The Little Know Secret to Lead Generation Through Classified Ads – That You Don’t Pay For

I was at a truck stop in Ohio recently and found a Free Classifieds Ad paper. I read them whenever I get the chance. All those pretty pictures. Cool products and services. And best of all, people who spend money on advertising.

Well, there were several ads that caught my eye. These were the worst of the worst. One had just a picture of the product (An outdoor home heating system), the name of the company, phone number and address. That was it. The ad didn’t even say to call the number.

This is always a great candidate to me. They have no call to action in their ad and no benefits to the customer. When I did a search for their company online there was no website. So I kind of figured it was someone from the company that was doing the advertising.

So I called them. And it went something like this;

The Call

ME: “Hello, my name is Fred Acker, could I please speak to your advertising department?”

PROSPECT: “One moment please…”

PROSPECT: “Hello, Dave speaking.”

ME: “Hi Dave. My name is Fred Acker and I saw your ad in the [Name of Paper]. I was just calling to see how it was doing for you. The reason I ask is because I would have missed it had it not been for the ad right next to it.”

PROSPECT: “You do direct marketing?”

ME: “Yes, that’s right.”

PROSPECT: “Well, to be honest Fred, I really don’t know how the ad will do. We just placed it this week.”

ME: “I see. Dave, could I send you something? It’s an idea I have for you’re ad that won’t cost you anything to look at. I can mail it out today and call you back in a few days to discuss it further with you.”

PROSPECT: “Well sure. Yes.”

ME: “Ok, I’ll get it drawn up and in the mail today.”

PROSPECT: “How much will all this cost?”

ME: “It won’t cost you anything to look at it and if you like the idea we can discuss payment then. If you don’t like it, I’m out a stamp. Fair enough?”

PROSPECT: “(chuckle) Sure. I’d love to see it.”

We had a few more words and the call was closed.

What I did was write A, B, C, D, and so on right on their ad using a marker. I then wrote out some ideas for the ad linking the idea to the letter (Letter A = Headline, Letter B = Benefit…). I gave them ideas but held back the actual content.

Four days later I called Dave and we chatted a bit (friendly conversation) and he told me he loved the idea and so did his boss – “When can you do it?”

My kinda client – He didn’t even ask how much :0)

I sent them the content with a layout (using the same size ad) and some additional material explaining how to track the ad to see if it was working. I then called a few days later to see if all was well and it was. They understood it perfectly.

********************************************
IMPORTANT NOTE: Be ridiculously meticulous about
follow up. Failure to do so could lose you the sale and
the client.
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When I was through there again I called to see how the ad was doing.

They had several sales and new prospects from that ad. But they also learned that most of their ads were not doing as expected.

I have a new client.

The point is, I didn’t have to do much.

I simply showed them how their ad could do better and then made it better. I explained to them how to test it. And they were able to see how the ad was doing (I used an alpha-numeric code on the ad that the buyer was to use when they called in or came in to the store).

I’ve used this technique a few times and some business owners want the help and some do not. That’s ok though. I work a lot better with the ones that do.

The trick here is to find the ones who are already paying and find out whether or not their efforts are working. If they’re not, your life just got easier. Now make theirs easier.

Stay tuned…

Filed under: Starting Your Marketing Business

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