Pay a prospect? This may be a truly dumb marketing idea. But it is both simple and direct so maybe there is a kernel of wisdom here to consider.
But what do you think would happen if you paid a prospect for fifteen minutes of their time and attention? I’m thinking about B2B not B2C. Now I realize that most employees can’t accept gifts, especially money or gift cards. But, providing them with two options including a charitable contribution might make this idea possible.
Assume that you have carefully curated a bespoke list of 100 prospects. Each one holds the position you want to reach at the right sized company.
You and your team have screened each prospect via LinkedIn to ensure a high probability that they are either the decision-maker or part of a decision-making team.
This idea is a perfect test for a small sampling to see what kind of response you get if you pay a prospect.
Remember, this is only a test. If it fails, you might be out of pocket a few bucks. If it works, you may have found a new way to generate leads. Also, keep in mind that lots of companies pay prospects to attend focus groups so maybe this isn’t that bizarre.
The Experiment
Let’s assume the company is in the benefits business and sells a software as a service that enables employees to do their own updates to their status via their mobile device, thus eliminating a payroll clerk.
The target are mid-sized companies with 1,000 employees and $200-500MM in revenue. You want to reach either the head of HR or the head of finance because they are often the key decision makers you sell.
Paying Attention – An Email
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Dear Johanna,
I want to share an idea with you to help your business solve a problem that you face. Our software can eliminate one full-time person in your accounting team and possibly two. You will see a return on your investment within six months. And we guarantee it!
I need a fifteen minutes to explain how it works. Just fifteen minutes.
We are experts in the benefits fields, and we have over 20 years of experience. Last year we helped 1000 companies eliminate 1,534 full time clerks. And we have the receipts to prove it.
Instead of investing thousands of dollars in creative marketing ploys and annoying you, we find the best way to reach customers is to pay to get fifteen minutes of your time.
That’s right. We will pay you for fifteen minutes of your time.
It costs us about $25 to set up a meeting with all our marketing effort so we thought why not just give you $25 for your time. You can keep the gift card or donate $25 to your favorite charity.
If we pique your curiosity after we speak, we can continue the conversation and answer more of your questions about our software.
If you aren’t interested after listening to us, we will thank you for your time and send you one of two choice gifts:
- A gift certificate to Amazon for $25
- A donation to your favorite charity of $25
We know your time is valuable, and instead of bugging you with constant emails or other marketing wizardry, we thought paying you with a modest gift for your time might encourage you to find fifteen minutes for us.
If you want to take us up on our offer, click this link and schedule fifteen minutes with us at your convenience. The form will give you the options of how we pay you for your time.
If this isn’t of interest, click here, and we won’t bother you again. We will remove you from our list.
We promise, no more annoying marketing emails from us
Many thanks for considering this request.
Jeff
VP of Business Development | Blue Frog Benefits Services
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Return on Attention
If one new B2B client or customer is worth $25,000 per year and you typically keep a new client for four years, this little experiment may be worth a small test.
You can experiment with what you pay and test this with a small number of emails to well-researched targets.
Worse case – you make a few donations to charities or a few employees at a company. You can limit your exposure as you test this approach.
I haven’t done this yet but wonder what might happen.
What do you think?
Please comment below or send me an email at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com if you want to privately express your thoughts.
Need help getting with some novel outbound marketing ideas?
I can help. You can set up a time chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conver?sation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com. Let’s explore working together today.
