Bill Rice Internet Marketing > lead nurturing

Snag Customers By Letting Prospects Go

November 13, 2009 By

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Let me start by saying that if you are trying to land big accounts there is no one better to listen to than Jill Konrath.

Jill Konrath, Author of Selling to Big Companies

I recently reread Selling to Big Companies (affiliate link) and I am amazed at the contrast between Ms. Konrath and the average sales recipes books stuffing the stacks at the local bookstore. She strips away the average and gets you to think specific, but remarkable in you approach to landing better deals.

Lead Nurturing, Get Prospects Back By Letting Go

Konrath gives us another gem with this “true story” on how she got a non-responsive prospect to reengage with her “let them off the hook” strategy.

I love this story because it highlights an objection we rarely acknowledge and overcome–the “this isn’t a priority” objection. Konrath gives us a clever little tactic to flush out the ones that are interested, but where the pain for the solution has not quite bubbled up to the top.

Sending a quick email letting them know that it is obvious this is not a current priority, but you are available when it becomes one could be the right spark to revive the conversation.

How to Write Great Emails

This is just one example of how Konrath creatively thinks about using communication techniques to motivate prospect response.

Selling to Big Companies

Her ideas on crafting better performing emails is one of my favorite sections of Selling to Big Companies (affiliate link). That section alone will return your $11.00 (probably in the first day).

Other Sales Tips for Non-responsive Prospects?

I am sure you all have other tricks and tips you use to re-warm cold leads. What are they?

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Filed Under: Email Marketing, Social Selling Tagged With: email, lead nurturing, prospects, Social Selling

Web Leads – Pounce or Nurture?

June 25, 2009 By

Mike Damphousse, of Smash Mouth Marketing blog does an interesting survey of several lead generation experts.

The basic question was what do you do with a Web lead? Specifically, Damphousse presented his survey like this:

My question: Within a day or two of sending an initial email to someone, leaving a phonemail or posting an interesting blog article or tweet, I see they (or someone from their company) have clicked into and visited our site.

Now, how aggressively do I go after them? Do I pounce immediately? Do I pause and call shortly thereafter? Do I just nurture them? Do I wait a couple days then call?

This is definitely the top question we get about Internet lead management at Kaleidico. So, what do the experts say?

Well, the responses were varied from pounce to nurture and I think that is indicative of the complexity of lead nurturing. Every industry, campaign, and sales prospect list will drive a differnet answer to that question.

These are some of the rules of thumb I use for my clients (using the Damphousse scale):

Pounce – Call immediately
Pause – Give it 15-30 minutes, then call
Nurture – Let the visitor keep educating themselves, educate them softly if you can identify them
Wait – Wait a day or two, then casually call

Case studies in matching lead sources with lead nurturing strategy:

  • Real-time leads from a lead provider: Pounce
  • Aged leads from your database: Pause (give them a call, following up on your recent email – it will seem serendipitious)
  • New (cold) lead list: Nurture (upgrade their priority in your CRM)
  • Unknown prospect: Wait (identify several targets in the organization and start peppering in prospecting calls)

This is a great exercise! How would you answer this question for your organization or from your experience?

Filed Under: Lead Management Tagged With: Lead Management, lead nurturing, web leads

Build Trust By Capturing Customers Researching a Purchase

July 2, 2008 By

Customers in the research phase of any type of purchase are venerable, and they know it. This is why the person that helps and adds value during that time build a powerful loyalty. Real Estate Brokers are famous for this technique. They help people buy their dream home, which is always scary. During those hours of marching from home to home they build trust when their clients are uncertain. Then when it comes time to get financing these clients go wherever that Realtor refers them.

Create a Funnel for Researchers

The first step in getting the opportunity to build a trust-based relationship is to reach out for these information seekers. Often in sales we are too itchy for the close and don’t want to be bothered by the curiosity seekers. The key is creating an efficient way of doing this part of trust building.

The Web gives us a lot of excellent tools to not only show off our expertise, but also to capture the attention of people gathering information about a purchase.

Here are a few good ways to build an expert profile:

  • Website/Blog: Targeted problem/solution style content
  • Yahoo! Answers, LinkedIN,  Forums: People asking questions with a broad audience observing the quality of your counsel
  • Twitter: Tough to pack good advice into 140 characters, but if you do it is profound

Be Willing to Answer Questions

Now that you are a sage for your target customers you need to be willing to answer a few questions. My suggestion is be generous with your email and telephone number. It displays trust and makes your Internet persona more human.

You would be amazed at the impact of a promptly answered email or a telephone number that is answered directly by you in building a trust-based relationship.

Nurture a Relationship with Value

You have their attention and trust is building, but they are still not ready to buy. Create a detailed lead nurturing plan that focuses on small value steps. Mix emails, postal mail, and phone calls to keep the communication fresh and personal. And bring something to the conversation every time. News clips or success stories are always great discussion that add value to your prospects business and cost little time to produce–Google Alerts!

Close a Deal and Get a Referral with Trust

Although most of these steps can be automated by a good lead management system the customer experience is, “Wow, they care!” That level of trust and loyalty brings not only sales, but also referrals.

Filed Under: Lead Generation, Lead Management, Social Selling Tagged With: lead capture, lead nurturing, purchase research, selling, trust

CRM, Where is Your Customer and Your Relationship?

June 13, 2008 By

Customer Relationship Management is the bane of most senior executives’ existence. It has been preached as the silver bullet for most of their careers, but is rarely executed. Why do 90% of these implementations fail? Why does sales hate every system? Why does marketing work around it? The answer is simple–we don’t start with a Customer or a Relationship!

CRM Needs a Little Lead Management

Sales people spend the majority of their productive lives generating and cultivating prospects. The good ones spend the balance of their efforts turning them into life long relationship buyers. Unfortunately, the software that is built for them is deficient. And the deficiency is cleverly hidden in the name–Customer Relationship Management.

What helps them manage their efforts in Prospect Management or Customer Acquisition? Prevailing practice would reveal notepads, spreadsheets, and sticky notes. Not a formula for the GTD (Getting Things Done) lifestyle.

There is an alternative–Lead Management. Smart sales organizations are watching their sales pipelines bulge and their pull-through rates launch with the implementation of simple lead management processes and software.

What Does Lead Management Do?

A lead management system should become the nerve center of your sales force. It is the brains and urgency of a high performance sales team. Whether your are a centralized call center or a distributed retail operation, lead management can return a WOW experience to your customers. Yet, removing all of the pipeline headaches and manual reporting from your sales agents.

Lead management is the process from customer inquiry to closed deal. It has the power to capture inquiries, distribute leads, and drive pipeline management until a deal closes.

A system to manage leads also affords the complexity to nurture leads that are non-responsive or premature to a buying decision. This lead nurturing process, which is only recently drawing attention, is demonstrating remarkable marketing ROI lifts over extended campaigns.

Key Lead Management Processes

The life cycle of a lead from inquiry to customer seems simple enough, but this has been the Achilles Heel of CRM. Sales has been so dogmatic to preserve the perceived Art of the Sale that much of the magic, and sweat, that goes into cultivating a purchase order is lost. A capable sales closer typically runs a tight process of contact and follow-up loops over extended periods of time to bring the deal in. Some of the key components of this lead management life cycle include the following phases–

  • Lead Generation: The processes and marketing means that produces both leads and referrals
  • Lead Capture: The processes of acquiring and securing customer inquiries from a variety of sources
  • Lead Distribution: Any of a myriad of concepts for getting the right lead, to the right agent, at the right time
  • Lead Nurturing: Cultivating a value-first relationship with a prospective client in hopes of generating a future purchase
  • Lead Reporting: Performance metrics and analytics that help you spot opportunities and pitfalls. Maximizing the former and minimizing the latter can obviously take you to the top

What Do I Do With My CRM Software?

Millions of dollars later and hundreds of man-hours sunk into your existing CRM system may make scrapping your current CRM unbearable. So, don’t. Most CRM systems can make very capable client loyalty systems for ongoing relationship building. As a result these systems can become excellent former and current client referral and lead generation platforms.

Filed Under: Lead Generation, Lead Management Tagged With: crm, crm software, lead capture, lead distribution, Lead Generation, lead management software, lead mangement, lead nurturing, lead reporting

Is the Internet Important to Your Local Real Estate or Mortgage Business?

May 1, 2008 By

Is the Internet important to your local real estate or mortgage business? Apparently, the answer is a big–YES!

I know I already hear the comments:

“Bill, all my business is referral business.”

“Internet leads suck!”

“People on the Internet are only window shopping. They never buy anything.”

“Internet only works for the big National guys with lots of money.”

Well, I think Missy Caulk and her Team in Ann Arbor, MI might tell you are headed to the poor house with your stubbornness:

The Missy Caulk TEAM had 9 of those closings in April, making us with about 11% of the total closings. Of the nine closing we had in April, three of the clients were referred to us, and six were buyers from the internet.

My thoughts are, if you are a Realtor and not working the internet you are missing out. Since 77% of all buyers are going on line to look for houses, you must have a STRONG internet presence. When I say strong, I don’t mean a web site. Everyone has a web-site. Your web presence must include PPC ( pay per click) campaigns, and a good follow up system to nurture those initial leads and most important a home search site that is so good the buyers come back again and again.

Is it an important part of a down market mortgage or real estate strategy? At 11% market share Missy Caulk might tell you it is a real estate and mortgage survival strategy, and the 918 Realtors in the Ann Arbor, MI market might believe her:

If you include the entire MLS for the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors, this would include all the way from Brooklyn in Lenawee County to Brighton, down through Western Wayne County, there were 373 closings in 2007 in the month of April and only 82 for April 2008.

This means that out of the 1000 Realtors in Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors, only 82 got a paycheck of any kind in the month of April.

Notice the other key point she makes: “a good follow up system to nurture those initial leads.” You knew there had to be a least one opportunity to stump for the importance of lead nurturing and a good lead management system.

Congrats to the Missy Caulk TEAM. Keep working the Internet to gain market share and growth in this tough market.

Filed Under: Lead Generation, Lead Management, Social Selling Tagged With: internet leads, Lead Management, lead nurturing, mortgage leads, real estate leads

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