Selling is a tough business and for those involved in outside personal sales, a large amount of time is spent in acquiring leads on potential customers. Some companies make it easy by running an effective advertising campaign that produces leads, or by aggressive telemarketing programs. But, these programs are expensive, the leads may be of questionable value, and in some cases, the company may even charge for the leads to defray the overall expense.

Most sales people I know tend to look at leads produced by others as a gift, rather than as a primary source of business. Highly successful sales people have developed their own lead production system and use it very effectively. The methods vary, but the result is the same, a steady supply of potential customers. In my experience training sales people, this message has come through over and over again. Once you positively identify the profile of your customer, then you have to figure out how to make contact and to obtain an appointment to present your product.

The best source of leads would obviously be a list of names of everyone in your town who has an absolute need for your product, is qualified to buy it, and can afford to buy it from you. If you were selling stethoscopes to doctors and nurses, the first part is easy. Go to the yellow pages of the telephone directory and get the number of every medical facility, doctor and nurse in town. Unfortunately you've only solved the first part of the problem. You know where they are, but now you have to figure out how to get through the layers of "interceptors" who will try to insulate your prospects from you. These "interceptors" are the receptionists, secretaries, appointment schedulers and other administrators who get in your way. You could get sick and schedule a lot of medical appointments in order to get in the room with a prospect, but that might get expensive and time consuming. So this is the point where the true sales person earns their pay.

Effective sales people surely will try to call their prospects using a "cold-call" approach and supplement this method with direct mail solicitations. If you are creative, you might even figure out how to reach your prospects using email. I've used these methods very effectively as a military recruiter and in personal sales.

I've spent hours and hours cold calling on the telephone, attempting to reach people to set appointments to make sales presentations. Sometimes it worked well, but more often it did not. I also set aside a period every day to send out mail solicitations to develop leads. These methods work effectively and should be included in any marketing plan to develops leads, but there are other methods you can use as well.

I think the most effective leads are those you develop through networking and personal contact. If you can meet someone face to face, in a non threatening situation, you'll have a much better chance of getting them to agree to listen to your presentation. There are lots of ways for accomplishing this task, and the methods will vary according to your market. These include joining civic, professional and fraternal organizations such as veterans associations, chambers of commerce, church groups and others. The key in joining these groups is that you don't lose sight of your real goal of meeting people with whom you can develop a business relationship as well as a fraternal one.

Another method that works well is what we called area canvassing. In this process you go to places where people who would have a need for your product might be found. In my recruiting days, I used to attend school sports activities, eat lunch at fast food restaurants where military age individuals might congregate and visit places of business where they might work after school. My approach was always to open a conversation and introduce myself then tell them what I did for a living. I never tried to make a sales presentation, I tried to make an acquaintance and get a name and phone number for follow-up later. My favorite opening to people who were at work was to say, "You're really good at what you do. Do you do this for a hobby or is it a career.". The answers varied, but I had an opening to say, "I might have an alternative for your future. We should talk some time. Let me get your number and I'll give you a call when I have some time".

A good friend of mine in financial services uses this same approach to potential customers and offers people a ball point pen inscribed with his name and number after his opening line. He likes to stand in line at restaurants or in stores and open conversations with people about the wait, the store or the weather. Within a few minutes he says, "I'm sorry for not introducing myself. Let me give you one of my pens. I'm Bob Jones (not his real name) and I help people reach financial independence. Has anyone ever showed you how to do that? Why don't you write your number down for me and I'll give you a call soon to set up an appointment." He gets a lot more names and telephone numbers than he gets "No's".

Area canvassing and networking are a lot more fun than sitting in an office dialing the telephone making cold calls hour after hour. You get a chance to be out in public and you have a lot of fun meeting interesting people. Moreover, the leads developed through this method are going to be a lot more effective and give you a lot more solid appointments to present your product.

Regardless of where you go, don't forget to give out a business card to everyone you meet. First, they are cheap advertisements, and secondly, people rarely throw business cards away. I always set a personal goal for myself to give away a minimum number of cards each day. I figured that if I could give away five cards each day to people I had never met before and I did it away from my office, I will have met 25 new people each week, 100 each month and 1200 each year. That's pretty aggressive, and I felt so what if I only accomplished half of that number. I would have met 600 people. I think most sales people could make a good living with 600 (+/-) self developed leads to set appointments with.

Regardless of the method you use to meet people, it has to produce a steady line of people for you to tell your story to. They answer is to get creative and find a method that will work for you and fit your personality. Whichever method you choose however, it has to be fun. Because in selling, if you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong.