Helpful Advice To Following Up Sales LeadsOne thing that is essential to lead generation is following up sales leads correctly. We had an interesting situation recently in that a website designer held us responsible for a clients decision.
This lead to us wondering, how do companies look at the selling process and consider where the responsibility resides.
Here is the scenario:
A client contacted us looking for a website to be designed. They gave details about what they had in mind, budget, timescales, and we then got a couple of website designers to introduce and give some ideas and pricing.
The client then said (for whatever reason) that they needed to hold fire for a couple of months and will get back in touch once they are ready to go ahead.
Sounds fine, sometimes things change (priorities, funding etc.) and projects are put on hold.
We then had one of the website designers come back to us saying it was our responsibility, and the client was not properly qualified.
Our thinking is that it is a clients decision on who they choose to work with, when they decide to award the work and when they decide to award it. Our view is that we cannot force people to make decisions – they make their own minds up.
All we can do is connumicate what we have been asked by a client and help that client to get quotes and ideas from relevant marketing companies.
In sales, there are no guarantees; some leads turn into work and some leads do not.
Some leads that are ‘cold’ and look as if they will never turn into buisness suddenly turn around to place an order.
Some that are hot, and are ready to place an order suddenly go cold.
Telemarketing companies are trained in following up sales leads correctly, saving your the headache.
This is the nature of sales; it has always been a numbers game and has always been a frustrating game of cat and mouse – but how do businesses in general view this?
Are there really companies out there that do think that every enquiry should turn into an order?
Are there really companies out there that expect every sales lead to answer the phone on the first call.
The sad truth is that there are lots of companies that have this mindset. This is normalyl the case when the business is not used to selling proactivley (going out to chase business down) or if a ‘non sales’ person is chasing up new business.
We have had it in the past that people have e-mailed us saying they called a phone number and it went to voice mail – what do they do…advice – to call back later or tomorrow?
This is not rocket science or quantum physics, but many businesses do not understand that people are not always say at their desk waiting for sales calls. Sometimes people take holidays, or are ill, or are busy.
Somtimes situations change and people change their minds on business direction.
The question is, who is responsible, answer – the client. They make their decisions, they decide to go on holiday (shame on them) or to put a hold of a project (the cheek of it) and that can never change.
We live in an instant world of social media, sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. People want an instant response, instant entertainment and instant work. However sales does not always work in this way.
Most people are busy, they might make an enquiry and then drop off the face of the earth. Impossible to reach by phone, not responding to emails and not calling back after messages are left with colleagues.
Most sales people do not chase enquiries, because they feel that if they have not had a response initially, then the prospect is not interested.
This is not always the case, as people are busy and are often juggling many balls.
The priority to you is their enquiry, they may be wanting a quote on a website, or a quote for telemarketing, but have not responded to emails or voice mails.
The priority for your prospect is their job. If they are a business owner, they are most likely handling many projects, not just getting quotes on a website, or a telemarketing quote. They may be trying to find a new accountant, looking for a new member of staff, or trying to close a deal.
Working alongside a lead generation agency may well be helpful and does not need to break the bank.
Following up sales leads correctly is not for everyone, it does take a certain character and certainly needs industry experience.
All industries are different therefore follow up sales leads in each industry will be different. Choosing a marketing company to help following up sales leads is wise.
Talking with telemarketing companies can be beneficial, not necessarily to outsource all your lead generation, but working together.
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