Online Sales Leads Using Traditional Methods

by Scott Buresh

Long before online sales and online sales leads became a reality, there were techniques and tactics used to sell just about anything. Successful businesses use these techniques to generate revenue and gain a competitive advantage. Unfortunately, whenever a new communication medium or technology becomes available, we tend to rely too heavily on the efficiencies and functionality of the tool and lose focus on the purpose it was created to serve. The internet, with all of its bells and whistles, often actually hurts the bottom line of businesses. Whenever this is the case there is usually a common cause- the company is not using the traditional sales techniques that made them successful in the offline world to generate online sales or online sales leads.
To succeed on the internet, look at what's worked for your company in the past and extend these successes online. Here are just a few things that can easily and effectively be taken online to help in the online sales medium:

Advertising
If generating new customers through traditional advertising has proven effective in the past, make sure you're taking a serious look at online opportunities such as search engine optimization, pay-per-click ad buys and site sponsorships. Each of these can deliver targeted online sales leads and offers substantial ROI data.

Product Demonstrations

If your sales staff relies on product demonstrations to help close sales, look for ways to demonstrate your product online. You can provide live or archived demos on your website (and often realize substantial savings in reduced travel costs). Whether you're presenting to one or many, the advent of high-speed connectivity and affordable multimedia production companies make online demos a viable option for most companies.

Public Relations
If your company has realized value from PR efforts, look for ways to get similar publicity on the web to generate online sales leads. Regardless of your industry, there are sure to be related websites that rely on content to promote visitors and attract advertising dollars. Ask your trusted PR person about such opportunities.

Direct Mail
Whether you're communicating with your current customers or trying to obtain new ones, direct mail may be something your company has relied on as a way to get out your message. If you know your customers are online, an opt-in email marketing campaign is an alternative and sometimes-preferred method of turning them into inline sales leads. Again, like most online marketing campaigns, you can get valuable response data in nearly real-time. Another attractive benefit of email marketing is that you can make frequent and subtle adjustments to your campaign at virtually no cost. Try getting that from your printing company!

Referral and Customer Appreciation Programs
If you rely on customer referrals and repeat customers, you've probably tried or currently have some sort of referral program in place. The internet provides the perfect environment for facilitating and measuring the effectiveness of such programs. Look for ways to encourage online referrals and reward repeat customers. Let them know their opinion counts with easy to use feedback mechanisms. You can also conduct customer surveys, polls, and use other interactive ways to generate online sales leads.

If you're not exactly sure how each of these can be applied online, don't hesitate to ask someone who has experience in internet marketing (we all love to talk). Of course, before embarking on any campaign to increase online sales leads, there should be clear goals and a way to measure the campaign's success. Good luck!

Our credits to the source/author of this article: Author: Scott Buresh Scott Buresh is the CEO of Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing. He has contributed content to many publications including Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004), MarketingProfs, ZDNet, SEO Today, WebProNews, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. Medium Blue,an Atlanta search engine optimization company , serves local and national clients, including Boston Scientific, DuPont, and Georgia-Pacific. To receive internet marketing articles and search engine news in your email box each month, register for Medium Blue’s newsletter, Out of the Blue. This article is taken from the Medium blue website.

Source: http://www.mediumblue.com/newsletters/online-sales-leads.html