One of the biggest frustrations for marketing is good, qualified leads that showed an interest but didn’t go anywhere. Not every lead you generate will convert, however when you have profiled your mailing list, crafted a campaign and generated some great opportunities, it is useful to know what went wrong.
Missed
The most common mistake when following up leads is leaving it too late to reply. With a prospect contacting you, there is a window of the same working day to respond. If you make contact in a timely manner, understand and meet the requirements, you will establish a relationship, which you can build from. By forgetting to respond and being reminded by the prospect, you are on the back foot and may have already given the competition a head start.
Misunderstanding
You have managed to hit the right person at the right time but you have misunderstood the requirement. He contacts you for pricing. If you can’t get hold of the prospect to fully understand his requirements, you may send the wrong information and miss the opportunity. The prospect may not have time to take sales calls, but without properly qualifying his requirement, the opportunity will be lost and the prospect challenging to re-engage with.
Mis-directed
The MD may have shown an interest, but he may not be the only one you need to impress. These leads take much longer to convert, however can be more profitable in the long-term. By catching the MD at the right time, understanding his business and key decision makers, you can plan a contact strategy to engage with each party to meet their requirements.
At Jola we help our partners to win more business by understanding their customer requirements and working with them to pose solutions. We offer support in every area from marketing through to pre-sales support and after-sales care. To find out more…
