Originally published March 14, 2018 , updated on May 31, 2023

From 1966 until fairly recently, the Yellow Pages were the Mordor of the advertising world. Desperate to attract more local customers, business owners would funnel their hard-won earnings into the directory, hoping against all odds that it would make a difference.

The Yellow Pages unashamedly swallowed up as much cash as possible, sending its Dark Army of hefty books to homes across the globe. At the time, business owners had no choice. Each year, they faced painful increases in rates, which swallowed up most of their advertising budget. Yet, to pass over an ad in the directory meant losing out on hundreds of potential customers.

In 2010, the Internet, leader of the Information Age, rallied its forces. Since then online searches have become the go-to for most consumers. Now, in 2018, the Internet has finally killed off the Yellow pages. The first of 104 final editions were rolled out in Brighton, UK, earlier this year.

Old School Lead Generation is Buried Alongside the Yellow Pages

When the Yellow Pages held the monopoly as the most comprehensive business directory, sales reps had their work cut out for them.  You could almost hear the global sigh as reps across the world settled down with bulky copies of local directories. They are painstakingly copying business details and transferring them one by one to Excel spreadsheets. It may not have been complicated but it certainly took longer than any person should spend on such a menial task.

The drawback to these listings, of course, was the fact that sales reps would only have access to direct business addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. There was no way to access individual employee contact details by perusing the Yellow Pages. The only workaround was to contact the business to request the details of high-flyers and hope for a favourable response.

It’s no surprise that the modern sales rep is predisposed to use tools that make lead generation as quick and simple as possible.

Google Scraping Tools Like GoPinLeads are the Way of the Future

Unlike any other scraping tool on the market, GoPinLeads is a business extractor that uses machine learning and AI, enabling users to search for companies anywhere in the world. The tool scrapes millions of websites, social media platforms, corporate sites, and databases. Within seconds, the tool populates an extensive Excel spreadsheet, providing details including names, contact details, and social media profiles.

Using GoPinLeads can save users over 50 hours a week on scraping customer data. Without having to resort to outdated list building practices, professionals finally have the time they need to focus on their core business and to grow sales.

What to Do With Your Leads Once You Have Them

When reaching out to a prospect for the first time, the aim is to establish trust, provide value, gather key information, and, if necessary, schedule a follow-up meeting. A clever content marketing strategy is the best way to ensure that prospects are receptive to your message. Your outreach email needs to hit the proverbial nail on the head. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a prospect that’s less inclined to enter into a conversation with you.

Prospecting emails are a touchy subject in the marketing world but they’re an absolute necessity. Instead of sending out a bulk, template-based message, consider taking the time to type up a tailored message. It should initiate a conversation based on something the prospect recently did. A quick online search will give you some useful tidbits about yellow pages.

Once you’ve initiated contact, send a follow-up mail that delivers real value rather than a pitch that falls flat. Share an interesting article, video, or infographic that benefits the reader in some way. Your main aim here is to make it all about them instead of punting your agenda.

The next step is to invite the prospect into a conversation by asking a question. Be as direct as possible. Make it easy for the prospect to reply and make it clear that replying is beneficial to them in some way. You’re here to solve a problem. Your services or products are a solution.

From here on out, it’s important to follow up. Make the effort to stay in touch and keep the conversation going. Take care of your prospects and your clients, and they’ll be motivated to remain loyal to you.

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