Just like milk and bread, leads tend to have an expiry date. So don’t let them go off because once they do, there’s usually no coming back. At Bang Digital, we’re here to help you make sure this never happens by keeping you on top of your business’ new leads. Read on to find out how.
According to the research, the answer is no. A recent study from the Harvard Business Review revealed that companies aren’t responding to leads fast enough. Results from the 2,241 companies surveyed found:
Even more alarming, the average response time among companies that responded within 30 days, was 42 hours. This is far too long, especially considering how quickly online leads can go cold.So the answer seems pretty simple: Responding to leads faster will improve your chances of successfully converting them to a sale. So why aren’t businesses responding in a quick and timely manner? Perhaps they need help…Most sales companies need new tools and processes to meet the demands of the online age. Here’s a few ways they can use digital marketing to improve:
Without proper marketing and sales alignment, it’s easy for leads to fall through the cracks. So establishing a process for how and when leads are transferred to sales is your best chance of capturing new customers at the right time.
Once you’ve established the role each department will play in the lead to sale process, you need to decide what your business defines a qualified lead as. Some factors you should consider when making this decision are demographics and behaviour.Why is this important? When marketing only sends over qualified leads (and nurtures the rest) sales can focus on the highest priority leads, freeing up time to connect with new leads more quickly.
Lead management is all about setting yourself personal goals. Once you have your new lead, you need to set a benchmark. Have a look at how quickly your sales team is currently following up on leads and aim to shorten that timeframe. Remember, the quicker you respond the more likely they are to qualify and eventually convert a lead to a sale. But keep in mind that your new benchmark also needs to be realistic in order to be feasible.
Still not convinced your sales team needs help? A word from our Campaign Manager Carly might. Carly is well-versed in helping businesses improve their lead response time and has seen firsthand the impact it can have on conversion rates. Here’s what she has to say:
Responding fast plays a huge role. For example, as an agency it's crucial we make customers feel valued from their very first encounter with us, and that means responding in a timely fashion. If a lead is shopping around for a digital partner, that first impression really counts, why would they choose to work with someone who doesn't appear to have the time to respond to their query? The sales process starts before a lead first makes contact with you and your marketing strategy should reflect this.
It’s important to align your sales with your marketing; consider the multitude of touch points that might contribute to a lead first making contact with you. What does that customer journey look like? What leads them to contact you? What are their questions? Their concerns? That should all play into your marketing strategy. Think big picture - marketing and sales go hand-in-hand.
Digital allows you to map out the customer journey of your lead. As part of this, you can map out the questions they're asking and the information they're seeking prior to first making contact with you and use this to inform your digital marketing. You can feed them the information they're looking for and guide / nurture them through your sales funnel. Therefore, it's crucial you have the internal resources in place to manage your leads prior to implementing a CRM or a tactical strategy.
All decisions and recommendations are data-driven. The fact that everything is measurable removes a great deal of risk from your marketing. Certain channels of traditional media can be incredibly hard to measure, so there's a lack of certainty as to whether you're getting the ROI you're working towards. With digital, everything is tracked, measured and collated to inform ongoing strategy. And the fact that digital is constantly evolving means there's always new opportunities to take your marketing to the next level. You can nurture your leads without them even realising you're doing so, sell to people without them ever feeling told to, etc.Not to mention the benefits to your actual marketing budget; being able to account for every dollar and monitor the changes to your CPA and work towards a target CPA; an opportunity that traditional marketing doesn't afford you.
Contact us here at Bang - that's what we're here for. Every company is different, there's no blanket ''one-size-fits-all'' approach. The best results come from being strategic and considering the customer journey of your leads and how you can best cater to them. We're always happy to advise.
Have you heard about our DataPop Sales Automation Solution? If your business is looking for a way to generate more leads, improve overall customer engagement and see a great return on investment for your digital marketing spend, then DataPop is the perfect solution for you.Powerful new marketing automation software designed to help businesses close the gap on their marketing to sales process and get the results they desire, DataPop helps you manage your databases intelligently and effectively.It allows you to see the end-to-end process from lead generation to sale completion, so you can focus on and achieve your business goals while it takes care of the rest. Working with DataPop for several years now, Bang’s services include:
With a base level starting at $550 per month for the software, DataPop and Bang Digital can provide you with the suite of tools and management services needed to help you skyrocket your sales and marketing process.Don’t be one of those companies that didn’t respond fast enough and ended up losing a sale. Have a chat to Bang Digital about finding ways to manage your leads for success.
