I was reviewing some numbers with a client not long ago and they expressed concern that the overall number of leads they were producing had been going down steadily over the past year.

I knew a few of the other numbers and what we had been attempting to do with their marketing so I quickly quipped, “that’s great.” The reason I was able to say this is that over a three year period their sales revenue had more than tripled, their average project size was up about 425%, and their lead conversion numbers were through the roof.

We had spent the better part of three years repositioning this 25 year old firm and two of the primary goals of this process was to narrow their target market and clearly define a core message of difference. The result of this work was that they are now telling unqualified leads, “we may not be for you.” The net effect is they are getting more of the type of work they want with a lot less work. Their sales folks are far more productive and making more money, and they have far fewer questions about the price of their work.

Now, the owner of the business still is a little nervous about that downtrend in leads, but he’s coming around.