Some companies go to great lengths to attract new customers. According to the Boston Globe, a number of banks in East Boston are resorting to an old trick to entice people into doing business with them, which is to give out freebies like free cleaning services, grocery items, and even money. One bank even plans to stage a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contest to give potential customers a chance of winning a $150 discount on their shopping bill, in exchange for opening a checking account!
While it remains to be seen just how successful these projects eventually turn out, they also highlight the need for companies to reach out to their target customers. Although most banks have the resources to host such events, the same thing can’t be said of other businesses. Fortunately, companies can attract new customers through other sustainable means—such as effective lead generation services from a reputable provider like TeleDirect.
‘Lead generation’ refers to the practice of gathering inquiries from potential customers with the purpose of turning them into good prospects or ‘leads’. In short, the goal is to turn as many of these inquiries into sales, i.e. brand-new customers willing to do business with the company over the long haul. While this task may sound easy enough, companies are actually discouraged from carrying out lead generation activities on their own. Since this practice typically involves making phone calls, it’s important for companies to remember that most people don’t take too kindly to unsolicited calls from strangers selling something.
In addition, having a huge number of leads doesn’t necessarily guarantee an equally large number of new customers. As such, companies should not get complacent even if quite a number of people returned their calls. A leading call center for leads employs certain metrics to determine the quality of each lead.
First, the contact information of each lead is verified to prevent fraud and duplicates. Next, each lead is assigned a ‘quality score’ that refers to its likelihood of becoming a good prospect. Subsequently, leads are tracked by means of a special customer relationship management software that gives the call center a good idea of how to approach or respond to every one of them.
Unfortunately, even if a particular lead passes these tests, it may still be considered a ‘bad lead’ if the customer simply fails to return the call. This isn’t something reliable call centers are worried about, though, because they can be counted on to produce dozens, if not hundreds, of leads in a short span of time. Aside from freebies and contests aren’t their thing, companies can resort to lead generation to gain more customers.
(Source: Banks trying giveaways for new customers, The Boston Globe, July 09, 2014)
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