Online Lead Follow-up Best Practices

Online Lead Follow-up Best PracticesI did an article last year on a study that a university performed that showed how likely a salesperson was to make contact with a call in relation to the time that a lead left their contact info on the company website.Most sales people do not respect the leads that they they get from an online source, but the amount of time and manpower that goes into creating the site and generating content can be expensive as running a Sunday ad. The good news the website will last nearly forever versus the fly by night nature of the Sunday paper. The response time is the largest factor when it comes to turning a lead into a sale. A sales person is more like to make contact with an online lead in the first 60 minutes.

They are 60% more likely to convert that lead into a sale. So, time is truly of the essence. Our world suffers from attention deficit disorder. Also, we are a people that wants it now.

So, what are some of the best practices to convert your hard-earned online leads.

1. Call Them

Let us assume they give you a real phone number. That really means they want you to call. Avoid taking the easy way out, call them do not email them.

This could be a whole separate point, but ask for the least amount information required.Simply put:

name and phone
Contact by Phone or Email

name and email

My real preference is all three, name, email and phone. But only require name and phone.

So, do yourself a favor if they give you their email and phone number. Call them and by doing so, you make it personal. You sell yourself so much better on the phone than you ever will by email.

One major tip here… Avoid canned responses. Just take a few minutes and type up a personal email.

2. Add Value

When the lead on the phone or establish a contact, take the time to learn about them and their needs. When you get to know them it will be easier identify their needs, wants and expectations, When you identify those areas of need and wants. You should be available to provide them the value only you and your company can offer. You will be able to help them with their problem and earn their trust. Remember they contacted you for no other reason than you to provide them with a solution.

You should always be adding value.

3. Follow-up Consistently

Depending on your business, you will need to “nurture” the lead and drip on the on the contact. Schedule touch points whether it be by voice mail, email or snail mail. Remind them you are out there providing a solution and adding value to them. You should always be letting them know you are in their corner.

Always remember this: consistency is key and when you break the chain of contact, you may very well lose them.

4. Ask – Go ahead, Ask for it.

Go ahead you have earned it! Ask for the appointment or the sale. Do you know why most sales people never get the sale? They never ask for it. The same goes for the appointment.

Let us refresh here for a moment:

They found your site
They clicked on your site
They gave you their info
They took your call/email
You provided them with value
You consistently follow-up

Guess what – they want to buy from you or at the very least, they want to meet with you. All you need to do is ask. So, ask for the appointment!

We all know that you won’t get in contact with every lead, and you won’t close every deal. However, if you don’t even try or even try consistently, then don’t even bother getting out of bed. Just stay in bed.

Always remember, you miss every pitch that you don’t swing at. So, take the bat off of your shoulders and swing away my friend.

Dave