Site Maps

As you can see, there are five main types of data in the data base.

Company Descriptions are "free text" descriptions of the user's company and what it does. Most users also include location information, contact information and some limited product information, as well "benefit statements".

Products and Services consist of a list of the SIC Codes of the products and services that are made and/or sold by the user's company. This can also includes users' demographic and professional SIC Codes.

Needs consists of a list of the SIC Codes representing the products and services that are bought, sought, rented or consumed by the users and their companies.

Leads are "free text" descriptions of business opportunties.

Ads are "free text" advertisements.

In The Lead Generator, leads (or, more accurately, information that there might be a business opportunity,) can come in any of these forms.

When you find a lead on The Lead Generator, you can make contact with the other person by sending him or her a message. By sending a message to the other person within The Lead Generator, you can maintain your anonymity until you have qualified each other as valid leads. These messages are stored in another area of the system.

As you read in the User's Guide, the reason that The Lead Generator works is because every business (and, in fact, every consumer, too,) is both a buyer and seller at the same time. The things that you need are provided by other businesses (or service organizations,) while the things that you (or your company,) produce are used by other businesses or consumers. Everyone has needs; and everyone produces something -- even if it's only labor!

In this way, the economy can be thought of as just a big circle, as shown on the right.

So Let's Talk About Sales

The problem with sales and marketing is that information on who needs your product is pretty hard to come by. This is not generally because people are hiding it; it's because talking about it usually isn't a high priority -- unless you're a purchasing manager.

But the fact remains, everyone has needs.

Think about it: Your company buys almost as much as it sells each year, unless it loses money -- in which case it buys more than it sells!

All that The Lead Generator does is allows you to trade information about your needs, information that you already own and that doesn't cost you anything, for infomation that you want (i.e. your prospects' needs,) that would otherwise be very expensive to acquire.

The Lead Generator then puts your needs in one big file along with everyone else's.

Checks and Blocks

In order to make the process work, once you're registered as a user, The Lead Generator employs a series of "Checks and Blocks" that enforces the requirement for you to post your needs, and that you have to pass in order to gain access to the data base. The flow chart below illustrates the most important ones.

In order for you to access the data base to get leads, you first have to put your information into the system. Once you do, you can access the data base and search for leads. From then on, whenever you do a search, the system will check to be sure that your information is up-to-date, and let you search if it is.

The system gives you 60 days to access the data base after you have updated your information, but you are warned after 30 days. If you haven't updated your information by the end of 60 days, your access will be blocked. Because everyone has to abide by this requirement, though, the quality of the information is very high, and the data stays very current.

By the way, you also have to read any mail that you get on the system. If you don't at least read your mail (i.e. you don't necessarily have to respond to it,) your access of the data base will be blocked.

It may sound complicated, but it's really very easy.

Each of the areas in the data base have slightly different ways of searching. Below you'll find flow-charts that will help you understand what's available.

This chart illustrates the process used for free-text searches. This includes searching Leads, Company Descriptions and Ads.

When you search SIC-Coded information such as Needs and Products and Services, there are four ways to search, as shown below.

We warned you!

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