Nurturing Sales Leads – Think of your sales leads as newborn babies. You brought them into your world through your lead generation campaigns, and now you want them to grow into happy and successful customers.
Like parenting, lead nurturing is a journey. It doesn’t happen overnight. Nurturing your leads takes time, effort, and patience.
Before the Baby is Delivered
Before your beautiful newborn comes home from the hospital a good parent spends time preparing. Lead nurturing also takes some preparation. Come up with a strategy for your lead nurturing campaigns so you are ready to deliver when the time comes.
Like a newborn is hungry for his mother’s milk, your sales leads are hungry for information. Develop great informative content to get your prospects started on this wonderful journey.
Focus on introductory content to introduce your prospect to your business. Don’t pitch your products or services just yet. Simply explain a little bit about what you do and be sure to emphasize you are available to answer any questions.
Patience is a virtue
Any parent knows patience is a key to parenting. Before your baby can talk it is difficult to understand just what they want. A new sales lead is similar. They aren’t quite sure what they want and are not ready to make a purchase at first engagement.
Patience is a big part of lead nurturing. Of course you are anxious to pitch the wonderful benefits of your products. Most of the time, you must wait until the prospects are further along in the sales process.
A key to lead nurturing is to enjoy the process. Have a genuine desire to give your prospects helpful information without pushing a sale. When it comes time to make the sale, the trust you have developed by not pushing your solution is key to the sales process.
Establish yourself as a go to source of useful information. Ask your prospects questions to find out their needs.
It is important to have patience with each question asked. Think of this aspect as the “why” stage of a toddler’s development. Your leads are curious. Respond to every question with as much relevant information as possible.
It is important to have patience with each question asked. Think of this aspect as the “why” stage of a toddler’s development. Your leads are curious. Respond to every question with as much relevant information as possible.
The Teenage Years
A nurtured lead is like a teenager. You give them all the initial help you can, but some decisions they have to make on their own.
At this stage guidance is your goal. They are informed enough to make a purchase. Perhaps they explore other options. Don’t lose touch with these sales leads. Confirm they are set up in a campaign where you continue to touch base.
Offer your prospects free downloads for sticking with you over time. A good download is an e-book exploring the features and benefits of your product.
Include some coupons or special promotions to let your sales lead know you value your relationship with them. Gently nudge them toward a purchase and reap the benefits.
Like raising kids, lead nurturing is a rewarding process. It makes you feel proud as you see your sales leads grow from information hungry newborns to well informed buyers.