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In this issue of the Claymanite, we will be discussing lead nurturing. We'll provide practices and components of lead nurturing along with how lead nurturing can work through a company website. Finally, we'll discuss how to nurture a lead into a paying cutomer. We've gathered some news stories, some of our own thoughts, and we invite you to add your insights to the mix!
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Lead Nurturing
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Lead Nurturing typically starts with one of a myriad of CRM (Customer Relations Management) software programs including SalesForce, ACT, Goldmine and the like, whose purpose is to create a hub for collecting, sorting, note filing and any other functions related to an organized customer/prospect follow-up system.
Companies should do a lot of shopping and comparing before settling on which program to use because ultimately, it will be the buy-in by the sales force and support people who will ultimately determine the success of the software. Like any system where human interaction is required, the relative success of the program will be determined by how well it is used. The Sales Manager or VP Sales should create stringent rules about completing information about each contact. Why so stringent? There is a reason why one company calls their program Goldmine. Your contact system should truly be the goldmine for your company in terms of being able to quickly pull up a customer you visited three months ago or a prospect that you met at a show three days ago.
Once the contact information has been "dumped" into the software, you now have the ability to make notes each time that customer or prospect has been contacted by you or any of your support people.
Time to Get Marketing Involved
In most companies, that same information should be shared with Marketing so that future e-blasts, e-newsletters, open house invitations, etc., can be sent to these valuable contacts.
How often should you reach out to this contact list? That answer varies widely but tends to fall into the "I hate to get emails all the time from people I don't really know so I don't want to bug people more than once every few months." The answer also differs depending on the market and the position you are targeting. For instance, if you are trying to reach physicians or presidents of companies, you may want to back off on the frequency. If, on the other hand, you are reaching people in purchasing or people who are always hungry for new information to help them make buying decisions, you may want to dial up the frequency.
A point we always make to our clients is that there is value in sending the e-contact even if the recipient doesn't open the email. How can this be? Just seeing your company name in the customer's email box may be enough to keep your company front of mind and accomplish your overall goal of making a "soft" contact.
A Customer is Different from a Prospect
Offers to these groups should differ. A known customer should get customer treatment. Discounts, contests, etc., are all appropriate to this group. For prospects, they need more information about you and your company in order to be comfortable about doing business with you. Load them up with background, reputation, testimonials, awards, videos, anything that can give them peace of mind that working with your company is the right decision.
To Nurture is to Care For
The definition of "nurture" is "care for" or "cultivate". That is exactly what you want to do with your precious leads. You work too hard and spend too much money obtaining these leads. Now it's time to do a little nurturing.
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