Market well then keep leads rolling
THE PLAIN AND SIMPLE TRUTH IS THAT YOUR MARKETING AND SALES STRATEGIES DON’T STOP WHEN THE LEADS START.
YOU’VE done everything right – your brand is killing it, your digital presence is well balanced, your products and services meet the needs of your customers and your website and brochures are well written, contain beautiful imagery and are up to date. You sit back and smile as the leads roll in.
OK so this might be an over simplistic pipedream but let’s assume you’re doing everything you should be doing to generate new business leads – perhaps you have more than you can handle?
This is of course wonderful but what’s not so wonderful is when you haven’t effectively planned the next steps and end up losing the leads you have worked so hard to get through the door.
The plain and simple truth is that your marketing and sales strategies don’t stop when the leads start.
Depending on your industry, this can be the most critical time when one false move could end in your potential customer going to the competition.
We prepared our top tips to help your business nurture ongoing, positive relationships with future clients.
HAVE AN EFFECTIVE DATABASE
This doesn’t mean a pile of business cards in your wallet, or hundreds of emails in your inbox in a folder called “sales”. If this is you, you need to take action immediately. If nothing else, a simple spreadsheet is better than nothing. There are also some excellent CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms such as Hubspot, which are simple to use.
Make sure you include as much information as you can for example, their contact details, how the lead was generated, notes detailing conversations which have taken place and any action points.
KNOW WHEN AND HOW YOU CONTACT YOUR LEADS
This is perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of marketing because technically, it falls into sales. While there is some crossover, your marketing strategy needs to seamlessly transition into sales activity to maintain consistency and engagement.
Research shows that the probability of converting a lead to a sale drops by almost 50 per cent after just five minutes – planning is therefore, essential.
USE MARKETING TO HELP CONVERT EACH LEAD
While some companies pass the demand generation gauntlet over to sales at this point, marketing still plays an important role in converting the lead. Identifying the types of content required for each stage of the sales process, allows you to arm your sales team with highly targeted and consistent messaging. This could include case studies, presentations, product information or “howto” content.
KNOW HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE
Your brand will have created an expectation from the outset, so the reality must support the perception for it to truly embed confidence and trust.
GET YOUR FRONT OF HOUSE SHIPSHAPE
At some point, it is highly likely that your leads are going to visit you, either physically or digitally. So, you need to ensure your front of house is in pristine condition. In today’s multimedia world, this includes your website, social media channels through to the more traditional components such your office or shop facade, uniforms or company car. Louise Ottewell and Darren Baines are the founders of Forte Marketing.