Always Be Closing – The Keys To Lead Generation Success

In my downtime I like to watch movies about Entrepreneurs or business.  They inspire me and often give me ideas for new businesses or strategies that will separate me from the rest of the herd.

One of the most motivating segments comes from the 1992 movie, Glengarry Glen Ross.  Blake, played by Alec Baldwin, is an alpha dog motivational salesman and goes into an epic speech where he coins the infamous acronym, A.B.C (Always Be Closing).

If you’re not familiar with the film, you can watch the segment below:

Blake’s speech comes off strong much like a football coaching trying to motivate his players at halftime.  In a nutshell, he’s telling them if they can’t close the leads (get people to buy) then they need to step out of the way for those that can.

So what does this have to do with online and mobile lead generation?  Well… Everything…

It’s one thing to get tons of visitors to your website, mobile application, or landing page but it’s another to turn those visitors into sales.

“The guy doesn’t walk on the lot unless he wants to buy,” is what Blake says in the clip above.  If people are hitting your page, then they’re interested in something you’re offering.

Another acronym used in the movie, AIDA.  Attention, Interest, Decision, and Action.

So let’s relate this to an online campaign:

Attention – You do this by grabbing their attention through your ads.

Interest – As long as your ads aren’t click jacking, you’re saying something that grabs their interest.

Decision – The point of your landing page is to help them make the decision.  Remember, you now have them on the car lot, WHY should they buy a car?

Action – Once their decision has been made, the prospect has to take action.  It’s your job to ensure their interest is so high, their decision is made, and they convert.

Lightbulb going off in your head now?  Every landing page you present to a visitor, you should have already considered these important items.  Above all else, you should Always Be Closing.

What’s the point to your campaign?  To get conversions!

Transition over to mobile now.  People are on their smartphone, perhaps getting a cup of Joe at Starbucks.  Since they’re in their busy everyday life you don’t have much time, so you have to act fast!

The golden rule I go by, is to focus heavy on mobile traffic Friday – Sunday.  More downtime = more time to become a successful lead.

During the other days, you want to really split test items to KEEP their interest.

One way to do this, is have an application download on your landing page.  You can successfully do this by putting an overlay on your lander during these days that encourage people to download.  This way, they can return back to your offer when they have time to become a closed lead.

Another way to keep their interest, is give the visitor something for free.  Let’s say your campaign is targeting people looking to book their summer vacation.  If you know it’s a long shot to get them to complete the booking on that day, then give them the “top 10 things to do when planning your vacation” in return for their email address.  This way you can follow up via email with your offer and even present a coupon code that’s going to help make their decision.

Too many people over complicate the marketing process.  Regardless of what you’re promoting, you’re selling. Capture their attention with a catchy banner.  Spark their interest with a video or compelling sales text.  Help make their decision by providing benefits as to why they need your product or service.  Close the lead by having them take action.

Many times throughout my career I’ve felt like Blake.  Sometimes all people need is a little push to spark that hunger inside of them to really ramp up their campaigns.  As you get ready to start scaling this week, keep all of this in mind, and remember, the runner-up gets a set of kitchen knives ;).