3 Ways To Catch A Mouse... Or A New Client

Mice can be cute little creatures when they are on TV or at a pet store -- essentially, when they’re hidden behind closed doors and pose no immediate threat. Have mice running around in your house, eating your food, and gnawing holes can quickly lead to a pesky, annoying problem.

Last week, my wife discovered a mouse running around in our home. My kids and I decided to go on a mission to catch this little invader. We brainstormed all sorts of intricate ways to ensnare the rodent.

But, to our surprise, this creature seemed to predict our every move. Catching the mouse took patience, brainstorming, and the implementation of some makeshift, creative strategies.

It kind of reminded me of the way that we try to “catch” prospects in when doing sales. We set up all types of marketing and sales contraptions to try to successfully ensnare a hot lead for our company.

Here are three ways to catch a mouse, and how the process sometimes relates to capturing a lead for your business.

Identify Where The Mouse Is Coming From: It’s near impossible to capture a mouse until you know where it is coming from. Is it coming from a crack in your basement? From your neighbors’ apartment? From the broken screen door in the den?

Identify how the mouse got into your home and you’ll be that much more successful in figuring out a way to capture it.

Likewise, identifying the cause of your website visitors is vital in the success of your marketing efforts and, therein, lead generation. How are people getting to your site? Is it because of your Facebook page? Meetup events? LinkedIn blog posts?

Google Analytics is one of the most comprehensive ways to track this information. You can check everything from bounce rate to return visitors. What’s more? You can track a user’s activity by the second to learn how they got to your site, what they did once there and where they went when they left. This is extraordinarily helpful for creating buyer personas and altering your lead-gen strategies.

Pick The Right Bait: There are many types of bait traps. There are glue traps, spring traps, multi-catch traps. Some of them are more humane than others. The key is to put something of value on the trap to attract the mouse. My kids had a hard time catching the mouse when they put out bait that the mouse was not interested in eating: chocolate cake, potato chips, rice pudding.

Even if you do add something of value like cheese or nuts, sooner or later the mouse might catch on to what you are trying to do and avoid the bait. Likewise, a smart mouse might figure out how to get its cheesy-treat without getting hooked.

Have you ever tried to offer an paid incentive to your prospects? Recently, we sent out a survey and offered a $25 Amazon gift card to those that completed the 10-minute questionnaire. Some of our prospects finished this survey with honest, thoughtful responses. Others, simply looking to reap the gift card reward, spent 30-seconds falsely writing in illegitimate responses.

When prospecting, it is vital that you choose not only the right bait and incentive for clients, but to do so strategically, so that it helps, and doesn’t hurt your efforts.

Get A Cat: One of the best form of mouse-proofing your house long term is to get a cat. Cats love to catch mice, and will even play with them after the initial capture. Cats can do a great job at catching all the mice you will ever need. Still, a cat requires food, water, shelter, and constant pet-maintenance, even there if are no mice around.

Hiring the right superstar salesperson for your company can be the most effective way to drum up new business. Likewise, the opportunity exists to hire another company to assist your business. Still, you will need to make sure that you truly find the right “cat” before giving her a home. Remember, it’s an investment in the future of your company and can bring many benefits for your business. Still, a new team member will require a salary, some training, and consistent maintenance. Evaluate if you have the financial resources (and time-commitment) prior to this step.

Bottom Line: Whether you want to catch a mouse or a client, there are many ways to get the work done. Both require a great strategy and skillful execution. Keep monitoring your efforts, focusing on what works, and optimizing your results to catch your “mouse”.

Now its your turn, what tricks do you have to catch a mouse? What are the top lead-generation tactics that you use? Let me know in the comments below.

Biography: Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO and co-founder of digital marketing agency, Ajax Union. He is a public speaker, certified Google Trainer, and published business author. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about a broad range of business topics in his seminars, webinars and articles. Joe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurs Organization in NY, a group with over 10,000 CEO’s. Joe is a trusted advisor for the Vistage community of 18,000 CEO’s and a contributing member of the INC Business Owners Council, a community of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Joe is proud of all his accomplishments but most of all he is proud of his successful foodie wife and beautiful four kids.