Direct Marketing Lead

In order to generate a direct marketing lead, retailers often purchase expensive mailing lists or compile data based on relationships built by independent sales representatives and affiliates. The most difficult aspect of direct selling may be finding potential customers; but to seasoned marketers, every relationship is an opportunity to sell goods, products and services. Direct selling involves turning family, friends, coworkers, and the next door neighbor into loyal consumers. Generating a direct marketing lead starts with writing down the names of every individual with whom a sales associate has regular contact. Prospective buyers might include a network marketer's relatives: a spouse, brother, sister, mother, or grandmother who is supportive of the associate and willing to help them get started in an independent enterprise, sole proprietorship or partnership. Close family members and friends are the "guinea pigs," those who more than likely won't say, "No" to a first sale. New reps can gain experience by selling to people they know while developing expertise as professional salespersons.



Another direct marketing lead for new sales associates is someone who has sold a product or service to the novice rep. If an associate has purchased cookies from a coworker or a crock pot from the lady down the street, then it is time to call in the favors! People that associates have bought merchandise from in the past may be good for at least one sale; and if it is a good product, they may become repeat customers. Consumers like buying from people they know; and building relationships months or years prior to beginning a career in consumer-direct selling lays the groundwork for success. New associates can go through personal phone directories, college yearbooks, church rolls, or club membership lists to build a file from which to develop strong potential customers. And it is not a good idea to count someone out as a potential buyer simply because reps think that they won't buy. Network marketing companies advise novice recruits not to "judge a book by its cover." An apparently well-to-do consumer may be the hardest sell, while the guy next door who doesn't seem to have much money or interest in anything but take-out pizza could easily turn out to be a loyal repeat customer. Sometimes, the most unlikely individual can open the door to lucrative earnings.



Sales representative also rely on catalogs to generate a good direct marketing lead. Leaving product brochures on doorsteps and door knobs seems like a long shot for flushing out potential customers, but it depends on where the catalogs are left. Cosmetic company brochures left for beauty salon patrons; catalogs full of gourmet cookware or special order edibles left in a workplace break room; or booklets full of small hand tools or the latest portable drills placed in the men's locker room may be just the ticket to tallying high sales. Reps who place product leaflets should be sure to leave contact information on the back of brochures or plenty of business cards. Network marketers should also follow a direct marketing lead generated from requests for more information about products or services. A potential customer may call a dozen times before buying, but exercising patience and being persistent will usually pay off. Giving would-be clients free low-cost samples is a psychological incentive for recipients to place orders. Although the sample is free, the interchange of merchandise at no cost to the consumer tends to psychologically obligate them to make a purchase as a reciprocal act of appreciation. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).



Cosmetics companies, household product manufacturers, and book dealers also utilize a surefire way of generating a solid direct marketing lead. Many consumer-direct sales companies recruit new sales associates and boost revenue by offering incentives to individuals who agree to host product demonstrations in their homes. In exchange for assembling a group of potential buyers in the home to view a demonstration, the host or hostess qualifies for special discounts on products they purchase for themselves. An average in-home party could yield hundreds of dollars worth of product sales for new associates and hundreds of dollars in discounts for the host. From a single meeting, one direct marketing lead could eventually net five or ten new converts who may want to sign on as recruits in a rep's downline. In this respect, direct-selling is best implemented through word-of-mouth advertising as one satisfied customer tells two friends, and those two tell two more friends, and so on.



Large scale network marketers usually conduct direct marketing lead generation campaigns via telemarketing, direct mail, television, and the Internet. While telemarketing has earned a bad name because of its intrusive nature, efforts to generate prospects through cold calling can still be effective. Vital to successful cold calling is compiling a listing of good prospects based on prior buying habits from other retailers. Firms that generate mailing lists conduct research to study consumer trends and determine the age, sex, income and personal preferences of shoppers. Affiliate and network marketers also embed cookies into the PCs of consumers who visit websites, which enables marketers to track visitor activity, online responses and purchases. A lead may be generated by data collected from tracking when, where, and how browsers navigate an Internet advertiser's site. Once data is collected, media strategies can be developed to target a specific audience through electronic or direct mail advertising. Permission-based electronic mail may be the strategic weapon of choice for network marketers to conduct consumer-direct sales and distribution. Regardless of the method marketers choose to generate new business, every lead has the potential to increase revenue and help build a successful multilevel marketing enterprise.