6 Tactics to Qualify & Convert Your Leads
Qualifying sales leads is a crucial part of any marketing strategy. Bringing people in through content marketing is only the very first step.
Content draws people in. Hopefully you then have a positive website user experience that will stimulate your visitor to fill out one of your contact forms. This is where most people think marketing ends. But, in this blog, we hope to show you that this is where it starts. It is at this point that you must engage with your potential customers and qualify them into sales ready leads. If this is what your business struggles with, then read on for our 6 tips on qualifying and converting leads.
Call them!
Sending an email and waiting to see what happens is NOT enough! There is no better way to engage with your customers than by phoning them directly. It allows you to get your personality across, while asking them important questions. You can also hear how they react and anticipate any potential reservations that they might have.
An email is a good starting point, but it should never be the only tactic. Even in the digital era, nothing beats a phone call.
Automate your qualifying process
Whether you’re using HubSpot or another CRM, you’ll be able to set up automated sales emails that can do the hard work for you. This is especially relevant for smaller businesses that don’t have a dedicated sales team. It can be quite overwhelming if you’re an owner-operator, so this is where automation comes in.
Automated emails can save you a lot of time and money and can be a good way to start engaging with potential clients. However, they should never replace personalised emails and phone calls.
Automation is particularly relevant when people fill out simple forms for guides. If someone downloads a guide, it makes sense to set up automated emails that send them their guide a few days later. You can then also set up follow up emails that can help elicit a response from your potential customers.
Map out a Qualifying Workflow
Sometimes, it is easier to visualise a process. When it comes to qualifying your leads, you need to understand the multiple touchpoints that it can take to convert someone from a website visitor to a client. Remember that it can take between 5 and 8 touchpoints for a customer or client to engage with you. This doesn’t happen automatically – it takes hard work.
We recommend that you visually map out this process, including all the emails that you intend to send out.
Connect on Social Media
This may not seem like an obvious one, but it can help blur the boundaries between your sales department and the customer. It also allows you to use your social media content strategy to slowly nurture your potential customer.
Of course, this will depend on your industry and the way you normally deal with client communications. It also depends on the social media channel in question. Lawyers and financial advisors, for example, probably shouldn’t connect with their clients on Facebook or Instagram. However, a LinkedIn connection, might be more appropriate.
Use the BANT Process
The BANT process is a crucial element to any qualifying process, as it allows you to make a list of all the defining features of a specific lead. It is composed of four key areas:
- Budget: Can they afford the service? What are their restrictions?
- Authority: Can they sign off any purchases or do you need to liaise with someone else?
- Need: What is their pain and how can you help them address it?
- Timeline: Are they ready to buy or are they just learning about your service/product?
If you analyse your leads using the BANT process, you’ll start to get a very good idea of what this lead if worth to your business and whether you should proceed with them.
Know when an opportunity isn’t right for you
Sometimes, it just isn’t the right opportunity for your business. Acknowledge this and don’t try to fight it. Knowing what is or isn’t the right client for your business is much easier when you understand who your buyer persona is.
If you’re a contractor who works exclusively on luxury bathroom renovations, then perhaps it doesn’t make sense to help someone with a leaky roof. It is better to wait around for a good, long-term client that fits in with your business ethos, rather than jump at an opportunity that will only cause you problems and affect your reputation.
Additional Resources
Get our essential guide to Digital Marketing for more information on the whole marketing process.
