It's time to close out this series with six more tips on how to avoid that most undesirable of all situations: boredom. I hope you've picked up several strategies you can use to keep the phone ringing and the leads rolling in even during what used to be the "slow times."
Teach Seminars
Your community may offer seminar forums through the Learning Annex, Fun-Ed, parks and recreation departments, and so on. These are a great place to build credibility. Offer to teach a class on home improvements, home energy audits, how to hire a contractor, and so on.
While you can’t overtly sell during the seminar, the mere fact you’re teaching it positions you as the expert. You can let people know what you do for a living (after all, this adds credibility to your seminar). Some of your students will inevitably turn to you when they need a new comfort system.
Write Articles
Contact the home and garden editors for your local paper and offer to write a local home improvement column from time to time. Offer homeowner tips on how to hire a contractor, how to cut energy expenses, selecting an air cleaner, the benefits of a whole house humidifier, UV lights, zoning, and so on.
Getting in print is a huge credibility builder. Get permission to put the columns on your website. Include them in your sales presentations. Give copies to people when recruiting them to your referral network.
Try Something Unusual
Every now and then, come up with something unusual. For example, rather than hang door hangers or distribute flyers, get a tank of helium and tie helium filled balloons by a string to bricks. Attach your flyer to the bricks. Place these in the front yards of a targeted neighborhood just before 5:00 p.m. When people come home from work and turn down the street with the balloons in front of every house, you will stand out.
Make Your Voice Mail Greeting a Sales Message
Record a striking voice mail message for your mobile phone. Stand out so that customers will remember you from your voice mail message if nothing else. You can use a favorite quote. You can even use humor, like this: "I’m sorry, but John Salesperson has been called to the White House for an executive comfort conference. He will be available as soon as the conference ends. Wait, you didn’t think it was it was that White House did you? He’s at the white house on the corner of Main and Oak Street. (That's just an example. Hopefully, you can do much better than that!)
Track Your Leads
Where do you get your leads from? Ah, you know, right? Guess again. The human memory can be incredibly fallible. Create a log to track your weekly activity and weekly results. Every so often, go through it, and run counts. See where you leads are really coming from and see if there are any particular patterns between your activity and your results.
Set Goals
Lead generation may not always be predictable, but your activity can be. Set goals for the amount of time you will spend on lead generation activities. Set goals for the number of homes you will canvass each week, for the number of phone calls you will make each week, for the number of letters you will mail each week, for the number of new members of your referral network each week, and so on. Set daily goals based on the weekly goals. Remember, it’s the persistent salesperson who makes the most sales.