• Increase the number of Referrals by asking for them routinely after every meeting. Learn to ask well and become more successful in securing Referrals. They are the best kind of Lead.
• Improve the quality of your Leads, Search for information online relating to the person, the company, the industry and the way the economy may be affecting them. Ask people who may know something about the person, company or industry. The company’s Receptionist (if there is one) is often the best source of information about your Lead. You’d be amazed what you can learn from the Receptionist so make a friend of him or her. 
• Improve the quality of your Referrals, by asking the referrer for more information about the person or the opportunity. But don’t turn down any Referral – you should not assume anything!
• Decide what are the important characteristics of a quality Lead in your business and ask questions which will give you clues about whether the Lead/Referral might qualify. 
• Leads provided by your company’s marketing activities may be a mix of good and bad quality. Treat every Lead gathered by these means as an inquiry and follow every one up with a humble but confident approach, without assuming the Lead is ready to sign an order right away. You must approach them as you would any new Lead you found yourself.
• Apply the criteria set by your company and filter all leads accordingly. Do not waste time and energy of Leads which are clearly outside of those criteria.
• You may be too selective (“fussy”) about who you should contact. For some reason you are deciding for people instead of with people whether they should buy your products and services. That’s not your role.
• Call every Lead which passes through these filters. Take a humble, servant attitude and seek first to understand the Lead’s situation thoroughly and let him or her decide whether it is in their best interests to speak with you.
• You may be calling at the wrong time of the day or week. Try calling at different times and take note of any patterns which emerge. For example, if you’re successfully contacting Manufacturing Managers in the late afternoon but not earlier, take note and always call Manufacturing Managers in the late afternoon. 
• Chief Executives (and other Senior Executives) are more likely to answer their own phones when their Executive Assistant is not in, so call early in the morning or after 5pm. Your call may bypass the “screening secretary” and go directly to your Lead. Of course, if you can find out the DDI number that’s even better.
• Survey your existing customers about their typical schedule and figure out when is likely to be the best time of the day and the week to call people in various positions.
• Do not leave messages asking prospects to call you back. They won’t and, instead of creating positive feelings you may create antipathy towards you and your company. However, very occasionally, leave a message to simply inform the prospect that you called, especially if you earlier promised to call on a certain date – leave one message late on that date, advising that you called as promised and will call again.
• You may not be using a pre-approach letter to make the call more welcome. The sole purpose of a Pre-approach (email, fax, SMS, letter) is to “warm” up the prospect – literally create positive feelings about you – so that when you call, you seem already familiar to them and they welcome your call. This in turn dramatically increases the likelihood of securing a meeting. Even with existing customers, a Pre-approach often increases the chances of securing a meeting to begin discussions about a new opportunity.
• In your Pre-approach, “sell” only the imminent Call. Do not do any Presenting.
• A Pre-approach should be brief and to the point – which is to tell them you will be calling. 

The four basics of a Pre-approach email or letter are:

The Subject Line – This is the first barrier to overcome. You must get the recipient to click open your email or it will simply be deleted. Experiment with different subject lines but in general, understand the Keywords which your target market uses to search for solutions in your industry. Ask your marketing colleagues for advice. Consult a Google Adwords adviser. Create short subject lines which will entice the recipient to click open your email. 

Paragraph 1 – Explain how you got their details and state your reason for writing: “John  Smith at XYZ Company, who I believe you know, suggested that you would be interested in what I have to offer you. I’m writing to introduce myself and to let you know that I would like to meet briefly with you at John’s recommendation. I will call you on Thursday or Friday to arrange a convenient time, please, and I hope you will receive my call.”

If it is not a referral, then begin with something like: “I would really like to meet you. I’m sure I can learn a lot from you, with your considerable experience and success in the Automotive industry. The reason for my email is to ask you if we could meet for just a short visit. I would appreciate the opportunity to ask you about your business. We may discover some value in meeting again for a more in depth discussion about ways I and my company could add value to what you’re doing at ABC Company. If we don’t, then at least we will have made a connection which may prove valuable at a later date.  I will call you on Thursday or Friday to arrange a convenient time, please, and I hope you will receive my call.” This is the most important paragraph and so experiment with different approaches and monitor the effectiveness of each.



Paragraph 2 – No more than 15-20 words explaining the business you’re in. The reader will most likely only read this paragraph last so do not invest much time with it.

Paragraph 3 – Before reading this paragraph, the recipient will look to see who wrote the email/letter, and so, sign off in a personal, informal manner (not “Yours sincerely” but something like “Looking forward to speaking with you soon”). 

Having read your sign-off, the recipient will read this paragraph next so, in it, re-state your desire to speak with your prospect and close: “I’ve been working closely with John for some time now and he seems very happy with the solutions we have implemented there at XYZ. I would appreciate the opportunity to meet you and listen to what you’re doing in your business. If we find some opportunity to discuss specific needs and ways my company could add value for you, then great. If not, then we will have made a connection which may prove beneficial at a later date. With kind regards,”



Remember, the sole purpose of the Pre-approach is to create positive feelings towards your imminent call so that your prospect or customer receives and welcomes your call. This increases the likelihood of securing an appointment.