The lead nurturing process is one of the major hurdles in the pursuit of improving your sales lead management. The main goal is to reach a conversion point but the path towards that point is determined by a solid nurturing process that only a few companies have up their arsenal. As per a research institute called MarketingSherpa, 65% of B2B organisations never went on to establish lead nurturing.

When you get an estimate of the amount of money nurtured leads end up producing on an average – 20% hike over leads that are never nurtured, you understand the amount of money remaining untapped in the form of lost customers.

It is time that we realise that leads do not convert at the drop of a hat. The journey from discovery to the final decision is a long and arduous one and requires the foundation of trust in an e-commerce website to settle for the solution that the said dealership is providing. You have to build the relationship step by step till the lead decides to convert. The process prolongs typically for a B2B business.

It is time that you recognise the truth that the process of lead management is delicate and one that requires patience. Follow these steps to witness improvements in lead-to-seal ratio –

Research Is Paramount To Accentuating Final Conversion Rates

Spotting who your potential buyers are going to be requires in-depth research by calling on the services of data analytics and behavioural retargeting form of marketing. An efficient marketing team dedicated to formulating a solid lead management strategy can leverage your business by giving you insights into buyer types and a segmented view of the audience by painting a picture of the ideal Target Customer. To understand this wholly, we have to factor in the following parameters –

• Demographics – the statistical evidence of the age, sex, ethnicity, religion and other criteria of a given location
• Behaviours – evidence of how they go about their day and general standards of living.
• Sources -The sources governing the way you generate leads – via campaigns, referral activities and so on.

Develop A Content Plan

Build awareness of your brand by using blogs, web banners, PR stories and flash demos. Educate your audience about your business by hosting webinars, events and newsletters that add value to your customers outside the realm of your exclusive brand promotions. Acknowledge the problems that audience raise in those webinars and find appropriate solutions to them by broadening the horizon of your business or providing quick fixes that your business already expertises in.                                                                                       

Formulate A Lead Nurture Strategy

Map a system that funnels your leads into a nurturing and tracking method that is unique to every lead. It begins with tracking a given visitor who has clicked through your website. Balance the rate at which the visitor is sent emails and other promotional content but not overwhelmed with them. If they download an offer, you should sense it as an opportunity as it opens other avenues of interest that you can exploit to further the process of nurturing. Now that the consumer is intrigued, use interactive methods of engagement like emails and social media posts to hold their attention. This is the perfect time for your sales representative to schedule a call when they are actively engaging. Worry no more, a prospective client is up for grabs.

The final stage is where your marketing team builds the prospect by using these same tools in an ad-hoc basis till they convert.                                                     

Introduce Lead Scoring To Ease Conversion

In order to prevent exerting a substantial amount of burden on the sales team, advocating the use of a lead scoring system becomes an intrinsic part. Base your judgement on demographics which will eliminate any possibility of encountering dead leads. This will ensure that you are investing your time and resources on the potential buyers who are most likely to convert.

Handing Over The Leads

This is the step where most of your dead leads get filtered out. Make use of the services of a sound CRM software to automate the entire process. However, there are a few things you should be mindful of when transferring the onus on to your sales team to take over the mantle. They are as follows –

• Make sure the data concerning the leads is accurate.
• You ought to have a strategy in place that takes care of the data pertaining to the lead before making first contact. Authentic data yields authentic results.
• Enforce guidelines to monitor the lead’s radar throughout the process of lead nurturing.