No one likes to lose money. Yet, we ALL lose money every day. I recently discovered there are at least 171 ways to lose a million dollars, believe it or don’t. We count money we make, we count money we spend, we count money we owe, we count money owed to us, we count money which we pay taxes on, we count money we save... but we fail to count money that we do not make.

The whole concept of "fortune not made" can be devastating to a small business that happens to be struggling to merely survive. It can most certainly slow down the growth of a thriving business as well. There is no accounting system for lost data, lost money and "fortune not made".

So the problem is real. Some call it unconverted leads or lost opportunities problem. Clinicians call it unscheduled treatment plans. At eLaunchers.com we call this problem diamonds in your database.

This problem is amplified in the life of physicians, cosmetic dentists, orthodontists, cosmetic surgeons, attorneys and any business who sells a high value product or service.

Let us evaluate the economics of this problem for a practice that sells a service for $6000. This is a good number for easy math. So, let us pretend that you sell a treatment (if you are a clinician) or a service (if you are a professional practice) that generates $6000 in revenue per case or $6000 in average lifetime value of a patient/client. So when a patient or client says NO, when a patient or client calls and does not book an initial appointment, when a prospect fills out a form on the website and does not get a follow up from you, when someone comes to the website and leave without filling out a form, when someone clicks on a link that does not work.... you LOSE $6000 for each 'incident'. In database marketing lingo we call this a systemic data loss.

When 171 prospects 'slip away' or 'fall through cracks', you lost $1,026,000.

A million dollars is an important milestone in the life of most business owners. You can do a lot with a million dollars in additional revenue. For most businesses, a million dollar loss is unsustainable. 

Yet, we ALL lose over 171 lost data points. Some of us lose 171 diamonds in a month. Some of us lose 171 in a year. Some of us lose 171 in 3 years.

One thing is true. Not everyone who is marketed to will become client. Not every respondent is going to buy. Some will never buy. When a 100 respondents respond to your marketing and 20 are buying effortlessly, there are another 20 who will never buy no matter what. But there is a large pool of 'naysayers' in the middle, what I call 'swing vote' that is worth pursuing.

What loss prevention methods can you deploy? Following will help:

1. Improve quality of leads by better segmentation and tighter lead magnet.
2. Automate the process of capturing lead and responding immediately when they respond.
3. Follow up with ALL channels (print, phone, email, social media).
4. Connect immediately. Deliver lead magnet & tripwire offer, ensure & enforce consumption.
5. If you are unable to connect immediately, add them to new lead sequence pursuing them to connect. My recommended course of action for new lead sequence is 9 emails, 7 calls and 3 print attempts. For print attempts, consider Fed-Ex as opposed to regular mail.
6. If new lead sequence is unsuccessful, add them to long term nurture. (Weekly nurture email) and add them to blog feed.

If a million dollars matter to you, there are 171 ways you can lose a million dollars in fortunes not made.