So you’ve got a list of your targeted contacts, great. Now how do you get them through the sales pipeline? It’s difficult to know what course of action to take when a client shows interest but is far from ready to commit. Pushing too hard might chase them away. Playing the casual card will almost definitely lose you those hard-earned prospects. You’re caught between a rock and a hard place.
Limited lead information can make closing a deal seem impossible, and we know that. So here are some tips to help convert a cold contact list from cold to piping hot.
1 – First of all, create personas based on clients you’ve been successful with.
If you know who you want to target, you’ll be able to spot them when they come along. A vital resource for this process is to create customer personas. Draw up a list of characteristics that successful leads have shown.
- What correspondence did they respond most positively to?
- What about the product caught their attention?
- What were the steps in their sales process that won them over?
Once these personas are created, they can be used to single out the leads you want to get in contact with using company information. Understand your customers’ psyche before you get in contact and they’ll be more willing to offer you their valuable time.
2 – Understand why your cold contact list is so chilly.
Evaluate who is interested in your product and who misunderstood what you’re offering. A lot of traffic on your website might be atypical. In which case, emails here and there are likely to be ignored. What you have to ask yourself is this: how much evidence is there of a genuine buyer interest?
If the answer is “not that much”, it might be time to consider dropping the lead. Minimal or zero interest means wasted time, and we all know that time is money.
If you have considerable confidence, however, a tactical approach is best. Find their email address (using lead generation software) as a starting point of contact. Introduce yourself and drip feed your sales pitch over time to convince them. If they like what they read, they’ll reply.
3 – Manage your cold leads carefully.
If your sales cycle takes more than a month, and most do, it’s important to keep up with where each lead is. That way, you know what information to contact them with when you get in touch the next time – to push them further through the pipeline. Leave notes in your CRM or set up an alert for the next time they visit your website. You can even put a trackable link in the email you send them to see if they open and act on your email.
Whatever approach you take, your leads need to feel that they have been singled out from the rest. You need to show them how you view them. Not simply as money in the bank, but as a valued individual, they can do business with. A copy-pasted email that is clearly sent en-masse will get you nowhere. An email or message that shows you took the time to do your research might just land you a huge deal.
Ready to implement the art of lead scoring on your website?
Better yet, have you ever considered being able generate leads while you sleep?
