Go Fish!

I’m often asked how Pro Lead Management helps clients generate and capture more leads through their Web sites. While I could speak for days on the psychology and technology behind our methods, I like to simply compare generating and capturing leads to fishing.


Just as anglers choose a unique type of bait specifically for their desired catch; we make sure to use the right kind of bait to attract specific types of customers. Whether we use “Order a Brochure” to identify with the customer just starting their research or “Request a Quote” for the prospect who has completed their research and is now looking to initiate their transaction process, we make sure each of our calls-to-action resonate with the intended audience.

Once we have identified the appropriate calls-to-action for the various customer types, we make sure these calls-to-action are most appropriately and effectively deployed throughout the site. Whether they’re buttons in the site’s main navigation menu, embedded text links to Web forms, click-to-talk devices, or strategically displayed phone numbers, our focus is to present the right bait to the right fish in the right way.

By recognizing your potential customer types, tailoring calls-to-action to those prospects, and then deploying lead capture devices strategically throughout the site, we’re able to accelerate and amplify your on-line success.

Want help capturing more leads by better defining and implementing an effective call-to-action strategy? Call 888.836.8567 or contact us by clicking here for more information and a personalized quote.

An American Tale

On doctor’s orders, an American businessman took a vacation to a small coastal Mexican village. Unable to sleep after an urgent phone call from the office the first morning, he walked out to the pier to clear his head. A small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish.

“How long did it take you to catch them?” the American asked.

The Mexican replied in surprisingly good English, "Only a little while".

The American then asked, “Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?”

“I have enough to support my family and give a few to friends,” the Mexican said as he unloaded them into a basket.

"But… what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman looked up and smiled. "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life."

The American laughed and stood tall. "Sir, I am a Harvard MBA and can help you. You should spend more time fishing and buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds you could buy several more boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”

He continued, “Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise with proper management."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15-20 years."

“But what then?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."*

So what are you working for? More importantly, what are your clients and customers working for? How can you accelerate their realization of those dreams? Become a dream maker and your dreams too will be realized.

Pro Lead Management was founded to help clients identify and exploit new opportunities. Want an outside perspective and fresh ideas to create new business? Call 888.836.8567 or contact us by clicking here.

* The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss, p. 231-232

Yard Sale

The devil was having a yard sale one day and many of his tools were on display. They were a fiendish lot, each priced according to its value. There were hatred and jealousy, deceit, lying, and pride, but over to the side was the most well-worn of all his tools, and his most valuable. That tool was discouragement. When asked why, the devil answered, “It is more useful than any other. When I can’t bring down one of my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I can always count on this one; so few people realize that it belongs to me.”

The discouragement, hopelessness, and despair in today’s marketplace can be clearly illustrated in a CNN.com story from last week. A jobless LA man reportedly facing financial challenges shot and killed his mother-in-law, wife, and three kids before turning the gun on himself. The devil’s most effective tool once again performed its duty with precision.

In their book Character Matters, John and Susan Yates write, “If we are going to live productive lives, we have got to learn to overcome discouragement. In a sense, the more discouragement a person can overcome, the greater that person becomes.”

Consider this man’s story.

- At age seven, his family was forced out of their home and he went to work
- At age nine, his mother died
- He lost his job at age twenty-two; wanted to go to law school but didn’t have the education
- At twenty-three, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store. Three years later, the business partner died and the resulting huge debt took years to repay
- When he was twenty-eight, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him and she said no
- At thirty-seven, on his third try, he was elected to Congress but then failed to be re-elected
- That same year his son was born but four years later that son died
- When he was forty-five, he ran for the Senate but lost
- At age forty-seven, he sought the vice presidency of the United States and lost
- Two years later, he ran for the Senate and lost again
- At age fifty-one, he was elected president of the United States

Abraham Lincoln was a man who learned to face discouragement and move beyond it, becoming arguably the best president in our nation's history.

Doris Kearns Goodwin writes in Team of Rivals, “More accustomed to relying upon himself to shape events, he (Lincoln) took the greatest control of the process leading up to the nomination, displaying a fierce ambition, an exceptional political acumen, and a wide range of emotional strengths forged in the crucible of personal hardship that took his unsuspecting rivals by surprise” (p. xvi).

To simply dismiss the harsh realities of today’s economic climate would be naïve but that’s not to say that all is hopeless.

Recently David Oreck, founder of the Oreck Corporation commented, (to paraphrase) “I have lived through the Great Depression, Dustbowl, several wars, and countless recessions; every time, America has bounced back stronger than before. Americans are an industrious, productive, and good people. We will make it through.”

Hardships toughen us, change our perspective, and fuel creative and innovative thinking. It is precisely in these times that new opportunities present themselves. My hope is that you do not get blinded by discouragement and are able to recognize these opportunities; and like Lincoln, take your “unsuspecting rivals by surprise.”

Pro Lead Management was founded to help clients identify and exploit new opportunities. Want an outside perspective and fresh ideas to create new business? Call 888.836.8567 or contact us by clicking here.

* Excerpts taken from Character Matters, by John and Susan Yates (p. 146) and Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (page xvi).

Stop the Madness

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

I speak with dozens of manufacturers and dealers every week. I am not aware of a single company who is distributing email leads by any other means than simply forwarding an email or exporting leads into a dealer’s CRM software application.

Research shows that up to 60% of email leads are ignored.

So with as many as 80% of customers today conducting on-line research prior to visiting a dealership, why do we set ourselves up for failure by only distributing leads exclusively by email?

It’s better than fax?

It’s easy?

We can set it and forget it?

We can shift blame to the dealer because THEY didn’t respond?

I personally think we have simply adopted a flawed process as a default for our lead routing rules. In challenging economic times like these, we must re-evaluate the way we do everything.


No sacred cows here! Now is the time that we re-examine how we can accelerate these prospective customers through their buying process.

Pro Lead Management has created a proprietary new method for accelerating email leads from the keyboard to the phone. Want to learn more about how we can help you accelerate your sales? Call 888.836.8567 or contact us by clicking here.