In order for this post to be most meaningful, you need to read the previous post on speaking services. That post discussed how to approach, who to approach, what to say when you approach and more.
I’m going to share my qualifying system in this post. In order to be highly productive doing outbound selling either by phone, email or social media, you need to have some type of system that will tell you just how interested the prospect really is in you. I base mine on the three M’s.
- M = meeting. Do they have a specific meeting date? If they don’t plans are still very uncertain.
- M = money. This one is simple. Do they have enough to pay your fee?
- M = motive. This means have they used someone like you in the past, or if not, do they seem interested in you and your information.
Pretty simple huh? The three M’s. Here is the system to implement further.
If a prospect has 3 M’s, they are the hottest of prospects! Highly interested. If you don’t work with them on this specific program odds are you will later. This is a level 1 lead.
If a prospect has 2 M’s and two M’s, this is still a high qualifier. Perhaps they have a meeting and money but have yet to decide on motive or topic. This is a level 2 lead.
If a prospect has 1 M, it is a low-level lead. Typically when qualifying someone here they have the one M of meeting. But they don’t have any planned, so of course, we aren’t going to talk budget either. I also call level 3 leads “people who like to get stuff for free and suck the life out of your business.
I list the levels 1,2,3 in my ACT database (contact management system) under ID/Status. This allows you to pull out each as a group. Perhaps you want to send an email to levels 1 and 2 only. Easy!
Now, this is productivity! Remember the levels are fluid. Perhaps a prospect is a level 1 lead but chooses someone else. Mark them down to a level 2 and proceed from there.
You should seek to “touch” each prospect who is a level 1 client once every 30-60 days. When I say touch, I don’t mean call! I only believe in calling a prospect when there is business to transact. By “touching” I mean keeping your name in front of the prospect. You can do this by emailing a newsletter, tip, sending an article, forwarding a new marketing piece or information about a new program, sending a testimonial or anything else that will make you “front of mind”. Postcard marketing is still very effective! It is high touch, low tech, and if you do it, you will stand out.
If you do these things, you will really be running a speaking practice where we have prospects in the planning mode coming up at all times.
I hope you’ll try my system. Let me know how it works for you!
Happy hunting!
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Lois Creamer works with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes! She can be reached in the following ways:
Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com
Twitter: @loiscreamer
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/loiscreamer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/loiscreamer
For more information on Lois’ business check out http://www.bookmorebusiness.com as well as http://www.bookmorebusiness.tv!
