Maping out leads for the day

[senior-advisor-indiana]

What I am looking for is a program that I can put in addresses off of leads and it will show where they are at. For instance if I have 5 leads in a county. I want to be able to know how close they are to each other to see how to work them. If I could just type in every address and the map shows a point showing where each one is. Hopefully I am expaining this right.

I am not looking for driving directions.

 

[J.R.]

What I am looking for is a program that I can put in addresses off of leads and it will show where they are at. For instance if I have 5 leads in a county. I want to be able to know how close they are to each other to see how to work them. If I could just type in every address and the map shows a point showing where each one is. Hopefully I am expaining this right.

I am not looking for driving directions.

The only thing I know if is through Sales Genie. YOu might be able to accomplish the same thing via one of google's or mapquest services.

 

[pfsthib]

Microsoft Streets & Trips. You can put in all your stops and hit optimize. It will tell you which ones to got to first.

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Thanks, can I get the microsoft streets and trips for free

 

[pfsthib]

Try ebay, Office Depot, or Staples you should be able to get it for under $40.

 

[Guest]

I believe this is what you are looking for:

http://www.batchgeocode.com/

and it's free

 

[nate124]

I have found that the easiest way to do this is by using yahoo maps.

http://maps.yahoo.com

You can put in many locations, one after another and it gives directions from each, to each. Also, if it's a business, it pulls information from yahoo yellow pages and will actually give the business info... such as phone numbers, suite numbers, etc which can really come in handy.

I have used this to map out 20+ addresses in a row (for a different sales job), and it never fails! Plus, it's free!

 

[Guest]

IF you have the +4 part of the zipcode AND if you can get your data into a spreadsheet or database, you can sort on the whole zipcode (5+4) and that will give a pretty good idea of what addresses are near each other. I do with this GoLeads data. Works pretty well... although I still get lost a lot!

I write for Colonial (worksite supplements) and they want us to do 'drop offs" where you generate lots of customized letters from your database (RefUSA, GoLeads, etc.), pop it in a folder with some other stuff and drive to the place, walk in, and drop it off... perhaps meeting with the owner if possible. Thus, being able to sort all my 'drops' saves a lot of gas.

This sounds easy, but you have no idea how much time it takes. I end up driving by the building at least once... and am always on the wrong side of the street. I have to park and sometimes have to walk a hundred or so yards. In some cases I have to wait for the elevator. But most often it is traffic that kills your productivity. Trying to do 20 dropoffs can take 4 hours, if not more.

This sucks. I've found that you do just as well by making a "Dear Business Owner" letter, copying them at Staples and driving to an area and dropping them. No one seems to care if you have their name address, etc. on the letter.

Also, no one ever calls you. You have to follow up each with a phone call... and if you don't do it the next day, a lot of the time they have zero recollection of getting whatever it is you dropped off.

And then there is the other group. I've called and said "I left a package of material at your office the other day. Did you get it?" Lots of people answer 'yes' even though I was never there or I never sent it.

I'm to the point where I just call for the appointment and don't do a prelim letter. I've tried fax, mail, email.... there is no silver bullet. No matter what you do only five out of a hundred are interested in what you are selling and the sooner you find them the better.

Driving, mailing, faxing, is a time-sink. You cover more ground by just calling and saying you are going to be in the area and want to know what a good time is to come by. One out of twenty are happy to have me come in. The others are polite, but are not interested.

I try to email them and thank them for taking my call (I get their email from their website if I can find it.) It's probably a waste of time as no one has ever called and said "Hey Al, on second thought why don't you come by next Tuesday." Still, on some level I think it might happen one day and it will turn out to be a 1000 life group! As the old NY Mets fan of 1969 used to say (I was one of them) "Ya Gotta Believe."

Sorry to ramble, but I don't remember much of a discussion on this before.

Al

 

[Frank Stastny]

Establish zones by grouping zip codes in a certain part of a county or state. Sort your leads by zones and then look at a map to determine the most efficient way of going to those zip codes.

I don't think you will find a program that is going to eliminate you having to look at some kind of map.

Road Trips Door to Door will enable you to put in several addresses to "plan a trip" with various stops along the way.

 

[Newby]

My GPS claims it will do that but I haven't figured out how. The GPS is great for finding one address though. Garmin 2620