5 Steps To Turn More Leads Into Cash

By Anthony Davis
Tuesday, September 11, 2007; 7:15pm EST

It's very easy to start generating a lot of leads because it's a very scientific process.

Most marketing guru's say run this ad or make this type of offer and you'll have an explosion of people responding and those leads will show up in your inbox.

Nothing that you've done has made them come there, it's all been very scientific, you've run a very specific direct response ad and people are responding to an offer that you've made, and that is where the lead conversion process starts. Now you have to do something, and your mindset is really going to make a big difference at this point.

Here are 5 smart things you can do right now to turn more of your leads into cash.

Idea #1: Start Thinking of Your Leads In bundles of 100. This is what that means, instead of thinking about your leads individually right now, you need to get a little bit of altitude, get a little bit of perspective on exactly what you're doing here and start looking at the results you want to achieve.

Let's say we're going to look at it as 100 leads, that means we've got 100 people who have come through a process where they've listened to a recorded message or they've gone to your website and they liked what they heard or saw.

We may have spent $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 to generate that bundle of 100 leads. If you're using a good direct response system, you're probably spending between $10 and $30 for each lead, but that isn't important at this point. You don't need to be concerned with how much each lead cost to generate - what I want you to do is think about the monetary value of those 100 leads at maturity.

You don't make any money generating leads, you spend money generating leads and you make money converting leads. So let's look at what this bundle of 100 leads might be worth.

We know that half of the people that enquire about something will buy in the next 12-18 months. We know that's true because it has been studied again and again. What would those 100 leads be worth if half of the people are going to buy in the next 12-months?

That would mean that 50 out of those 100 people are going to buy a the same product or service that you offer, from someone(it might as well be you right), in the next 12-months. Let's say you have an average commission value from a transaction of $5,000, that means those 100 leads are going to be worth $250,000 in commissions. That's how much is going to be paid when half (50) of the people that are going to buy, actually do.

If that number is exciting for you, that's great, but how many of those people are you actually going to help? Because that is what we're really going to focus on. Let's say that you're able to help 5 of those people? That bundle of 100 is going to be worth $25,000 if you're only able to help 5 out of 100 or 1 out of 20, which would be an average conversion ratio.

The big mindset shift is that you don't make any money generating leads, you make your money converting leads. Let's recap, you've spent $1,000 - $3,000 for a bundle of 100 leads that is going to be worth $250,000 at maturity and you're trying to determine how much of that money you are going to cash-in.

Are you going to get $25,000, are you going to get $50,000 or are you going to get $150,000? Because the way that you approach this process is going to determine how many of those leads are actually going to work with you and in turn how much money you're going to make.

Idea #2: Treat All Leads Like 5 Star Prospects. You know a lot of times people have a mindset of treating prospects like they're not 5 star prospects until they prove that they are. Well the most profitable mindset you can have is to treat them like they are 5 star prospects until they prove that they aren't. I'll give you an example. I got some running shoes last Spring, and I went into this store in the mall, and there were a few people in there ahead of me, and the salesperson who was in the store that afternoon, is in there asking people "Can I help you?" And some of them are saying "no thanks, I'm just looking" or somebody might ask a question, but nobody was really in the market to buy shoes, they were just kind of looking around. He came to me, I was in the market for buying shoes, and he asked me "Can I help you?" And I told him exactly what I was looking for and let me tell you, this guy was the most helpful person in retail that I've ever dealt with.

You know he asked me what I was going to be using the shoes for, I told him I was going to be using them for running on my treadmill. I sat down on one of those shoe store stools where you put your foot up, he brought out several pairs of shoes for me to try. This guy was very attentive, he even laced them up for me. I ended up buying the most comfortable shoes that I've had on my feet. And it's because this guy knew a lot about shoes, and he treated me like I was a 5 star prospect. -AND as a 5 star prospect, I really appreciated it.

When you start thinking about this, what can you do to treat your prospects like they are 5 star prospects? You know it's very interesting when people are generating leads but they determine in their own mind ahead of time, that people are tire kickers or that they're not really serious.

It goes back to the law of attraction and the way that you think about things. If you treat people like they are 5 star prospects, you're going to find that more people will be attracted to you and will want to work with you because you've treated them like they are valuable to your business.

It's very interesting, but just re-evaluate the way that you look at leads. Hopefully, by having a monetary value on that big bundle of 100 leads is going to make a difference in the way you approach each lead individually, because now they are part of the big picture.

Idea #3: Connect As Quickly As You Can. This is the most crucial step in the process of lead conversion. By connecting with a lead as quickly as we can, you will find out if they really are 5 star prospects. Remember, 5 star prospects are people who are willing to engage in a dialogue, who are friendly and co-operative when you talk with them, who know what they want, who will be taking action in the next 6-12 months and who would like you to help them.

It's very important that you know that you can only discover 5 star prospects, you can't create them, you can't turn a 3 star prospect into a 5 star prospect. All leads are either 5 star prospects or they aren't.

Idea #4: Make A 12-Month Commitment To Bond With Your 5 Star Prospects. You know, people are going to take action in their own time frame. You can't make them do anything. You can't make them act fast if they want to take it slow.

You've got to be ready, willing and able to follow up with your leads for 12-months consistently versus following up with them for 12 days, which is how most people execute their marketing plan. But the reality is, if you can stretch that out to 12-months, you're going to be much further ahead than your competitors. You will stand out as he expert in your field because you've been giving them valuable information over that time.

Now do you think it might be worth it for you to make that extra effort, especially when we're looking at making $25,000 or more. I guarantee you the difference between converting 5 prospects and the difference between converting 10 prospects is in how you approach this 12-month follow-up process.

Idea #5: Make It Easy For Prospects To Start The Process. The easier you can make it for prospects to start the process or take the next step towards buying your products or services, the more people in your target market will act on your offer. You should never assume the people that you've been marketing to are going to call you when they're ready buy. Remember, you've got to lead people to the next step.

Hopefully you can start using these 5 smart ideas right away. It's going to be a great paradigm shift for you which will lead to forward progression in your business. As you can see, lead conversion really requires a bit of skill, it requires a bit of commitment, but you can achieve great results by simply adding these techniques to your daily business activities.

About the Author
Anthony Davis is an active real estate investor and debt expert, who practices what he preaches by offering detailed money-making strategies and easy steps for implementation in his newsletter, "Wealth Without Wall Street" and online, www.powerhouse2000.com.