Time is like the personal debit card you own.  Only once your account is set up, there’s no upping it.  Can’t ask for an extension, can’t get an increase, can’t fill it up with more cash, and there’s no refunds on it either.  Once you debit it — even if it was for a “bad purchase” — there’s no “do-overs” and no returns.

That’s why when it comes to generating leads and selling, wasting time with tire-kickers and looky-loos, is not only counter-productive, it’s frustrating because it whacks down that remaining debit card balance of yours, and gives you zero in return.

So how do you eliminate curiosity-seekers and people who are “just shopping,” from your life?

There are probably dozens of things you can do, but let’s talk about three of them today.

One, somehow… you MUST make your prospects qualify.

I’ll give you a very simple example of this.  Remember years ago, how you’d read small ads in the middle of comic books or inside TV Guide (remember TV Guide?), or in your local newspaper.  These ads usually had a small coupon you could clip out and send in to get a free sample or a free report, right?

Well, at the end of the offer, most of these coupons also said something like, “I am enclosing 10 cents to cover postage and handling.”  That little 10 cents, was used
specifically to eliminate freeloaders who are “just curious.”

Simply asking someone to make a small sacrifice, usually separates the boys from the men, the weak from the strong, the mildly curious from the dead-serious.

Basically, all forms of eliminating tire-kickers will be different versions of this one strategy.

Read that last sentence again and get creative with it.

And don’t just say “O.K.,” I really want you to go ahead and re-read it, I’ll wait…

Good, now let’s move on.

Two, weed them out in your sales copy by specifically letting your prospects know who you can deal with and who you can and cannot help.  So for instance, maybe you’re trying to attract women to your bridal gown store by offering a free fitting and a free wedding party assessment.

But you don’t want every Jane Doe in town who’s thinking about getting married, to stop by, or… maybe you sell high-end gowns only and you don’t want to waste time
on anyone who can’t afford one of your gowns.

In your copy, you might say something like, “Do not read this ad unless you’re willing to pay a little more for a much better quality wedding gown.”  Or… “Just so you know, these wedding party assessments are incredibly effective and have been proven to save most brides at least $3,750, not to mention substantial savings in your time.  However, they are ONLY effective for those brides who are having more than 12 people in their wedding party.”

This qualifies your bride by the size of the wedding she is having.  Which may or may not be how you’d qualify how much your prospect is going to spend on a wedding dress — you’ll need to figure out the right qualifier here, based on your existing sales.  But you get the gist of what I’m saying, right?

Three, make people apply to work with you.

One of the biggest problems with most businesses, is their number one qualification for who they will accept as a client or customer is “they must have a pulse.”

Unfortunately, this is going to get you nowhere.

You wouldn’t accept that as you sole qualification for a spouse, would you?

Of course not, so why accept it in your business?  Your clients will make you or break you, and since who you work with is completely up to you, why wouldn’t you want the proverbial best — the crème de la crème?

One way or another, and no matter what technique you use… anytime there’s some kind of “barrier” or “step up” your prospects have to take in order to work with you, there will also be some sort of weeding out process.

In nature, Darwin called this process “Natural Selection.”

And it’s this process that saves you time, headaches and frustration, and eliminates the tire-kickers and looky-loos from your business, and from your life, forever.

And THAT is the gist of two-step lead generation, and of valuing your own time.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

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