Today, I’d like to share 10 strategies to get prospects to contact you first.
The best prospect is someone who contacts you first. When prospects approach you first, it is a much more enjoyable conversation than you contacting prospects first. Why? Because the person has expressed an interest in what you are offering them, and their sales defenses are down.
I was once told that prospecting is when you chase people, but good marketing and advertising gets prospects chasing you. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d much rather have 2-3 qualified prospects contact me daily than go out and prospect 20+ people daily myself.
If you’re trying to get prospects to contact you first, you are in the right place at the right time. I want to share 10 simple strategies you can follow. Anyone can do these things. This information will help network marketers, sales professionals, and entrepreneurs.
I suggest you focus on 1-2 strategies first, rather than trying to do everything at once. Focus is key.
The Bottom-Line Up Front
If you want to get prospects to contact you first, you only have two options that I know of. You can leverage attraction marketing or guerrilla marketing.
Attraction marketing is when you create content online to educate and entertain people in your target market. You provide value and teach people what you know. This positions you as an expert, a person of value, and people naturally want to do business with you.
Your second option is to leverage guerrilla marketing. This includes low-cost, free, and creative advertising and marketing strategies.
Both methods work. If you want to explode your business, you will do a combination of attraction marketing and guerrilla marketing, using a variety of different strategies.
Get Prospects to Contact You First: My Top 10 Tips
Here are my best tips to get prospects to contact you first.
# 1: Direct Mail
Direct mail is one of my favorite lead generation strategies. It’s proven, time tested, and works! You can mail postcards, flyers, and newsletters to prospects. Interested people will check out your information and get in touch with you if they are interested in what you are offering them. My favorite direct mail strategy is mailing postcards.
In a world of email, texts and social media, 41% of Americans nevertheless look forward to checking what is in their mailbox each day.
Source: Gallup
# 2: Video Marketing
Posting videos online is free AND it works. Video marketing allows you to connect with people on a personal level. That’s what makes it powerful. You can publish videos for people in your target market. You can do product reviews, company reviews, answer questions, and focus on the benefits your products or services offer. At the end of each video you can have your call to action to get interested prospects to contact you first.
84% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads.
Source: wyzowl
# 3: Facebook Group
If you don’t have your own Facebook group, you are missing the boat. I suggest you create a Facebook group that is generic. For example, if your business specializes in coffee, have a Facebook group for coffee connoisseurs. Share tips and good to know info about coffee and include your link and contact information in the group details section.
You can build up a large following of people who like, know, and trust you and you can recommend your products to them from time-to-time.
Facebook Groups allow you to connect with your customers on a more personal level.
In many cases, people are likely to read a social post from a friend versus a brand. This makes Groups the perfect fit for building connection, since they require members and admins alike to post from personal accounts.
This allows you a unique opportunity to engage as a human first and a brand second. Through responding to your audience and asking questions, you can learn more about what your customers want and what you can do to help.
Source: sproutsocial
# 4: Email Signatures
If you don’t have a catchy email signature on every email you send out, you are leaving money on the table. Do not say the name of your company or business in your email signature. Instead, be generic. Include your offer in the P.S. line and provide at least one way to get in touch with you (other than email).
Your email signature should play the role of a business card. It should cover who you are and what you do so your prospects will be able to easily identify you. It also influences the first impression a prospect gets about you and your company. A signature should serve as your self-introduction so you won’t have to start each email by introducing yourself.
Source: WoodpeckerBlog
# 5: Solo Ads
I’ve generated tens of thousands of leads and prospects from solo ads. These people visited my website and requested more information about what I do. As I follow up with these people, a percentage of them become customers or reps.
A solo ad is when someone with a large email list charges you a fee to send your email to their list. You can normally buy quality website visitors for 30 to 50 cents each.
A solo ad is basically finding a person with a network marketing prospects list already built, and having them send your ad to that list. There are tons of cheap ways to do this but the most consistent and proven solo ads are between $45-$65 depending on the amount of clicks you want to receive. This is fast traffic and can really generate network marketing prospects very fast. When using solo ads, you want to make sure you are tracking your links to find out which solo ad providers are producing for you so you can go back to them for results in the future.
Source: Profit Venture Magazine Ltd
# 6: Classified Ads
I love classified ads. Yes, they still work. This would include Craigslist, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, etc. You can place small, classified ads online or offline to get prospects to contact you first. Keep your ad short and interesting and do not say the name of your opportunity or products.
Classified advertising is a cheap and easy way for small businesses to connect with potential customers. It’s a great way to get the word out about your company, especially if you can’t budget for other forms of advertising. Most businesses should be able to find some form of classified advertising they can comfortably afford whatever the medium, be it online, in print or both.
Source: Chron
# 7: Car Magnets or Car Stickers
Car Magnets and car stickers won’t send you a ton of leads, but it is a great way to get prospects to contact you first. Have a large car sticker or car magnet that is easy to read. Keep it generic and do not say the name of your company. Include your website or sizzle call number where prospects can get additional information.
Every marketer’s top priority is showing their company’s brand, name, and message to all potential customers. The more eyes on their ad the better! With magnetic car signs, your advertisement is always on the go. Your business will be seen by hundreds to thousands of people, from drivers to pedestrians and neighbors!
Source: CustomSigns
# 8: Live Events
Live events are great. People come to you. You can set up at a flea market, craft fair, home party, bazaar, or exhibit and meet with people. They can visit your booth or display, ask questions, buy products, and learn more about what you do.
For example, if you do a home party, you could easily meet with 10-20 prospects in one hour. Or, if you set up at a flea market, you could have conversations with 100 or more prospects in just one day.
Find out where your target audience is hanging out. Attend the events and use the networking part to listen to others and pitch your product.
Get to know what other attendees do and how your solution may be helpful for them.
If it’s appropriate, make a pitch right here and now.
Source: Channels
# 9: Referrals
Referrals are typically your best prospects. It behooves you to create a referral program to give incentives to your customers, friends, and family to give you referrals. Pay them MONEY or give them gifts to give you referrals. Teach them what to say and how to do it. Be deliberate and don’t leave it to chance.
Most research shows that leads close five times faster when they come through referrals. Think about your own experiences: if you get a referral to a real estate agent, a new app or a great CPA, the first call you make will be to the one that someone has referred you to. Likewise, if a salesperson calls you and says they were referred by someone you know, chances are you will at least listen to what that salesperson has to say.
It is human nature to put a greater degree of trust in information that comes from people that we know.
Source: Sales Readiness Group, Inc.
# 10: Drop Cards
Drop cards are low cost and easy to do. They work. You simply leave drop cards while you are out and about living life and running errands. You can leave them at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, libraries, and other public places. Just incorporate leaving drop cards everywhere you go. If you do that, you can easily hand out 10-20 drop cards per day.
People who find your drop card and like your marketing message can visit your website or get in touch with you to get more information.
The drop card is unique and interesting and could easily be passed on or shown to family, friends, and acquaintances thereby creating more exposure for your business. One super amazing thing about this is that if someone picks up this drop card thinking it is a real dollar bill and s/he is not interested in the ad, the person will more than likely toss it back on the ground where it will remain until another person picks it up.
Source: Guerilla Marketing Strategies
Bonus Tip
Clothing is one of my favorite ways to get prospects to contact you first. You can have a creative shirt, hat, hoodie, or pinback button made. When you see people looking at your clothing, or if they ask you a question about it, you can give them a drop card or get their contact information and follow up with them at your convenience.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, these are my top 10 strategies to get prospects to contact you first. Fortunately, most of these things are easy to do. I encourage you to start with just 1-2 strategies on this list and focus on those strategies until you get good at it. Once you do that, add a few more strategies to your marketing mix so you never run out of fresh qualified prospects.
What are your thoughts? What do you do to get prospects to contact you first? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
Recommended Reading
- 34 Ways to Get Leads
- How to Get Leads on LinkedIn
- How to Get Leads on Instagram
- Drop Card Marketing Tips
- Postcard Marketing Tips
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Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
The idea of prospecting people, cold calling people, and bugging people just stresses me out. I love the idea of having prospects contact me first. Thanks for sharing these practical tips.
Yes, I would rather pull out my fingernails than do any of those things. That’s why I took the time to learn marketing and get prospects to contact me first.
This is an interesting concept. So many folks are scared to sell or prospect people. If you could show them how to get prospects to contact them first, I bet more people would join and stay in the business.
Absolutely. One of the biggest objections I get from prospects and team members is “I don’t like to sell.” I always respond with, “me either.” That’s why I learned marketing so I wouldn’t have to chase people or be put in uncomfortable positions.
When prospects contact you, they are worthy leads that are part of a warm audience. All you need to do is close them by providing the right call to action. It’s true you seem to be going about the long way, but it’s so much better that people approach you themselves, rather than you having to chase a bunch of prospects every day.
It’s what my mentor told me, ” When they come to you, they are just waiting for you to convert them into loyal paying customers.”
The secret is knowing what to say and having good people skills, when your prospects approach you. You can be the best marketer in the world, and generate and endless supply of hot prospects that contact you first, but if you aren’t likeable and don’t know what to say or do, you will get bad results.
I have never thought of this strategy before, but you are completely right. If the prospect contacts you first and not the other way around, you have a lot more chances to achieve your business goal. This shows the prospect’s genuine interest. Also if prospects come to you, that means that you are developing an effective marketing strategy.
I think that with “Video Marketing” you are going to reach a lot more people and maybe find qualified prospects. Also through “Referrals” it is more likely to find some good reliable ones, because quality is more important than quantity.
Yes, video marketing is a great way to get people to contact you first. Referrals are great too. I’ve found that referrals are normally my highest converting prospects.
The prospects contacting you first is something that every business owner dreams about. I never thought that making that possible would be this easy. I’m so inspired and motivated by these tips.
All these ideas are so easy to implement and the best thing about them is that they are very cost effective. My favorite among them is using Facebook groups. I have tried joining many Facebook groups which are relevant to my niche but I never thought of creating a Facebook group of my own business. I will surely try it.
Also, Video marketing seems like a great idea as video content is performing much better over social media platforms these days. Thank you for this article 🙂
Yes, Facebook groups and video marketing are both great ways to get people to reach out to you first. All business owners should do both strategies, combined with other things that are relevant to their niche.
I never thought this method would work because we are always said to “look” for prospects. You are suggesting we let the prospects find us, which is interesting and meaningful. It’s vigilant to have 2/3 valuable prospects than to spend your effort to find 20+ meaningless prospects.
So, according to Chuck’s suggestion, I plan to try both marketing techniques as I want quality prospects to find me. I’ve not yet started MLM, so it’s better to have a proper plan about everything, including marketing. If I follow these techniques, I’ll be able to find prospects who are “actually” interested in what I do. This will save me time and effort.
Most of all, these suggestions are beneficial as I can apply them in my business and freelancing journey as well. Thank you 🙂
There’s nothing wrong with talking to people and prospecting. Everyone business owner should do that, especially when their business is new and money is tight. They should strive to combine a mixture of prospecting, marketing, and advertising. That way, not everything depends upon them actively seeking out new people. In the beginning, do like 80% prospecting and 20% marketing. As time progresses, do less prospecting and more advertising and marketing, so eventually 100% of your efforts is on that, not prospecting.
By reading this article I came to know some easy and effective ways to get prospects to contact me first. Before that, it felt backbreaking for me. My perspective has changed now, and I can start working on it without any fear.
Through life events, referrals, drop cards, direct mail, and social media one can easily attract the prospects to contact him/her first, which is the ultimate goal.
In today’s world, social media has made networking and advertising easier and less costly. The proper usage of social media can help you get your prospects to contact you first.
I love this idea. So many people get started in a business or sales job and quickly realize they don’t enjoy selling. However, when you can get prospects to come to you first, it’s a game changer. It’s actually fun. The pressure and fear goes away. You just answer questions and take orders. Marketing is something all entrepreneurs and salespeople should study so they can start to become the hunted, rather than the hunter.
Definitely. Selling is not for everyone. The # 1 responsibility of EVERY business owner is selling. Without sales, there is no business. If you don’t enjoy doing that yourself, you can hire someone to help you or you can use the strategies outlined in this article to get people to contact you first.
Over the years, Facebook groups and forum posting had helped me gain more prospects. Social media and forums play a vital role in getting new prospects to contact you. I have learned some other tips from you and I will make use of it. How can I use Tiktok to my advantage? I would like it if you could write on it. I would look forward to seeing your post or a reply to my comment.
I’ve never tried anything with Tik Tok myself. Perhaps someone else can chime in on this comment and share some of their best Tik Tok tips.
Social media is definitely a good strategy to get people to contact you first, if you do it correctly.
Personally, I think warm market is in every case quicker when assembling one’s business. Warm market pertains to individuals that you know, or references from individuals that you know, since when you have cold market, which are individuals that you don’t have the foggiest idea, you need to require a significant stretch of time to construct that relationship. However, from the article that I have read, I’ve learned that the tips provided were mostly about getting engagements from either warm or cold market and that’s what makes this field interesting. It is as though it is open and can be learned by everybody may it be someone you know or someone you don’t know. Overall, I can say that finding prospects can be rough or easy, but with enough perseverance and determination, it would pay off.
Its more easy approach as that would mean that you have a successful product behind you. If you go to that level where prospects start to contact you that means that you do really have something to offer and that they see that. Attraction marketing really helps as it is the most safest way but yes, guerilla marketing also works. Didnt know about the direct mail and that its that popular, will need to try it with postcards if it does really have that great effect. And I already complimented car magnets and stickers as really effective way to get your message across as I did see it in action and that it does provide good results locally.
Having a good product definitely helps, but if people don’t know about it, there is no way they will ever contact you to purchase it. Marketing is where the magic happens. If you can show people how what you are offering will benefit them, and your offer is compelling, many of them will contact you to ask questions or buy. It’s just your job to find creative ways to reach people, via a good marketing campaign, so they can learn about what you are offering.
“The best prospect is someone who contacts you first”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Prospecting in the traditional sense is time consuming and often unfulfilling — not to mention it can be incredibly hard to know where to start. It can also be a bit of a gamble, since you never know which prospect is truly interested.
So, why not get prospects to come to you? It’s a genius idea, really and, from what you said here, it’s also fairly easy. By having them come to you, you can guarantee that they have a level of interest already, which means that your only job in that instance is to build their interest (I can do that in my sleep!).
Prospecting doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. As it turns out, it can be as simple as slapping a sticker on your car and driving around town doing your mundane, everyday tasks.
I gave up on prospecting many years ago. I prefer spending my time and money doing attraction marketing and paid advertising, so people contact me first. It was a little slow my first couple of years, but once I figured things out it was actually quite easy. Plus, I don’t have to chase people, nor do I need to strike up a conversation with someone only for the purpose of trying to sell them something.
This goes to tell you that MLM can be both a 24h income, and a 24h job, and I don’t mean that in a bad way! So many opportunities to find prospects is what makes this so fun and dynamic. Basically, wherever there are people, there’s an opportunity. The thing is, how do you communicate to others who you are and what you do without being overwhelming and annoying? A simple email signature does the trick, setting up a flea market, home party (who says no?), there are just so many ideas to choose from, and you never know when you may hit the jackpot with the right person at the right time! I bookmarked this article to make sure to come back to it once I get to brainstorming some ideas. Thanks!
Yes, there are many ways to get people to contact you first. Many people do the other approach and simply prospect people. That does not appeal to me personally. That’s why I do paid advertising and attraction marketing to get people to seek me out. To each their own. Both methods work!
Yep, yep and yep. This is one of the most important ones. Less whiskers and more cheese. Why would people want to talk to you? Crack that one up and it’s far easier to make things happen.
As much as I like going pedal to the metal, if you are always soliciting people, your status is always perceived as inferior. Hey, you need to do what you have to do, but implementing systems to make people initiate the conversations works way better.
The solution is always in the Cheddar!
Absolutely. I like to tell people I mentor that we are fisherman, not hunters. We don’t stalk and kill prey. Instead, we go to where the fish are, put on some good bait that will be enticing, and then fish. We catch some, we lose some, and some don’t bit. But the fish come to us! It’s win win.
Running a business is not easy, but marketing can make it easy to handle. Creating various strategies to attract people requires time and effort. Your article was really helpful as it discussed multiple strategies to attract people. I have personally tried joining Facebook groups but never made my own group. I will create a group regarding my business and share tips and guidelines as written in your article. Furthermore, launching live events seem like a better approach. Setting up a market through exhibiting products to people will help in boosting sales. Thank you for sharing the article.
Setting up at live events is one of the best ways to get prospects to contact you first. If you can participate in an event that draws in hundreds, even thousands of prospects, many of them will visit your booth or table to learn more about what you have to offer.
Facebook groups are everywhere and almost every company has one that revolves around their business. It is one of the easiest ways to advertise your company because most people use Facebook everyday for all kinds of different uses. Ads can even be used there and can be way more cost efficient than making an actual ad in a paper or paying for one online. Clothing is honestly my favorite idea of yours because I always find myself looking at other’s shirts and if the clothing looks interesting or the company sounds like something I would be interested in I am more likely to look into it after seeing it worn by someone.
Businesses that use Facebook groups to communicate with their prospects and customers are SMART. It’s easy to forget about a business. As a consumer, we have tons of businesses and ads competing for our business. Businesses that stay in touch and provide a great customer service will definitely stand out above their competition.
Also, your point about clothing is spot on. When I see someone wearing a a t-shirt or hat with something written on it, I always stop and look. It just appeals to my curiosity. If the message “speaks to me” I will check out the business or website in my free time.
Isn’t that the dream!? When prospects start contacting you before you have ever even reached out to them. Email signatures, car magnets, a button, or clothing are my favorite ways to get people to come to me first. I like your whole list, good ideas. Over this past weekend I had 3 people contact me about my products directly. I had never spoken to any of them before. It is really a great feeling when that starts happening in your business. They reached out to me because of a post I made on a local FB small biz group in my area.
That’s great, Jessica. Did you talk with them afterwards? Did you get them signed up? Once you get people contacting you first, it really boils down to your closing skills. Make sure you work on those so you can sign up a bunch of these people.