As part of your digital marketing, run performance-driven lead creation efforts to make your customers' online experience better. We're telling businesses across the US to focus on getting leads that are likely to turn into actual customers. At the same time, we're telling marketing teams to stop thinking in terms of campaigns that aren't built with the end goal of making money in mind.
In an ideal world, getting people to buy from your businesswould be easy. People would want to buy right away as soon as they heard about you. In the real world, things don't work like that, though. It takes time to get people to become buyers.
People who are interested in your business show interest as they move through the sales process toward conversion. Therefore, they are called leads. But not every lead is the same. Some of your leads have just heard of you, while others are getting close to being ready to buy. In this article, we will discuss about how you can triple sales leadsfor your business.
What Are Sales Leads?
People or businesses that have shown interest in your product or service and somewhat match your company's idea of an ideal customer are called sales leads. Of course, some sales leads may have shown more interest than others, and that will affect how your sales team talks to those leads. A lead can show interest in your business in several ways, such as:
- Clicking on a paid ad
- Filling out a form on your website
- Contacting your sales or customer service team
- Signing up for emails
For your business to grow, you need to turn sales leads into users. And because sales leads know and are interested in your product in different ways, it's essential to put them in the correct category so you can figure out how to keep the relationship best going.
Types Of Sales Leads
Putting leads into different groups helps the sales and marketing teams focus on the most important ones and change how they talk to them based on how interested they are and how ready they are to buy. Here are four different kinds of sales leads and what they mean.
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
Marketing Qualified Leads, or MQLs, are leads that the marketing team has found to be likely to become buyers based on certain factors. Some of these factors could be personal information, online activity like clicking on links on websites, or how much someone interacts with marketing material.
MQLs may have connected with the company's material by doing things like getting white papers, signing up for emails, or going to workshops. Even though they've shown interest, they might need more attention before being given to the sales team.
Warm Leads
Warm leads are in the middle of the sales process and are usually interested in a product or service, but only a little. They're not as hot as SQLs but warmer than cold wires.
Warm leads may have interacted with the brand, shown interest, or shown desire to buy, but they may still need to be ready to buy. To nurture new leads, you need to give them more information, answer their worries, and help them move on to the next steps in the sales process.
Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
Sales Qualified Leads, or SQLLs, are leads that have been qualified by marketing and are now ready to be taken up by direct sales. Most of the time, these leads have shown a lot of interest, interacted with sales-related material or activities, and made it clear that they are very likely to become customers soon.
SQLs usually have certain traits, like knowing exactly what they need, how much money they have, and who can make decisions for them. They may have already shown a clear interest in a product or service and are further along in the buying process than MQLs.
Product Qualified Leads (PQLs)
Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) are leads that have used or tried a product or service and know how valuable it is. Most of the time, this kind of lead comes from companies that offer freebie models or trial periods for their goods.
PQLs have used the product themselves, which shows that they are very interested and involved. The use of the product itself becomes a qualification factor, and PQLs may be more likely to become paid customers if they have a good experience with the product.
How Can You Triple The Sales Leads?
Contact Leads Within The First 15 Minutes
The faster you get in touch with your leads, the more likely it is that they will answer and become buyers. This is especially true for Facebook leads whose attention needs to be piqued quickly.
How quick is quick? It's 100 times more likely to connect with leads in the first 5 minutes than after 30 minutes, according to research (Oldroyd, 2007). Do not wait hours or even days to follow up with your leads. Most of them will either ignore your calls and texts or tell you they're no longer interested.
Contact Leads On The Right Channels
Use a chat app like WhatsApp, iMessage, or SMS to get in touch with your leads if you want them to see and reply to your messages. They are used to these apps and check them every few minutes, so you know they see your texts.
It's also easier for leads to answer chats than emails or calls, which means you'll have a much better chance of getting a reaction. If you'd rather talk on the phone, send them a message first so they know when to expect your call. If not, you'll seem like an odd "unknown number" that people will probably not bother with.
You can send reminder emails, messages, and ads with an email auto-responder if you have one set up. Remember that these are one-way emails for marketing purposes, so expect leads to be kept from opening or responding to any of them.
Personalize Your Messages
Anyone who sends a message starting with "Dear Sir/Madam" will ignore it, mark it as junk, and stop it. Instead, the lead's name and the product or service they're interested in should be in the first 10 words of your first letter.
This makes sure that they can tell what the chat is about from the peek on their phone, so they don't have to click through to see the whole message. Keep in mind that your message will come from an "unknown number," so you need to do more to let the lead know that you're calling about something they might be interested in.
Ask Current Customers For Referrals
Since they've already bought from you, your present customers know that your goods and services work, which can help you make more sales. Because of this, they should be an essential part of your plan to get new sales leads.
People who already know about your business will be more likely to buy from you if they get a warm recommendation. But a lot of companies don't bother to get in touch with their customers after the sale, other than helping them out when they need it. Customers need to be thanked for their business, and they aren't asked for ideas on how to get more customers.
Work With Your Network To Identify Sales Leads
Everyone has a network of family, friends from work and outside of work, neighbors, service workers (like plumbers, doctors, lawyers, and gardeners), and other people.
There are many reasons why you might think of these people as something other than a source of sales leads, but they should be one of your first choices. These people already believe you, which makes them excellent sources of leads.
The people in your network know you, but many of them are in different parts of your life and don't talk to each other. Since they don't know each other's contacts, each one has the chance to give you a perfect sales lead. You can ask them to put you in touch with prospects after you've talked to them about business and life.
Engage With Sales Leads At Networking Events
As part of your practice for getting sales leads, go to networking events in person and online. For meeting new people and getting to know people you've met before, networking is a good idea. It also lets you talk to your leads in person.
Making connections with real people is what networking is all about. Refrain from approaching people to make a sale. Instead, think about how you can help them first. Find out what they need to do well or fix a problem and learn about their business and who they are as a person.
At events where you can meet other people and trade business cards with them. You should add the person's contact information to your CRM (customer relationship management) system. Soon after the event, send them an email to thank them for meeting you.
Optimize Your Social Media Profiles To Attract Ideal Sales Leads
You should constantly update your social media profiles if you have them. Keeping your social media accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other sites up to date can help you get more sales leads. The point is to get buyers' attention and make it easy for people to meet.
Write a catchy title and description that people in your target group will want to read. What you do and who you help should be in your title and description. Think about what your ideal buyer will be looking for and use the words they would use.
Like, don't call yourself a "Sales Maven." Your title should say something like "Sales Manager | Making Things Easier for HR Managers in the Automotive Industry."
Include a professional personal picture, a link to your LinkedIn account, and hashtags that are relevant to your audience, along with your title and a link to your company's account. Follow people on Twitter who work in the same field as you and who might be good sales leads. To keep your account alive, retweet and comment.
This social networking site has a lot of pictures. Put in a professional picture, some nice-looking pictures that are related, and hashtags that sales leads will care about, fun and serious at the same time.
Create Original Content And Research
Content marketing is an excellent way to get potential customers' attention and keep them interested. Making unique, helpful content can help you become an expert in your field and make people want to learn more about the subject, product, or company in general.
Come up with blog posts, white papers, slideshows, movies, and other types of content that answer your audience's questions or solve their problems. To make your business a thinking leader, do original study or share your knowledge about the industry. Spread this material through several different methods, such as your website, social media, and email.
How To Optimize Your Forms For Leads & Sales?
If you need help turning all of your website visitors into sales, it might be time to make your forms work better. You can make your forms work for you in the following ways:
Simplify The Design For Clarity
Make sure that your forms look good and are simple to use. Use "white space" to make things easier to read, get rid of things that aren't needed, and make sure your field names are apparent.
Trim Unnecessary Fields
Forms that are shorter or easier to understand may turn off potential customers. Simplify the forms you use to get leads online by only asking for the information you need. For an intelligent follow-up, keep it short and timely.
Revamp Button Labels
Instead of just "submit," put action-oriented words or sentences on your buttons, such as "Order Now," "Sign Up," "Get Started," "Begin Free Trial," "Request a Quote," or "Please Contact Me." To make buttons stand out, use big ones in colors that are different from each other.
Explore The 'Mad Libs' Approach
Putting your lead creation form in the form of a story will make it more interesting. Input spaces should be set up like "Mad Libs" lines, with blanks inside them. Prospects may find the process more interesting if you do it in this unique way.
Pose Questions Instead Of Labels
To make your form feel better and easier to use, change the labels on the standard fields to complete questions. Say something like, "How much do you want to buy?" instead of "Quantity." This small change can help people understand and be more interested.
Optimize Checkout Process For Online Sales
Focus on making the checkout process more accessible if you sell things online. Cut down on the number of clicks needed to finish a sale, be transparent about shipping costs from the start, and add a progress bar to let users know how things are going. You should also offer other (offline) ways to place an order.
FAQs About Triple Sales Leads
How Can Responding Quickly To Leads Boost Sales?
Responding quickly to leads can boost sales by increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion; waiting may result in lost interest.
Why Personalize Messages For Leads?
Personalizing messages for leads is crucial because it builds rapport and relevance, capturing the lead's attention and increasing the chances of a positive response.
What Role Do Referrals Play In Lead Generation?
Referrals from satisfied customers play a vital role in lead generation as they provide a warm introduction, establishing trust and credibility with potential leads.
Why Engage With Leads At Networking Events?
Engaging with leads at networking events is essential as these events offer face-to-face interactions, create personal connections, and foster trust with potential leads.
A Quick Recap About Triple Sales Leads
The key to triple sales leads lies in a strategic and customer-centric approach. By understanding the diverse types of sales leads, businesses can tailor their interactions to meet specific needs.
Trial and error is always a part of lead creation, and the goal is to come up with a plan that includes both inbound and outbound lead efforts that will bring in buyers or clients. It does take time, dedication, and a deep knowledge of your products or services and the people you want to buy them. It also needs a business strategy that works well with different departments, like marketing and sales.