Lead Generation Strategies: Make it SNAPpy!

October 22, 2010

A lead generation strategy to remember: you’ve got limited time to make an impact with crazy-busy prospects.

Yesterday I attended a webinar by Focus Interactive Summit featuring Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling. Her presentation was engaging and a few of her points really stood out to me.

You’ve got 5-7 seconds to get someone’s attention on the phone before they drown you out and want to get off the call.

You’ve got 2.7 seconds to make an impact in an email before a person deletes your message.

Yikes. Think about it… it doesn’t matter what market segment you are targeting; your average prospect is INCREDIBLY busy. They are trying to juggle a million balls at once with limited time and limited resources. According to Jill, executives of smaller expansion stage businesses receive on average 300 emails a day. The average executive of a larger business – 500 emails a day.

No pressure, but if you are a lead generator — that’s not a lot of time. The good news is – you don’t have to memorize a crazy long script to present to your prospects. The bad news is, your brief introduction must resonate and make an immediate impact.

Jill’s quick tip for leaving voicemails – don’t even mention your company name in your message. Why does your company name matter to them? You immediately sound like a salesman, and less like a person wanting to connect. All you need to communicate is your name, your number and a brief message identifying your awareness of their pain points (do your research and be specific) and that you want to chat about some ideas you have for their business.

What are your thoughts? Would you return a call after receiving a voicemail like that?