Are You Leaving Money On The Table?
Brenda Trott
Helping family owned businesses who are frustrated with marketing results so they can spend more time servicing clients than chasing them.
Do you have a stack of cards from prospects you have met? What about a fishbowl? How about leads that don’t buy after your first presentation? What do you do with those contacts?
If you are like many professionals, you might not be doing anything with those leads , but that means you are leaving money on the table. According to Hubspot, 70% of marketing leads never convert into sales because of the lack of lead nurturing.
Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing allows you to keep in contact or “touch” a prospect before they are ready to make a purchase. Although it would be ideal to contact a prospect at the
very moment they are ready to buy, the probability is very slim that those sales will happen automatically.
Lead nurturing allows you to keep in contact with prospects who aren’t ready to buy when you first contact them. Doing so will build a relationship with them. This way, when they are ready to buy, they will automatically choose you.
Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than nonnurtured leads (ANNUITAS Group) The number of touches it takes for a prospect to make a purchase depends on timing and on the industry:
- “It takes a minimum of 5 to 10 touches just to build the relationship to a point of being able to do business.”Bill Looney, President, DebtX, loan sale advisor, Boston
- ““Unlike before the financial crisis, it can now take 15 or more touches to close a deal.”John Walsh, Underwriting Manager, Recovco Mortgage Management,
- "In banking, it takes 6 to 12 touches with a prospect before you can convert them into a full blown customer."Chris Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer, CenterState Bank, San Francisco
Touches can be through social media, phone calls and personal visits. Software makes lead nurturing touches automatic with direct emails. Some might call lead nurturing a form of presales followup. The sales process is much easier with effective followup.
Follow up can be applied and used at every stage of the sales process. The key is to
deliver content that’s valuable and entertaining enough to keep your prospect engaged. You don’t want your prospect to lose interest in you or your messages,That would cause them to disengage by reporting you as span, ignoring you, or unsubscribing.
How to Nurture Your Leads
Aside from staying top of mind with your prospects who do not immediately buy, you’ll want to educate them. Let them know what it is they should be looking for when they do make a buying decision. Not only will you be building a relationship with your future client, but you will be swaying their buying choice. You can use software that will tell you how well your prospect is engaging with your email content. This is a clue as to when they will be ready for a followup phone call, inperson visit, and possibly a sale.
Follow-up is not just for prospects
Once the sale is made, continue the relationship with followup. Use the purchase to find out the following:
- Are they a satisfied customer?
- Was delivery prompt?
- Are all questions answered?
Each time you contact your client, be on the look out for more sales opportunities. Be careful not to do this at the peril of your relationship. The primary reason for your
followup will be to be sure their needs are met. Another reason for followup is to be sure they are satisfied. It is far easier for a client to go to another company than to complain to you if you don’t have a solid relationship. Followup can proactively draw out any problems before they get out of hand.
It is important you make time for followup. It will help retain current customers and build strong relationships so referrals and upsells become routine. Whether you are in the financial industry, education industry, or auto industry, you need to nurture your
leads and followup on your clients.
These two steps will increase your bottom line. If you need help implimenting them, just contact me. I can help you with an automation system that will keep you from leaving money on the table.
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