Leads vs Education

Jim  Payne of S-Market Strategies posted this article  to the website of a group I belong to.  I'm reprinting it with his permission-- You can reach Jim at: www.smarketstrategies.com

In lieu of just acquiring "leads", I would recommend concentrating on opportunities to educate perspective clients.  To reinforce this approach, the Harvard Business review says that marketing yields a return on your investment of 2X, but education yields a 40X return.  In lieu of          spending your time following up on weak "leads", find ways to gain exposure by  educating key targets and making them believers in your value.

As an example, I just did a presentation at a symposium to my target audience in San Diego.  Since the event, I have been busy following up with perspective clients who are contacting me. They now believe in my value and skills based on the educational sessions that I presented.  The session      also resulted in being commissioned to write feature articles for an international industry trade journal in two consecutive months.

Is your business the type that clients hire consultants based on TipClub type of sales techniques?   You can spend your limited time following up on a large number of weak leads or developing educational opportunities that can yield clients who come to you and already believe in you.