Category: Lead Response
Stop Acting As If All Sales Leads Are the Same
Strategize your lead response to optimize and maximize your results
“Marketing experts suggest that only about a quarter of the leads (25 percent) that come in are viable and ready to be passed on to sales. The other three-fourths (75 percent) require a different response,” says Adam Berkson. He’s the president of LiveVoice, a boutique phone support service and leading provider of lead response services.
Though every lead deserves attention, not all deserve the same attention. Berkson suggests dividing leads into three categories: hot, warm, and cold.
Hot Leads: “Obviously the hot leads should go directly to sales,” reminds Berkson.
These are the top 25 percent. These prospects are primed and ready to buy. They expect interaction with a sales executive and they want it now. Don’t disappoint them by sending them down the wrong path and subjecting them to a lead nurturing strategy when they are already past that point.
“Don’t bother to ‘nurture’ these folks; just close the deal. That’s what they want.”
Warm Leads: It is the warm leads, however, that best align with a lead nurturing process.
They have a genuine interest in your products or services, but their timeframe is “not now” or “maybe later.” Put these leads in the top of the sales funnel and work the process. They have a good likelihood of buying at some point, provided they aren’t rushed or mistreated along the way. Of course the opposite of rushing a prospect is ignoring them. Either extreme is an effective way of turning a warm lead into a cold lead – or worse. “The goal of effective lead nurturing is to convert a warm lead into a hot prospect,” says Anthony Vesho, chief operating officer at TeleServices Direct, a worldwide provider of outsource call center services.
“Successful lead nurturing moves the prospect through the sales funnel to produce a sale.”
Cold Leads: That leaves the leads that no one wants. The cold ones.
While some of the cold leads aren’t really leads at all – their names were swept up in error, they wanted your lead magnet and nothing else, or they clicked on the wrong link – most cold leads are bona fide prospects; they’re just not quality prospects. “First eliminate the false leads,” says Berkson. Then move the rest of the cold leads into a long-term lead nurturing strategy at the top of your sales funnel. “Just look for low cost methods of engagement: webinars, on-line resources, and automated email drip campaigns.” Over time all of these cold leads will either warm up or drop off completely, he advises.
“The key is to not invest a great deal of time or money in them, but don’t dismiss them either, because some will eventually buy – provided you are patient.”
Not all leads are the same so it’s time to stop acting as if they are.
Organize prospects as hot, warm, and cold. Then treat each group accordingly. This will maximize results without overextending your resources of time and money.
LiveVoice understands how important every call is to your business. Contact them about customizing their flexible, premium phone support service so you can turn opportunity into profit.
Peter DeHaan, PhD, is a freelance writer, call center authority, and publisher of Connections Magazine, which covers the call center industry.
