Common sense and cultivation drive successful lead nurturing

Quick quiz: You’re buying a car. Do you want the hard-sell approach where you wind up feeling battered and bruised? Or, do you prefer a polite inquiry about what YOU want, followed by information addressing those needs?

Most of us want to be consulted and informed in a non-threatening way. Much of doing this ultimately just requires common sense. Find out what people want, then show where and how you can give it to them (or where they need to go to get it). Minimally, you’ll build goodwill, awareness and interest—all of which can drive subsequent sales.

Bottom line, return on investment was  2,400 percent. Regardless of the size of your sales transactions, who would turn down that ROI?

Where it gets more complex is how to conduct the effort. In a one-on-one setting, it can be straightforward. But what about when you’re trying to get masses of people to the point where you can have that one-on-one discussion? That’s where lead nurturing comes in.

In a May 24, 2015 Business2community.com article, author Sarah Goliger frames the discussion very well. She notes, “The concept of lead nurturing is rooted in the idea that your leads aren’t always ready to buy your product or service as soon as they hear about your company…That’s where the ‘nurturing’ comes in…combine two very important goals in regard to your leads…

1. Provide value and gain their trust through educational content…

2. Pitch the value of your product or service in a way that makes them more likely to become customers. These two goals explain why it’s called ‘nurturing’ instead of ‘selling’:  You should build a relationship with your leads before you ask them to buy.”

According to Goliger, Forrester Research reports that companies excelling at lead nurturing “generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads at a 33 percent lower cost…There are many ways to approach lead nurturing. The best approach for your company will largely depend on your type of business and what your audience responds to. This may require testing over time…”

“Lead reengagement” will constitute much of the process.  In a customerthink.com article entitled, “The Skinny on Lead Nurturing-11 Experts Weigh In,” Brian Carroll, executive director, revenue optimization at MECLABS describes the potential of continuing to engage versus letting leads die.

He notes, “The vast majority of your leads aren’t ready to buy immediately, but if they fit your customer profile they will be ready to buy eventually. Your role is to keep and cultivate their interest…[A global IT leader] provided us approximately 50% of their leads generated that year, about 1,500. These leads had not engaged with the organization for at least 90 days. We reviewed each one to identify what motivated them and then phoned them. …After three months of calling, 40% wanted to continue to be in the IT company’s lead nurturing program, 15% moved further along in the sales cycle and 7% converted into customers…For an investment of less than $50,000, within three months the IT company gained $1.2 million in sales from leads that had essentially been untouched or forgotten.”

Bottom line, return on investment was 2,400 percent. Regardless of the size of your sales transactions, who would turn down that ROI?

Think about it. But not for too long. At this rate, the sooner you get going, the faster you will see profits pile up.

Ready to nurture some leads? We can help you set up and get up to speed on the entire program: 303-607-9424; shara@plumbmarketing.com.