4 Steps To Converting Leads Into Sales
- by George F.
- September 18, 2021
- Read Time 7 Minutes
- Viewed 2851 times
4 - Steps to Converting Leads into Sales
This guide will help you understand what you need to do in order to convert leads into sales.
- The first step is setting clear goals. You should know exactly what metrics you want to achieve and the timeline in which you want to achieve them. This way, you can make sure that your whole team is on the same page and there are no miscommunications.
- The second step is setting up a lead scoring system and asking for specific information and details from your leads so that it can help identify interested prospects and weed out those who aren’t serious about buying from you. It also helps sort your leads based on their likelihood of becoming customers based on their level of engagement with your company as well as their characteristics such as demographics, job title, etc.
- The third step is to connect with the lead, learn as much about them before making that first contact. You can tell a lot just from the lead, do they live near a town or city you use to live or work in? Ok, so the lead might not tell you the city/state of the lead, but the phone number will clue you in. If nothing else do a Google search on the phone number, now you have a good idea of where they're located. If a Google search doesn't produce anything (which is possible with VoIP and DID phone numbers) just ask Google where the XXX area code is located. If you have a membership to a background checking service such as BeenVerified, do a background check. You would be surprised what you'll learn. Now you know where they live, what types of cars they drive, and other details. Remember Information Is King! The more you have the better your chances.
A lead is a prospect that has shown an interest in your company and products. A qualified lead is one that is ready to purchase. If you are not turning your leads into customers, you are losing money and time with every lead.
When purchasing leads, it doesn't matter if they're aged leads or real-time leads, it doesn't matter what industry these leads when you get them aren't normally 'qualified leads'. In reality that new lead is just a prospect that has soon interest in your company, products, and services.
Some industries (especially Timeshare Services, and Roofing 1 don't on average take the real-time lead and turn it into anything more than just a prospect. I've run into very few Timeshare Resales companies that use a CRM. When a company that doesn't use a CRM calls a lead they use ABC - Always Be Closing in an attempt to get that one-call-close. In the 21st Century, the one-call-close just doesn't happen like it did in the 1900s. That is where Lead Scoring and Lead nurturing comes into play, and this is where you really need a CRM.
- The fourth step is to get a CRM program and use it to set up an Email Drip Campaign. That step along will double your closing rate! Yes, double, that is how important a CRM is in today's telemarketing world.
What is a CRM? CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, in other words: the management of your relationship database (your prospect leads) CRM's are most valuable for setting up the perfect cadence of calls, emails, and text messages and will send emails and text messages automatically. It will remind your sales staff when it's nearing time to place a call to that prospect. But more importantly, leads are not going to slip through the cracks or be forgotten about.
A CRM will only:
The magic of a CRM is in the 'Email Drip' campaign portion of the CRM. Email Drip is a form of Lead Nurturing. Let's say you didn't' close the deal on the first call, or the lead simply didn't answer the phone. Many telemarketing companies will make a couple of attempts to call the lead then mark it as dead (then calls the lead provider - who does answer the phone - to say your leads suck) 2
Interesting Statistics: Only 8% of over-the-phone salespeople will follow up with a lead 5 times. Over 44% give up after one. 4 In today's busy society that is not good enough, today people simply don't talk on the phone. They will email, text, smoke signals if needed, but they don't talk on the phone. In fact, a study has found that 73% of 'millennials' prefer to contact companies via email over any other form of communication. 3
More statistics you may not have realized as your stack of leads that haven't closed yet are starting to pile up. 80% of all sales require 5 follow-ups after the initial contact, but 44% of salespeople give up after one.
44% of salespeople give up after 1 follow-up. 4
22% of salespeople give up after 2 follow-ups. 4
14% of salespeople give up after 3 follow-ups. 4
12% of salespeople give up after 4 follow-ups. 4
8% of salespeople give up after 5 follow-ups. 4
Now, back to email drips. An email drip campaign is a series of prepared messages from your company, usually sent to scribers of your email list or leads you generated or purchased. Email drip campaigns are designed to reach out with a targeted message for someone at the right time. Since their automated emails such as Welcome Email (as soon as a lead fills out the form on a landing page), a We Tried Calling You Email (when you've attempted to call), an email about our company and services if either they asked for it or you haven't heard from them in awhile. Different emails can be selected to be sent by the CRM based on what web pages on your site the lead visited. The possibilities are endless and all automated!
The CRM is going to know what is the best time of day, and the day of the week to send out an email or SMS text message. Take a look at all the sale emails that you have in your inbox. Notice the timestamps. you will find that most, if not all, were sent between 9-10 AM, or 5-6 PM. 5 That is not a coincidence either! Basically when people are going to work or coming home from work is when the majority will look at their email. So you want your email to be near the top of their 'unread' list when they check it at 10 AM or 6 PM.
Next, what day of the week is best for sending emails from your Drip Campaign? It seems like Friday is the best day, Friday has the best Open Rate and a High CTR (click-through rate) with Tuesday being in a close second place. An interesting note is that if you are sending B2B emails (Business to Business) and your email is going to a business owner or an executive at the business there is one day and time that stands out. That is Saturday morning at 10 AM are the highest open and click through rates for emails to Execs and business owners. 5 But remember if you're sending a B2C email OR a B2B email that is NOT going to an Executive then do not send it on Saturday.
The CRM knows what the best times are for sending your drip emails. It will schedule those emails for the best day and time, taking into consideration if it's a B2B (Business to Business) or a B2C (Business to Consumer) and the time zone of the person you are sending to. It does that automatically so you don't have to.
That folks is what is called Lead Nurturing. Lead Nurturing will take that plan lead you just paid for and turn it into a fully mature lead that is now ready to close.
Footnotes:
1 When a person calls a roofing company they usually are in a hurry for roof repair because water has already started pouring into their home. It's more of an emergency service and therefore doesn't take a lot of selling skill to close the deal.
2 I have clients (Company A) who close many deals, have been with me for many years, and have spent $100,000 or more annually. They wouldn't do that if the leads sucked. Then I have clients (Company B) who complain about leads not answering the phone, they can't close any deals. Both companies are getting leads generated the very same way so why is company A closing deals? Because they use a CRM!
3 Source: www.clickz.com
4 Source: www.wordstream.com
5 Source: www.hubspot.com
