How most people kill their lead generation marketing stone dead!

To earn the trust and respect needed to gain free sales leads through referrals requires time, effort and patience.

I talk to a lot of people that understand this concept and apply themselves diligently to creating a worthy relationship that truly deserves the business sales leads that come with a flow of business sourced from high quality referrals.

And then they make the basic and common mistake that can kill the hard won relationship very quickly. And yet this is one of the most fundamental parts of lead generation management there is!

And what could this simple mistake be? You won't believe how simple and obvious it is.

They simply do not follow up with the people that have given them the referral in the first place.

If you had a gold mine that produced nice nuggets of wealth for you, wouldn't you look after it, protect it and make sure it was running as well as it could? Well these people are a gold mine of future business.

And yet so many people leave them to get overgrown and run down with neglect. Then they go back to them a year later and expect to get more nuggets!

The trust you build up can be quickly eroded by neglect.

Simply call and say thank you. When you think about it, how many times does someone actually say thank you to you? It is a surprisingly rare event and so makes a great impression.

Let them know (without impinging on any privacy aspects of your conversation) how you have gone so far.

If the referral was just what you were looking for - tell them. If they were not quite right then this is an excellent chance to thank them and start to educate them on exactly what you are looking for. Use the referral as an example and let them know what was right and what could be different next time.

I am often asked if money or some other sort of thank you for a recommendation should be given.

My view is that a referral given to you simply because you are that good at your job is the most powerful referral you can get. As soon as you offer people money for a referral you run the risk of receiving quantity and not quality - they can start pulling out names for the sake of the reward and not because you are the best option for that client.

One very powerful way of making an impression with monetary rewards is to give one when it is not expected. This way you have received the referral for the right reason and they have been happy to give it to you, so the reward is a big cherry on top and will usually be well received.

There is a better option than money. You need to build a relationship with your clients and you should know something about their passions and interests.

The best "thank you" you can give is a present that relates to something in this area - and price is not the issue! A $5 present that speaks volumes and says that you really understand that person will beat a $200 dinner any day.

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