Lead Nurturing - And what to do once you get a response.
All your hard work and inside sales efforts have got you a response. Awesome stuff! You are on the right path. But what next? Not every one that responds to you wants to buy immediately. In fact, 50% of leads (in any system) are not ready to buy. So do you let them go?
Obviously NO!
The answer is Lead Nurturing - Defined as the process of nurturing relationships with your leads, at every stage of their buying journey, irrespective of the stage they are in, and having contextual and relevant unidirectional or bidirectional communication to push them through the funnel.
This sounds pretty logical but is often the most neglected aspect of a pipeline. In fact, some studies reveal that as much as 40% of your sales funnel (or deals) is lost because either you don’t follow up or are not staying in touch (things fall through the cracks, etc.) with your leads.
To help you get started effectively with Lead Nurturing and set you on the right path, here is a summary of things that have worked well for us in the past.
Be responsive - your leads deserve it.
This is probably the worst things to do - and something that would kill the momentum and, at times, the deal entirely. You have done all the hard work to get your leads to respond, now don’t keep them waiting. As soon as you hear from them, respond! You might not have all the answers immediately, but make sure your leads know that you have received their note and are working on it.
Remember, it is a buyers market today. They have all the options, not you (or at least assume so). Oh, and also, if you have committed to getting back in a day, don’t miss your commitment. It is just so unprofessional and you are not in the ‘90s.
Build a multi-channel strategy
You absolutely don’t want to email your leads every two weeks. And you can also certainly not call them every now and then to say hi. To ensure you are top of mind, in a non-invasive and non-annoying manner, develop a strategy across multiple channels like email, social media, targeted content, newsletters, etc. to nurture your leads.
Remember, no two leads are similar, and so should be the case with your nurturing strategy for them. Content relevant to the CEO might not necessarily be relevant to the VP of Engineering. Experiment, analyse and evolve your strategy so that you are being helpful to yourself, and to your leads out there.
FACT: Around 80% of your deals will take >5 follow-ups before a closure.
Social Media to the rescue
A strategy that has done wonders for us (and in a lot of our customer engagements) is leveraging social media for lead nurturing. Social media, by far, is the most underrated and overlooked platform for lead nurturing. Using it is simple, is way more effective than any other channel of communication and gives unprecedented ROI.
However, it is VERY important (and I cannot emphasise this enough) to know where to draw the line. It can absolutely go the other way for you if not done correctly. Don’t be over aggressive (and in some cases annoying) on social media to get your lead’s attention. We all have those 5-6 people in our LinkedIn connections, who seem to always be on LinkedIn. Please don’t be that person.
Magic of relevant content
You have to be relevant to your leads. Period. Almost everyone that you target does not like to talk to or hear from a salesperson. That the irony of the situation. However, you can change their perspective if you stop sounding like one.
Know your audience and curate content to make it relevant for them. With the right content, it is possible to not only nurture your leads but also expedite the associated buying process. It may sound easy, but you will have to take a lot of pains to use this strategy to your advantage. Know the right people in your organisation (if you don’t create content yourself), and explain to them clearly what you want.
Trust me, relevant content for the right audience at the right time works no less than like MAGIC for your pipeline.
Keep it interactive
And this is in continuation of the content strategy above. Salespeople come across as monotonous, boring and folks who are always thinking about selling. Change that perception. To stand out, do the exact opposite of what your competitor might be doing.
Be personal, there is no harm is sending across an interesting article to a lead, around a sport they love. Read, understand and research before doing anything bold, and see your leads opening up more to you.
Keep measuring and learning
Know how far you have come. Keep working until you get better. Again, strategies that have worked for others might not work for you. So review what you are doing regularly, analyse what is working for you and what is not, how much activity you have been able to get on social media with your targeted content, or how many leads did you convert after they spoke to you again from a non-email platform, etc.
And don’t stop. Reach out to leads, connect and exchange information, and before you know it, lead nurturing will work its magic into the picture.
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IF YOU HAVE TRIED ANY OF THIS IN THE PAST AND HOW WELL THAT HAS WORKED FOR YOU. ALSO, PLEASE KNOW THAT WE ARE JUST A PING AWAY IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, OR NEED A HAND EXECUTING ANY OF THE ABOVE, OR JUST WANT TO SAY HI! SO GO AHEAD!
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