When I was consulting to an airfreight company, some salespeople mentioned to me how they got their leads.
"We follow the UPS and FedEx trucks around, and we write down the businesses that have a lot of pieces going out."
This is an interesting approach to list building, don't you think?
Why, not? How are you going to buy a list that is so fresh and accurate as that which you can assemble, yourself?
Yesterday, after an upbeat session at the office of one of my coaching clients, I dropped off a letter at the Post Office and noticed just my kind of prospect, in the category that I'm going to be testing, a few doors down.
I popped in, introduced myself, asked for a business card, noted they were busy, and quickly said I'm a coach and consultant and I'm going to call in for an appointment.
No problem, smiles all around, and I've accomplished several things:
(1) I could see how busy this enterprise is, counting their customers in the middle of Thursday afternoon.
(2) I can sense the overall mood of the place, positive or negative.
(3) I can sense its openness to, or hostility toward receiving input from outside.
(4) I can break the ice, later mentioning I stopped by, and therefore, not being a stranger when I call.
(5) I can disqualify them from further attention, if they are obviously inappropriate.
Right now, I have a catalogue on my desk from yet another list company. And while it is helpful as a planning device, because I get to examine available lists by industry, if I buy a thousand names and phone numbers, that list is "dumb."
Even if it has financial data, the names of key functionaries and the like, I still can't easily eyeball the operations or learn what I can learn by driving around.
Granted, given security measures at larger firms, it's somewhat impractical to expect admittance, but you can canvass smaller firms on foot.
I've walked along with insurance and office machine salespeople and have seen them prospect this way, and there's no question, it works.
While it seems you're assembling perhaps 1-5 names per hour, they're updated, and they have a certain quality that you won't get, merely through buying them from a list source.
Plus, you can call your list in a very specific geographical manner, setting a tight pattern of appointments that will optimize your time, later on.
After you've gathered the business cards, you feel confident, and this carries over into your phone calls. And of course, if someone can give you a few minutes right on the spot, then go for it!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
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