Why aren’t sales leads followed up?

Today we have a guest post from Russ Hill, Founder of Ultimate Lead Systems.
How often have you heard sales people say leads generated by marketing are just “literature collectors, college professors, students, lookers or tire kickers?” Or, “I don’t have time for sales lead follow-up.” Or the sales manager who says, “I know my sales people are following up. They just don’t have time to provide feedback.”
Lead Follow-Up

All carrot no stick

I’ve worked with many companies over the years that made lead follow-up an imperative with their sales forces. In every case where it was required it yielded significant and profitable results reporting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in sales.

There is much discussion in internet groups about “aligning marketing and sales” and lead follow-up is a critical part of this discussion. (more…)

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What’s the Difference Between Lead Nurturing and Follow-Up Calls?

In my mind, not much. I think they both work together to move prospects through the sales funnel. Using a nurturing system, you can start to identify their needs. The key is to do follow-up in some manner. 

Nurturing keeps you top of mind, builds credibility, solves prospect’s problems and positions you as an expert. Quality lead nurturing can lead to more sales.

Not all leads are ready to buy, and it’s important to have a process in place to sort them out. According to Russ Hill from Ultimate Lead Systems:

  • 67% of all leads are legitimate prospects.
  • 34% have a need that must be satisfied in the next 6 months.
  • 70% of those prospects didn’t know you made that product.
  • It takes on average 5-6 sales calls to close a sale.
  • 80% give up after the first call and 90% plus give up after the second call.

It’s important to get the lead the information they requested. A CRM system would help in organizing and communicating with them. It’s also important to find out where they are in the buying cycle. Some cycles are longer than others, and it would be important to know where they are so you can get them the relevant info to get them to the next stage. Lots of this can be done via email or even snail mail depending on the preference of the prospect.

The key in my mind is not to call until they request. Once they do, then periodic calls are appropriate. Depending on your company, it might go to an outbound sales person or into the field for follow-up.

When do you take someone off your list? Unless you determine they will never buy the kinds of things you make, I’d say never. Start a database if you already haven’t. If you publish a newsletter, put them on the list. When introducing a new product, make sure they are copied on the promotion. The key is, even if they bought the competitor this time, it doesn’t mean they will the next time.

Whatever you do, have a process in place and use both lead nurturing and sales call follow-up together.

What are you doing to follow-up leads?

If you like this post, you might like:

What’s your Lead Nurturing Strategy?

Why Email Marketing is so Important in Lead Nurturing to the Professional Tradesman.

What’s Your Plan for Lead Nurturing?

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B-to-B Marketers: Have you forgotten the basics?

The last two years for most of us in the B-to-B space hasn’t been much fun. Budgets cut, every move or project had to be justified seven different ways. When leads came in, ALL were followed. We ran a tight ship. Today, business is beginning to improve, budgets are increasing, new products are being launched, and for some of us, social media has been introduced which needs our attention.

All of these are good things, right? On the surface you’d probably say yes. But reality is your staff was probably cut when the downturn happened, but your workload wasn’t. Now with the increase in activity, new product launches and the additional responsibility, you’re probably pulling out your hair!

The sad truth is you may either be executing projects in a production style to get them out the door, or not spending the time on looking at or developing a plan to close the loop when leads do come in. I understand you may be under staffed and overworked, but management will be judging you on results and the famous ROI.

So how are you dealing with this? Some of our clients are looking outside at least temporarily to support programs (which is a good thing), and others are so busy putting out fires they don’t realize as fast as one goes out, another one is lit.

Reality is most marketing departments aren’t going to get back to staffing levels pre-2009. I’d like to hear what you’re doing to stay sane and deliver a good quality product.

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