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?
Did you enjoy this post?
Join my weekly newsletter for exclusive content or connect with me directly: On Twitter (@billrice) or on Linkedin.
Want more information about Kaleidico's lead management software or services visit www.kaleidico.com.
{ 11 comments }
Bill, check out http://www.leadresponsemanagement.org/ from MIT. I believe your matching lead source to strategy is broadly correct.
In real estate, responding to a prospect as quickly as possible, if generated off the net, is simply meeting their desire for information now. Of course, this too is a broad characterization, but it has worked well for me and my team. The MIT studies even show that the chances of conversion drop dramatically, the more time passes from initial generation of contact information to time of contact.
Right. That has been the quintessential research for lead management for sometime. The results bare out in our lead management software as well.
The new twist is, once a lead is in your pipeline or in a nurturing campaign, can you push too hard with technology. For example, what if you could call them the moment they enter your website or the instant they open one of your emails. Would that help or hurt your conversion?
My opinion? Maybe that steps too far into the hard sell (I can't get the Kirby vacuum cleaner guy out of my house) arena.
What do you think?
Thanks for the comment Todd!
You certainly can push too hard via technology. The trade-off is going to be the fear/reality that if you are not top of mind with a prospect, you dramatically decrease your potential for conversion.
With some RE lead gen systems, you can see how many times and when folks return to check out properties online. I'm comfortable in saying that if I rang someone's phone a few moments after they returned to my site, there'd be a level of “how'd you hack my computer” going on. That being said, after a certain number of return visits, I'd begin a concerted, soft “service assistance” campaign via phone and email.
Help/Hurt conversion? Immediate response, in this day and age, yes, it would hurt. However, I can see as the consumer becomes more inured to the immediacy of communication that it will soon help conversion.
Glad to join the conversation Bill!
Thanks for a great post!
Hi Bill, really interesting questions! for me, it's nurture but I can see how different sectors will have different answers. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Niall
Niall,
Absolutely, I agree every business needs to evaluate their own objectives in answering this question. I also think there is a difference in business development and sales in answering this question. In your case, focusing on business development, I can see how you would want to be a bit more nurturing and a lot less pouncing.
Thanks for commenting!
P.S., How ironic, my wife's great grandparents lived in County Tipperary. Smaller world than we think.
Absolutely! please pass on my best wishes to her
Niall,
Absolutely, I agree every business needs to evaluate their own objectives in answering this question. I also think there is a difference in business development and sales in answering this question. In your case, focusing on business development, I can see how you would want to be a bit more nurturing and a lot less pouncing.
Thanks for commenting!
P.S., How ironic, my wife's great grandparents lived in County Tipperary. Smaller world than we think.
Absolutely! please pass on my best wishes to her
Hi Bill, really interesting questions! for me, it's nurture but I can see how different sectors will have different answers. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Niall
Niall,
Absolutely, I agree every business needs to evaluate their own objectives in answering this question. I also think there is a difference in business development and sales in answering this question. In your case, focusing on business development, I can see how you would want to be a bit more nurturing and a lot less pouncing.
Thanks for commenting!
P.S., How ironic, my wife's great grandparents lived in County Tipperary. Smaller world than we think.
Absolutely! please pass on my best wishes to her
Comments on this entry are closed.