So, You Got Leads – Now What?
Generating leads is one of marketing’s chief objectives. In fact, generating leads is the ultimate goal of the sum of all marketing activities. However, generating leads alone does not create revenue or profits!
It is very common for salespeople, and even for an organization as a whole, to experience Call Reluctance (see ‘Marketing Lingo’ below) of some sort, and let leads get cold or be snatched by the competition. However, successful organizations have processes, protocols, training, metrics, and other tools at their disposal to overcome this problem and move the sales process forward.
Failure to follow up on leads represents more than just lost sales opportunities – It also completely wastes the investment in marketing activities. All the efforts put forth over time to build a company’s brand and goodwill and all the resources that were put into advertising, trade shows, collateral, travel, samples, and so on, would be completely wasted if leads are not pursued properly.
Following up with leads does not only (or necessarily) mean picking up the phone and asking for the order. As we have discussed in previous newsletters, lead nurturing is certainly a category of marketing designed to follow up on leads and move them closer toward a buying decision.
If you are reluctant to just ask for the order, there are many options available to you in order to stay in touch with your prospects and leads. There are things you can do to ‘stay in the game’, to get their attention, and convince them of your unique value – You do offer a unique value to your customers, don’t you?
Before you ask for the order, why not present your prospects and leads with relevant insights, provide them with important advice, or even fascinating predictions that might benefit them and position you as the obvious choice for their purchase? And of course, at one point you should ask for the order! If you have done right by them, they will not frown upon your question and might even appreciate it.
If you would like to discuss your lead nurturing and how to leverage marketing to follow up on leads, call us – we will be happy to speak with you about it, without any obligation on your part.
Duke Merhavy, MBA, Ph.D.
President & Chief Marketing Officer
What Is Fractional CMO & Marketing?
Fractional CMO & Marketing is ‘Your Smart Marketing Formula’ when you need expert marketing leadership and marketing services to accelerate growth and improve profitability, but you’re not quite ready to hire a full-time Chief Marketing Officer or your own marketing department
Our unique arrangement is the most efficient, innovative, and cost-effective formula for you. Click on the image on the right to watch a short video.
Reminder: Trade Show Season Is Upon Us!
Spring is right around the corner and is the time in which many trade shows are being held around the country. Planning and executing your participation in a trade show, either as an exhibitor or an attendee, is a serious undertaking! Trade shows can be a source of many leads that will ultimately end up as sales. It is not unusual for companies to trace 80 percent of their sales back to leads from trade shows.
We have written several articles about the preparation for trade shows and provided tips on how to do it. Back in September our newsletter included “10 Tips to Elevate Your Business at a Trade Show” – you may want to check it out again:
Marketing Lingo: “Call Reluctance”
Call reluctance is a term often-used to describe thoughts and feelings that cause a person to avoid making calls to prospects in order to move the sales process forward, and ultimately to close a sale. It is an internal dialog one’s mind anticipating difficult or unpleasant conversation that causes him or her to avoid or delay making the call.
Most people experience call reluctance to a certain degree – Some are so terrified by the thought of asking for an order, that they cannot (and usually do not) engage in ‘sales’ activities whatsoever. Others have developed techniques and the required discipline to help them overcome call reluctance.
‘Marketing Lingo’ is a regular column in which we define, or otherwise explain, terms often used in marketing but not necessarily correctly or properly by some
Take Advantage of Us
Give us a call at 888-412-2236 or click on the button below to request a complimentary Marketing Needs Assessment, or to ask us a question regarding your most pressing marketing or sales challenges.
