Top 5 Methods to Keep Sales Leads Warm
One of the most challenging parts of lead generation is keeping your sales leads warm. Some leads might show some interest at the start and then decide they don’t want to make a purchase at the moment. Some will show interest and enquire further about your products and service then you’ll never hear from them again. Some may enquire and ignore all your attempts at communication.
80% of marketers report their lead generation efforts are only slightly or somewhat effective, so a lot of businesses find keeping sales leads warm a challenging task. But, there are methods you can implement to help prevent leads from ageing.
In this article we’ve put together a few of the ways you can keep on your lead’s radar.
This week we’ve discussed leads in detail, you can catch up here:
- – Beginner’s Guide to Lead Generation
- – Beginner’s Guide: How to Generate Leads Online
- – Beginners Guide: Lead Nurturing
1. Keep Doing What You’re Doing
Arguably the most important point, keep doing what works. If it’s your webinars, for example, that generate interest, keep producing them to keep your sales leads warm, and you’ll be generating more leads at the same time.
A key aspect of lead generation is creating content, so keep providing them value and remind them why they chose to fill out your contact form / showed interest in you in the first place.
Monitor what your warm leads care about, you may want to consider dedicating time to producing eBooks, webinars and articles to re-engage your leads and help keep them warm.
2. Keep in Touch on Social Media
Connect on social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Hopefully they’ll return the favour and follow you back!
According to Social Media Examiner, spending as little as six hours per week, 66% of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media.
Following your leads on Social Media is a great way to keep in touch on the happenings of their business. Which leads us onto our next point …
3. Be Thoughtful
Your leads might appreciate a few friendly messages. Every message you send your leads doesn’t have to be sales orientated. Perhaps every few months you could ask them how they’re getting on, or even just wish them a good Christmas / New Year.
Showing genuine interest in leads will help you to deepen relationships and keep your business at the forefront of their mind. You’ll be showing you care about their business / person and they’ll be more likely to trust and use your brand over that of a competitor.
4. ‘Keep-in-Touch’ Campaigns
Just because they aren’t ready to buy right away doesn’t mean they won’t want to in the future. It might be an idea to send them an email every month or so to remind them of your services. Maybe offering incentives, like free trials or discounts, could be enough to encourage them to make a purchase. There’s plenty of ways you can stay-in-touch:
- – Postcards
- – Newsletters
- – Emails
- – Telephone calls
- – Articles
Without regular follow-ups, you could lose buyers who are temporarily disinterested. There’s nothing to say leads who currently are showing no interest won’t change their minds.
Consider the value of each lead, are they going to be bringing in a lot of money? Would they be repeat customers? Would they be able to refer more business? Certainly, focus your time on leads that are most worth-while to your business.
Leads do turn cold, and if you’ve done everything you possibly could to prevent that then it’s time to focus your attention elsewhere. Out of the 4 above suggestions I’d say number 4, Keep-in-Touch Campaigns, are the most important. It’s probably the most efficient, since you could segment your leads into different groups and appeal to them based on their individual needs and wants. You could message multiple people / businesses simultaneously and save loads of time.
Why not check out our Digital Marketing Terms Glossary?
About the author:
Marie Harwood is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Different Gravy Digital, Hale, Cheshire.
Different Gravy Digital are a full service Digital Marketing Agency operating in the Hospitality & Leisure, Financial Services, Legal & Property sectors. Products and services range from; 3D & 360° Tours, Website Design & Build, Social Media, Video Production, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Content Creation, Email Marketing, Online Feedback / Review Systems and Paid Advertising (Google, Bing and Social Media).
Contact Details:
marie@differentgravydigital.co.uk
0161 706 0004
120a Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2UN