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In my last blog (What Should Marketing be Doing Anyway?) I introduced the concept of a Client Creation Factory and discussed the three stages of building that factory – understanding the first stage (your Prospect Pipeline) is key to building a productive and healthy factory that yields increased revenues.

Your pipeline is your identified opportunities for future revenue. It’s a valuable asset and you should treat it as such. Even if you have all the business you need today – you’ll need more tomorrow.

Growing
It’s beyond the scope of this blog post to go over all the demand generation options. But before you go spending money chasing after new leads for prospective clients, you should first make sure you’re managing and nurturing the clients you already have in your client portfolio effectively. To learn more on client portfolio management read Client Portfolio Basics.

The number one place you should be looking for new pipeline material is from referrals from your existing client base and the circle of influencers you know.

Client Referrals

1. Have a program: It doesn’t have to be much, but it should be organized in a way that is not over the top – you can give gifts, discounts, and other incentives to remind your existing clients and influencers how much you appreciate them and their referrals.
2. Communicate your program: Your monthly company newsletter, website, and other communication should have a regular spot to feature your referrals program.
3. Ask for the referral: Don’t be bashful. It’s OK to ask for suggestions on referrals just like it’s OK to ask for the business.

Influencer Referrals

1. Grow your list: Make a list of your circle of influence – these are the professional colleagues and others you know who can be referral sources. Informal business networking groups on LinkedIn and Facebook are a great place to start meeting and tracking these influencers.
2. Keep in contact consistently: Have a system to communicate with these influencers on a consistent basis. Even if you see them at regular functions such as Rotary, you should have a professional communication reminding them of the value you bring to clients.

Managing
It’s vital that each and every lead, business card, name and contact that comes across your desk with a modicum of future opportunity be captured, categorized, and tracked. If you can’t track it you can’t measure and manage it. This should apply to your circle of influencers as well, not just client prospects.

It is well established that the vast majority of leads generated by marketing go unmanaged. An easy way to manage leads generated by marketing activity is to track if they are hot, warm, or cold leads.

With your CRM or PSA software you can build a systematic follow-up process – make it simple. I’d focus on using follow-up communications that position you as a trusted business professional by providing them with valuable information using the following:

• e-Newsletter – an opt-in company newsletter that’s sent on a regular basis, featuring content of value to the recipient, is a proven prospect nurturing tool. It’s a positive, professional way to keep in front of your prospects.
• FYI Email – if you don’t have a newsletter, I’m sure that every month you come across an interesting article in a respected publication on small business IT – forward these articles with a link and a short note to your prospect.
• PR – there are plenty of good DIY (do it yourself) PR guides out there. At least once a quarter you should do a company press release. Email a copy to your customers, prospects, and key influencers. PR Web is a good site to start with.

Start Today
Be realistic. You don’t have a lot of time, and it’s understandably easy to let spending valuable time on a group of people, the majority whom will never buy from you, fall to the bottom of your To Do list. Think of it like long term investing: a little saved each month, growing at a modest rate, yields big returns over time. Invest a little each month in building your client pipeline and it will yield revenues.