Define your Market
The better you can define your target market, the more qualified your leads will be. Knowing your potential customer and where they come from will also help you in understanding them, what they need and how to convince them to become a customer.
Start with a demographic profile that includes the following: Location, Gender, Income, Education, Family status, Occupation, Ethnic background, Personality, Attitude, Values, Interests, Lifestyles and Behaviour. Don’t limit yourself by thinking who you would like to sell to, rather think instead – Who would like to buy my product? A good starting point is also to research your competitors and to look at who they are selling to.
Build your Lead and Customer Database
This is the lifeblood of your business and one of your most valuable assets. Just having a contact name and email address is not enough, but keep it simple. If it is an existing customer you need to know what they’ve bought from you before and when, and when you’ve last interacted with them. It is far easier to sell to an existing customer than to a new one.
New leads should be nurtured in the same way. Make sure you record all the relevant information about them, as well as categorizing your leads and noting where they are in the lead generation pipeline – this will help with your marketing strategy and sending targeted messages, e.g. information about other products they might be interested in, special offers, etc.
Don’t just Sell
So you have set yourself apart from the competition and become an industry leader. But once the leads start coming through your door it is very important that you ask qualifying questions to determine where your new lead is in their buying process. With so much information at their fingertips, buyers have become more and more educated and you can lose a lead fast by frustrating them with overselling instead of empowering them with the information that they still need.
Align Sales and Marketing
Another important point is to make sure that your online presence is aligned with your sales initiative. We live in a world of information technology and sharing this information is vital in the lead to sales conversion process. Sharing important information like the history of each lead’s activity on your website, e.g. interaction with marketing campaigns, downloads, social media, etc.
Ensure that the sales and marketing departments are working together in the planning as well as measuring of campaigns, analysing opportunities together, evaluating past campaigns and setting strategies and objectives together. Getting your sales and marketing teams aligned and on the same page will increase your lead to sales conversion dramatically.
Response Time and Follow up
Speed is the single most critical component to lead conversion. The buyer is often led by a sense of loyalty towards the company that responded to them first. The quality of your response is as important in that initial contact with the prospect. Also, don’t discard old leads and schedule timely follow up calls. Fast and thorough follow-up are the first steps in conversion optimization.
Now that you’ve figured out how to turn your leads into sales, you want to make sure you have your whole team on board. Come to Intundla Game Lodge, close to Gauteng for your next Conference or Team Build event.
