How to Use a Survey for Lead Generation and New Business – Part 1

Does It Have “Legs”?

It was very very early in my career in marketing when I first heard this question.

I remember sitting around a conference table with a weary grizzled (and often drunk) old VP of Account Services, and a young and terrified creative director who was pitching an idea for an account. I just can’t remember if it was for frozen french-fries or fashion sunglasses. The creative droned on and on while all the while, the VP was intensely securitizing ceiling tiles and whistling the Sailor’s Hornpipe.

Finally, he exploded.

“Blah, blah, blah,” he sneered, snorted and screamed, “I don’t see it. DOES IT HAVE LEGS??!!!?”After this rather awkward meeting (it was the first time I ever saw someone cry at work), I asked my boss what “does it have legs” meant. Although I was young and naïve, I was pretty sure that it wasn’t a reference to Betty Grable or Marilyn Monroe.

He explained that the best ideas and strategies were ones that could be used in multiple ways and for multiple purposes and audiences. It wasn’t enough just to do a clever ad for newfangled frozen microwaveable french  fries (yum), it was a matter of finding as many ways as possible, from public relations to promotions, to motivate the consumer to  consider and purchase the product.

Surveys Got Legs

For professional services firms, surveys are one of those tools that got legs.

Constructed and executed properly, a well done survey can serve many masters, from lead generation to branding to research and a lot more.

You may want to build a survey into next year’s marketing plan and budget. Note that I wrote “marketing budget”, because at the end of the day, it’s my position that if you are a professional service firm and if you’re not doing a survey whose primary objective isn’t marketing, then you’re wasting time and resources.

So, what kind of legs do surveys have? They can be used to: 

1. Identify trends, issues and hot buttons affecting a target market
2. Acquire data for benchmarking, particularly in regard to overall industry metrics versus individual client or prospect  metrics
3. Acquire insights as to how demographic segments (size, location, job title, etc.) perceive issues, trends and hot buttons
4. Establish firm and individual professionals as subject matter experts
5. Lead generation (more on this later)
6. Acquire a treasure trove of data that can be leveraged into a significant amount of different  types of content
7. Allows for the collection and development of proprietary data that competitors can’t duplicate
8. Effective for securing earned media (public relations) opportunities
9. Effective for establishing or building relationships with trade associations
10. Often creates opportunities for competitive entry barriers – i.e. – no firm wants to be the second one in when it comes to surveying a target market

Easier Said Than Done

As you can see, there are a lot of benefits that come from survey, but getting the maximum value takes a huge amount of planning and an incredible amount of work. 

It’s a whole lot more than just constructing a questionnaire. Respondents need to be recruited. Alliances need to be found. Data needs to analyzed. Reports need to be written. Lead nurturing strategies need to be defined and executed. And so on.

Over my next serval blogs, I’ll be talking about surveys with a special focus on their use for lead generation. The best part?

Today’s survey is tomorrow’s new client.

Then it Was My Turn

It was inevitable that my turn up at bat in front of the VP would come, but I was determined to be prepared.

So I pitched my ideas. I can’t remember if it was for never greasy always easy mustache wax  or a the new AS21C-567 valve for an industrial waste removal pump. Nonetheless, I was prepared, so I pitched.

He stared at me with red-rimmed eyes through his Clark Kent glasses. “All right, I heard enough,” he growled, “So tell me junior, DOES IT HAVE LEGS???”

“Does it have legs? Why this idea has more legs than a convention of millipedes!”, I replied.

“It’s got more legs than infinite chorus line of Rockettes’!”

“You want legs? This has got more legs than ten times the entire inventory of the ten largest mannequin manufacturers in the world combined!”

Then he started whistling the Sailor’s Hornpipe........