3 Ways to Nurture Your Leads
In the remodeling world, there are two basic types of leads: those who are ready to buy immediately and those who need a little (or a lot) more time. If you are like many remodeling firms, you do a great job of closing business with the first type of lead, but often the second type of lead becomes lost over time. Nurturing these long term leads can offer an important boost to your revenue at very little cost.
Tim Musch, Founder and Director of Business Development for Advanced Marketing Concepts, indicates that, on average, a contractor closes 3 out of every 10 leads in the initial selling period. Of the remaining 7 leads, 60% will buy a similar product from someone within a year. (Click here for the full article.) By maintaining contact and developing a relationship with all of your leads, you will make more sales without the price tag that comes with initial lead generation. Here are 3 ways you can do just this.
#1: Create (or Find) a system for long term lead follow-up
How you capture, organize and track your leads will determine how easy it is for you to follow up on a long term basis. It is possible to do this on paper but can be far easier and more productive if you use a computer-based system.
The goal of a lead follow-up system is to make sure you are staying in contact with those leads that do not convert to sales in the initial selling period. As already stated, 60% of those longer term leads will eventually buy, and you want to have as many of that 60% buying from you and not your competitor.
In order for your lead tracking system to be effective, you should be able to sort based upon important criteria such as purchase timeframe, follow-up date, date last contacted, or type of project. This way you can select which group is ripe for follow-up. An electronic tickler system can be a simple as a spreadsheet, or you can invest in specialized lead management software. MarketSharp and LeadPerfection are two lead tracking software packages designed specifically for remodelers. In addition, ACT! and Microsoft Outlook are other great options.
Not "tech-savvy"? If your business is not yet gathering lead information electronically, you should consider doing so. In the interim, at the very least, setup monthly folders for each of your sales people and have them update their paper based lead forms with the key data points listed above. As they continue to follow-up on these leads, they can move the paper based forms into the right monthly folder for the next follow-up activity.
#2: Implement a plan for keeping your business "Top of Mind"
Now that you have a lead tracking system in place, and you know who to keep in touch with and when you want to contact them, the next question is what is the best way to communicate with them?
One method of communication is by phone. Prospects who are getting closer to their decision timeframe or ones you may not have spoken with for a while are good candidates for a follow-up phone call.
For those prospects that are more clearly identified as "information gatherers" or who might have a project timeframe 9-12 months or longer in to the future, you might develop a form of quarterly or monthly communication for these "on-hold" leads. Your communication should be information-based. The objective here is to just gently remind your prospects that your business is interested in their project. Regular communications also create a relationship with your prospects which helps them to trust your company.
Here are some suggestions for a quarterly or monthly communication:
- Develop a newsletter which includes information of interest to homeowners. For example, you could include house maintenance items that should be completed at certain times of year. (You can purchase great content to include in a customizable newsletter. Click here for an example).
- Mail a postcard with before and after shots of a project that was recently completed
Remember, this form of communication is not necessarily sales or offer based, it is informational; a "service" you offer to your prospects that will keep your business top of mind for them as their project timeframe approaches.
#3: Develop a program to make your business stand out
Think outside of the box. It's challenging to break through all of the junk mail and information that people regularly receive so you need to do something different. Maybe you can get involved in a local charity or other community program. By tying your company to such an effort, you will create a lot of good will.
Another way to stand out is to pick an unusual "holiday" and send a card to your prospect base. With such an emphasis these days on "green building," you might really make an impact if you sent your prospects a "Happy Arbor Day" card for example. A great list of unusual holidays by month and by day can be found at this web site.
Nurturing your leads is the best way to make the most of the investment you have made in lead generation. By continuing to follow-up on a long term basis you can ensure that you will make more sales with the same number of leads. Remember, 7 out of 10 leads will eventually buy. Nurture those leads to make sure that they buy from you and not your competition.
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