In December,  I introduced a graphic of a Marketing Organization Chart I found on a blog post by John Jansch of DuctTape Marketing. As a follow-up, I am exploring each of the four elements (strategy, lead generation, lead conversion and customer service) in more detail. Today, let’s look at lead generation.

There are three main elements of lead generation: lead-gen

  • Advertising
  • Public Relations
  • Referrals

Your prospects will come to you ether because they have heard about you from someone they know (referrals) or from some third party (public relations) or from you (advertising).

Referrals

While John Jansch, listed this element third, I really believe this is where any small business owner should focus the majority of lead generation activities. Why? Because prospects who come to you on the recommendation of another person, are more likely to buy.

You have been pre-qualified. As a result, you can move quickly through some of the early “get to know you” portion of the sales process.

How do you cultivate referrals? Spend time thinking about your core customer. Who else is selling to your client? These are the people who will be most influential. So if you want referrals from them, you need to be sending referrals their way as well!

Public Relations  vs Advertising

I almost always  recommend my clients invest in PR actives rather than advertising. PR creates a third party endorsement which will always have more credibility then anything you say about yourself.

But good PR is not free! Just like advertising, it takes time to craft the right message and deliver it to the right audience.

And regardless of where you concentrate your efforts, you need to track which methods are most effective!

Update Aug 15, 2012 Over time we have evolved the image.  Here is our latest version:

RP OrgChart2

For more information about how you can use a marketing org chart to help your small business, download our free mini-ebook. You’ll receive in-depth information on using this chart in your own small business to create a cohesive marketing strategy that brings in leads you can convert into real customers.

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