What makes a good marketing database or list? Do you tend to favor quantity or quality?
Lead generation is often viewed purely a numbers gain – the more eyeballs you reach, the greater number of leads you will acquire. This approach points to an obvious goal, build the biggest list that you can. If a list with 2,000 is good then one with 5,000 is even better.
But is it? What if, rather than focusing building a bigger funnel, we focused on getting the right people into the funnel? Personally, I believe this is a better approach for professional service firms and is one of the reasons we in Duct Tape Marketing spend so much time talking about narrowing your focus and having a well defined ideal customer profile.
I believe this approach also applies to building your referral network. If you take the “more is better” approach, then you may spend a lot of time attending various networking events, collecting lots of cards, and perhaps drinking lots of coffee. But the larger your referral list, the harder it becomes to stay in touch and build relationships with everyone on your list.
Everyone’s business is different – would yours benefit more from having a list of 1,000 potential referral partners or 20 people that really know, like, and trust you and make an effort to help you grow your business?
photo credit: Kheel Center, Cornell University on Flickr
Bill Brelsford Small Business Marketing Consultant
