Finding leads to send off to the sales team is a priority for most businesses. But not all leads are quality ones, and narrowing them down so that they can be converted into sales is an important process. As leads come in, they need to be analyzed, scored, and nurtured so that the sales team doesn’t waste time chasing leads that will go nowhere. Follow these steps for generating quality leads and watch your business grow.
Cast a Wide Net
When starting a marketing campaign, you want to make sure that you target a wide variety of potential customers. Make sure you get in front of anyone who might be interested in your product. For example, if you’re selling a niche product such as diamond saw blades, then you want to target the aerospace, construction, and manufacturing industries as well as trade schools. Whatever your product is, do your research so that you don’t miss any opportunities.
Turn Traffic into Information
Drawing potential customers to your website is just step one. Once they’re there, you need to keep them engaged with relevant, original content. The longer they remain on the site and click on links, the more data they’ll leave behind, which you can use to evaluate the potential customer and decide if they can be converted into a returning client.
Score the Leads
Now it’s time to analyze your information. All the data you’ve gathered from your leads has a story to tell. Leads should be scored for relevance—the higher the score, the better the lead. For example, if your sales team wants only B2B leads, then give those leads a higher score than B2C leads. Don’t waste the sales team’s time with leads that won’t go anywhere.
Nurture the Leads
In the end, a lead is a lead—there are no bad ones. However, some will be easier to convert to sales than others. Keep in mind that this can be a long process and that patience will pay off in the end. Rushing a lead and pressuring them will only shut them down. If a potential customer isn’t quite ready to buy, send the lead back to marketing so that they can keep the customer engaged and send them more information to draw them in.