Two ways to convert leads to clients

List brokers can improve the quality of leads by screening names according to pre-determined criteria, provided you use their services properly. Here are two specific lead tips from Ed McCarthy aimed at making your next list, last.

1. Remember market differentiation and segmentation strategies. “If you’re buying lists, you need to understand where the lists are coming from: what zip codes, what size homes, etc.,” says John Melchinger, a Tampa, Fla.-based marketing coach to financial advisors, “You can find out some of those things and some you have to guess at to formulate a list. But if you spend a little more money and have the list sorted versus just getting as many names of people over age 65 as you can, you will do much better.”
2. Research your target market’s demographics and find a suitable response company. “If you give the response company the demographics and the zip codes, they will tell you how many prospects in that area meet the criteria,” says Anil Vazirani, president and CEO of Secured Financial Solutions, LLC, in Scottsdale, Ariz. “So when someone makes a reservation to attend a workshop, I know it’s a client I want to work with because it was the demographics I had chosen and given to the mail company.”