show people how to get the results you want to get for them, whether that's filling their body with a good meal, or putting them in a good home, you're going to spend more money than you have to.
If you aren't building a way to consistently and constantly contact people in the medium that best fits them, then you're going to struggle.
And most importantly, if you're trying to play the short game, over the long game, you're going to get far less value.
Don't worry about selling your next house, worry about selling your next 50 houses, and you'll never have to worry.
When you're buying leads, you have to hope each lead does something to convert, or that you make a profit before you spend more than you make. But, if you're generating custom leads, don't stop there, your marketing has only just begun. Then you have to generate a client.
This was the step that truly transformed our business. And it will transform yours as well.