Do you have many leads, but they seem to lose interest as they move down the sales funnel or worst yet, they don’t convert into brand loyal customers who promote your product within their circle of influence? So how can you decrease the leak and convert the leads into paying customers who love your brand?
Step 1: Generating leads
The very first step of lead management is generating leads. This is one skill that many businesses are good at. They know they need to send out ads on social media and other platforms to bring potential customers to their website. But even if your funnel is full, you don’t want it to be overcrowded with leads that fizzle out. When you generate leads, you need to ensure that your ads and marketing material are targeted at those customers who are most likely to convert into customers. This step is to get your brand out there and known by your potential customer pool.
STEP 2: Capturing leads
Like with fishing we have put out the bait – our ads – but have we captured any leads beyond a casual glance at our website? In this stage, we need to create a value-filled lead magnet that will encourage the potential lead to give you some of their details like a name and email at the very least. With this information, you can start to learn more about your lead and personalise your interaction with them.
STEP 3: Qualifying leads
You may have captured the lead but is it someone you want to work with, or do you need to release them back into the sea of possibility? It is essential to qualify your lead through marketing material to ensure that the lead is indeed someone you can convert into a paying customer. When qualifying a lead, you need to consider three aspects:
- Does the lead fit into your buyer persona? Here you want to compare your lead with what your ideal client looks like and you also want to ensure your solution will meet your customer’s needs.
- Does the lead have the resources to invest in your offering? They may be your ideal client but if they don’t have the resources, they won’t be able to purchase your product or service.
- How pressing is the desire to solve their pain point? Sometimes customers may have a pain point, but they aren’t in a hurry to solve it because the solution they may have in place is serving them.
By considering these three aspects you can ensure you send market-qualified leads further down the funnel and your salespeople won’t be wasting their time on leads which won’t convert.
STEP 4: Scoring a lead
Now that we have some good leads, we still need to ensure we send them to the correct place further down the path. Depending on the score they get, you can move them on to nurture or you can put them through to sales to close the deal. When scoring a lead, you need to consider many different aspects but here are a few to get you started: demographics, buyer behaviour, and online engagement.
STEP 5: Nurturing your lead
If your lead is still not ready to buy, you should nurture them. This means educating them further on your offering. You need to inform them about the benefits of your products to their pain point. Engage with them to hear their stumbling blocks and how you can move them passed it. It is important in all communication when nurturing your lead that you include relevant and effective calls to action.
STEP 6: Converting the lead
Now it is time. Your lead has shown you that they want to purchase from you. They have decided you are their option, and you need to send them to your sales team. The sales team needs to be equipped to convert the lead and build a lasting relationship with your customer.
By following these six steps, you will be able to create a higher lead conversion rate for your business.
Proudly brought to you by the NSBC