Do you remember... when leads were a weekly occurrence?
Many years ago, it was not uncommon to get a few leads a week. Back in the Eighties, they would come via fax from the manufacturer. Advertising was done through various media sources like radio, TV, direct mail, and print advertising.
In the last 12 months, I can count the leads on one hand that I've received from my territory from the manufacturer. That number is TWO! Well, maybe three, but no more. I've been driving myself up a wall trying to figure out why.
Is the territory so saturated with salespeople that everyone is covered? Hey, I'm in NJ, and pretty much you can't drive more than a quarter mile without finding a prospect.
Could it be that no one is interested in Ricoh MFPs? How about, maybe everyone is searching for copiers on the web and they are finding us before we find them? I tend to think if that were the case, then I'd have a few more leads than TWO! Maybe, just maybe, they are all connecting with the various websites that offer to get you proposals, and you never have to speak to a rep? Naw, I'm not buying that either.
I'm at a loss and have now resigned myself to the fact that I'll probably never get a lead from the manufacturer for my territory. For me, getting a real lead is gratifying and helps me through the rough and tumble times when we can put in an entire day of phone calls or in-person meetings and get nothing. Leads help me stay motivated!
Moving forward, I'll just have to get more creative and find avenues to generate my own leads. I've done it in the past with active blogging about copiers and MFPs. Donating to non-profits, bartering price for membership, and trading ads in association journals have helped in the past. However, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Now, you don't expect me to tell you what I'm going to do next, do you? It's no secret. I'm just going to work harder with the items I discussed above, along with working smarter with existing accounts to maximize the "other" services/products that we provide. Our existing accounts are a gold mine; we just need to understand how to mine them.
I'm kinda getting off the subject here. I'll tell you a funny story. I've spoken to my manufacturer's rep on several occasions about the lead thing. I even went so far as going to the manufacturer's site and putting in a false lead, just to see what happens. Well, what happened is the web page for "request a quote" does not work! Let me clarify, it has not worked for at least three months!! Every week or so, I go on and try to enter a lead, and every time nothing happens when you click the submit button! Son of a....., maybe this is why, right? Thus, I spoke with my rep about this for at least the fourth time, and you know what that person stated? "Yeah, you know what, we really don't see any leads from the website anymore." I'm like, WHAT, that's because the site is not working!!! That's the reason you're not seeing any leads. As my Father-in-law states, what do you expect from a pig but a grunt.
If my rep is reading this, I'm sorry, I think you do an awesome job in supporting me, however, you should fire your webmaster ASAP!
I would love to hear from others about how they generate leads or if you are getting leads from your manufacturer's website.
-=Good Selling=-
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