In the first model, you use the Web to bring you leads and provide information to support the sale. Then you close the sale by phone, e-mail, or face-to-face. Many small businesses, especially service businesses, use this model successfully.
A main tool for the prospect generation model businesses is a carefully designed online response form. Mailto: e-mail links allow people to contact you, but the online form allows you to structure the information people give you, so you can qualify the prospect and know how to respond.

Some years ago a police products cataloguer set up a website to generate requests for a print catalogue. He was astounded at all the internationals who requested a catalogue, and found that the people who requested a catalogue via his Internet site were more likely to purchase products than the leads he developed from conventional sources -- and, at a much lower cost. He qualified his leads by asking the name of the organisation the inquirer was a member of. It helped him cut down on catalogue requests from people who weren't likely to purchase.

If yours is the kind of business where people take a while to come to a decision, or need customised information before they purchase that can only be supplied by a real human being, then prospect generation is probably your main revenue model. This is especially true of products that have a higher price tag or need customisation. You can do a great deal to support the sale, however, by providing a wealth of information online. Sometimes businessmen protest, "If I tell them everything they need to know, they won't phone me, and I won't be able to complete the sale."
Perhaps. But increasingly, if the prospect doesn't find the information on your site, he'll surf until he finds it on your competitor's site, and then call your competitor instead of you.

One of the rules of Internet business is that your competitor is but a click away. Your online presentation and information should be so complete and compelling that your prospect has no need to leave.
Trust prospects with all the information they need to make a decision and you increase the chances that they'll trust you with their business.

Be aware, however, that increasingly, companies are finding ways to automate the delivery of customised information, provide quotes via database queries, and then consummate the sale online. Though you may begin with a prospect generation model, you may eventually be forced to adopt an automated system.