It isn’t easy standing out in a crowded field these days. There is so much competition and people are starting to tune out aggressive advertising tactics. If you’re trying to attract new customers then it is going to take some creativity and a new approach.
Marketing is essential for a successful business and the biggest part of it is making leads turn into customers. With 4th quarter fast approaching, it is essential to make sure that our marketing efforts are going to pay off.
Sending out your direct mail offers like holiday globe greeting cards is a step in the right direction, but it has to be followed up with the right plan. The recipient of your outreach has a better chance of becoming a customer when you have a plan.
In this article, I will go over several ways that you can make sure that you are nurturing the right leads that are more likely to become customers.
1 – Strike while the iron is hot
Try to think of your leads like children. Not in the sense that they are immature or can be taken advantage of, but in the sense that they have a limited attention span. Remember, they are getting offers from many different companies so you only have their attention for a brief moment.
Make sure that once your lead enters the funnel that you are ready to get them to take the next step. Don’t wait too long or they will forget all about you and your emails will be ignored.
If the lead has to be moved over to another department or a sales person, then make sure it happens immediately. If they are part of an email sequence then the next email needs to come within the hour with a way for them to progress into the funnel. An offer of a freebie at this point is a good way to do this.
2 – Qualify your lead
Leads will likely be coming in from different areas if you have a very wide funnel. This means that not everybody is looking for the same type of information, or is at the same point in the buyer’s journey.
If you treat them all the same then you are going to lose some very quickly as the next steps will not pertain to many of them.
Have different paths for them to take depending on whether they are a marketing qualified lead (MQL) versus a sales qualified lead (SQL). The difference is that a MQL is looking for more information at this point in time. If, for example, you have a white paper to download then this person would qualify as a MQL and will likely need more information as they are not ready for the sales team.
A SQL has the information that they need and are ready for the sales part of the funnel and should be sent to a sales team.
Knowing the difference in their mentalities due to their stage of the journey is going to make a huge difference in your conversion rate. Your sales team will be very happy to be getting these types of warm leads.
3 – Understand their needs
Remember this one thing and you will end up with more customers. You are not selling a service or product. What you are selling is a solution to a problem. If you’re a car detailer, then don’t focus on what you do, but what your client needs. They have a dull, drab car that needs to be sparkling clean with every detail taken care of. Make sure that your content reflects what the client gets at the end of the car detailing service and they can picture themselves with a brand new looking car thanks to you.
But, in addition to understanding what they want to accomplish, you also have to figure out what the pain point is. The guy that needs his car detailed may be very busy and just doesn’t have time to take care of it. If this is his pain point, then make sure to communicate how you can solve that problem. For instance, if you offer detailing at customers’ workplace while they are working, then this solves the problem of not having time so make sure to let them know.
When the lead understands that you are there to help him solve his problem then he will become a loyal customer. As long as your product or services are as good as advertised.
