It’s not Monday, but we’re going to treat it like one anyway — that means it’s time to open up the mailbox and answer YOUR questions!
Let’s talk about generating leads!
It’s a happily-belated Mailbox Monday issue of Breakthrough Marketing Secrets, where I answer YOUR questions.
Today’s question is a relatively new copywriter, looking to make a lead-generation offer to get clients on the phone.
Of course, I could answer this on a tactical level that would be relevant specifically to him, and maybe other copywriters like him.
But that’s not how I roll. Instead, I’m going to dive into the underlying principle behind my answer — so whether you’re a copywriter or not, if you’re generating leads this will be relevant.
Here’s today’s question…
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Hey Roy,
I’m in the “my reputation does not precede me” and I’m in the process of launching a free “talk with a copywriter” session (FB & Google ads to sales page -> they email to schedule -> we talk).
My question was — do you think it’s worth niching down to a particular thing? I like the broad appeal (it’s basically a 1-on-1 Ask Me Anything sort of deal) but maybe it’ll have more appeal if it deals with a specific topic.
The goal is to get some exposure and learn what’s plaguing business owners when it comes to copy (great research for future marketing), any work that results from this is a bonus (wrong attitude?).
Anyway, thanks for bearing with this somewhat scrambled email!
— D
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This is both a horrible AND a perfect approach!
I’ll explain.
And we’ll start with the perfect bit, because we can keep it short.
This is a perfect approach for going after a handful of warm connections, such as friends or friends-of-friends who own businesses.
You can approach them with a beginner’s curious mindset.
“Hey, I’m looking to start a business helping businesses like yours with their marketing, and I’d love to understand some challenges you currently face with your marketing.”
If there’s a RELATIONSHIP to be benefited by granting you this audience, you may get a few takers, and be able to have some good conversations.
And yet…
As soon as you’re going to any colder audiences, you better dangle a better carrot!
Remember: even TIME has a value, and you need to make their investment worth it!
If you’re going to go to a cold audience, you better answer the WIIFM question…
What’s in it for me?
That is, there are very few busy, successful business owners who want to get on the phone with someone to just chat.
They want results.
They want it to be worth their time.
The exact same thing applies in nearly any market. While people are spending all day worrying about their problems, and want to have them solved… They really don’t want to talk to someone who vaguely and generically offers to talk with them about those problems.
They want someone who has a SOLUTION.
The best way to get cold leads: offer a clear solution…
Getting specific again with copywriting, the most common problem you solve is sales.
Of course, this can come in many forms. You help businesses with sales teams get more leads for their sales teams. You help them close cold traffic on the internet. You help them sell more to their current email list and customer base. And so on…
But you’re saying you don’t know which one of these will appeal most?
That’s why we test!
Don’t just offer one of them. Pick a specific audience (preferably more specific than “business owners”) and create a handful of offers around each… Or whatever specific thing you can help them with.
Then, build a bunch of test funnels around each.
You run an ad that says, “I can help your real estate business get more seller listings.” That takes them to a landing page where you say, “Here’s a really powerful and under-used strategy for getting more seller listings.” (Apply my Value-First Funnel Strategy here. Deliver real value in the ad itself.)
Then and only then, when you’ve made that SPECIFIC promise, do you offer the “Ask me anything” — but in context…
At this point, you’re having a virtual conversation with the person.
They’ve expressed interest by clicking on your ad about getting seller listings. You rewarded the attention they gave with relevant value to your initial promise.
Then you can back up a little and say, “I help real estate businesses grow in lots of ways, including by getting more seller listings. If you have any specific question about this topic, or other ways to grow your real estate business, I’d love to chat with you. Here’s how to schedule a free, no-obligation “How can I help you?” call…
At this point, don’t rely on email to close the appointment, either!
This is a bit of a sidebar conversation, but you’re going to lose out on a lot of potential client conversations if you ask them to email.
Instead, you should give them an opportunity to schedule a conversation with you right there, on the page.
I’ve recently switched to Book Like A Boss, which I wholeheartedly recommend. I especially like how their service works when embedded inside your website, which is easy to do with even a low-level of tech competence.
This gives them an opportunity to jump on you fulfilling on finishing this specific conversation, answering their specific questions…
What you’ll find when you get on the phone…
Every conversation that starts hyper-specific will inevitably go general.
There’s actually a danger to this.
You’re more likely to close the sale if you focus on fixing that one specific issue.
Once you have the client relationship though, and they trust you to fix that one thing, they’ll be open to more help from you in other areas.
So be careful.
If they came to you because they wanted one thing, make sure you stay focused on that one thing. Yes, you can do some information gathering, to find all the opportunities to add value.
But when it comes time to close, you need to come back to the original message that got them on the phone with you in the first place. You’re having a conversation with them. You want to finish that one conversation before getting too deep into the next.
The time and place for each approach…
If you’re BRAND NEW, which you said you are, you may benefit from having a few very open conversations early.
The goal of these becomes to find a few hot-button topics you can focus on. And your expectation is pretty spot-on — these likely won’t close too many sales.
Then, especially as you go to colder and colder audiences, you need to shift to a much more focused approach.
Offer to fix a problem. Once they’re on the phone, ask a lot of questions specific to that problem and let them ask questions of you.
When it comes time to actually get clients and close deals, this is what you’ll need to do.
I’m going much deeper into this in my Client-Getting Blueprint training through BTMSinsiders.
The next lesson to be released goes deep into how to structure these calls to close more deals, in a low-pressure, non-pushy way.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
