REPORT ER Paul Liascos, UK Managing Director, ReachLocal Experts
LEADS ARE YOUR LIFEBLOOD
Starting your business has taken a lot of time, effort and bravery. In a competitive market where your customers have a wealth of choice, you’ve worked hard to make sure you are offering them some- thing they can’t get elsewhere. Attracting new customers is critical and you have to maximise your marketing return through successful lead conversion. One of the most important aspects of this is respond- ing quickly and a Harvard Business Review survey found that half of consumers choose to do business with the company that gets back to them first when they make enquiries. Our own 2015 ReachOut Small Business Survey found that only 31-35% of email or website enquiries are returned by UK businesses within an hour.
The UK is the global lead for purchasing goods and services online. In fact social media selling is expected to grow 50% in 2015 according to Statista, so it is no longer simply enough to have a webpage but you have to be in touch with all the channels through which leads reach you. In an ideal world every prospect would find you online, visit your website, contact you and become a customer. In reality only some of those prospects will turn into customers. By identifying and fixing any leaks in your lead funnel and nurturing those leads effectively – you can maximise the business you get from your online presence.
A lead funnel is made up of three core parts: one where prospects ‘discover’ you, another in which they ‘contact’ you and a third in which they ‘choose’ you. Each of these stages must be handled properly to make the most of every pound of marketing spend, whether you invest hundreds or tens of thousands. Some customers are ready to buy, but others need nurturing. You must have the right tools in place to generate, nurture and convert your leads. Here are five tips, based on our own experience, to help you ensure leads are maximised and nurtured in the lead funnel:
Have a well-designed, smart website A website is still the key conversion tool for any business. Getting it right can result in a huge uplift in leads and revenue, especial- ly when over 60% of the time customers cannot find the information they are looking for and leave without taking further action. It has to:
• Have visible contact information - up to 20
Don’t throw them away...
half of potential sales are lost because consumers can’t find your contact informa- tion. When a potential customer visits your website they may have already conducted extensive research and be ready to engage with you, so you may lose them if they have to hunt for your contact information. The top right hand corner of your website is the optimum position for contact details.
• Clearly demonstrate what you do - a website should demonstrate your value proposition and contain a clear call to action for customers.
• Have sufficient conversion paths - custom- ers should be able to complete a transac- tion or request further information from any and all of your web pages.
• Be mobile friendly - many consumers are increasingly accessing the internet on mobile devices such as smartphones (68%) and tablets (40%). Make sure you connect with consumers on the move and ensure your site is optimised for mobile devices to make buying simple.
Capture sufficient customer data on every channel
One of the biggest leaks in the sales funnel is caused by a failure to capture customer data. If you don’t know who your prospects are, you can’t understand how they found you and you can’t follow-up to convert them into sales. Wherever possible, capture contact details such as the prospect’s email address. This lets you pro-actively follow-up on leads.
Support sales staff with the right infor- mation, when they need it most Consumers expect to be contacted quickly when they make an enquiry. Make sure the processes and systems are in place to provide timely notification of new contacts,
pushed to your mobile devices. Call re- cording software can also help you capture the finer details of a conversation for future reference and lets you review calls and provide appropriate training to improve sales skills.
Consider automated marketing systems As lead numbers increase it becomes more difficult to manage customer contact, particularly if you are trying to manage other areas of the business too. Automated marketing systems can be a way to relieve the pressure by taking care of tasks such as building custom, branded lead-nurturing emails; automatically sending customised marketing emails to prospects to keep your business top-of-mind until they are ready to buy; and keeping the sales team reminded of active leads.
Respond quickly to every query Aim to reply to web forms, emails, and calls within an hour. That sounds like a tall order, but with multiple businesses to choose from, many customers will opt to do busi- ness with the company that calls back first. 55% of purchase-related conversions occur within one hour of an initial mobile search, underlining how quickly you must act.
Whether you are a sole trader or a growing small business, it is essential to plug the gaps in your funnel. Competition is stiff particularly as the economy begins to grow more aggressively. The question you have to ask yourself is how many sales can you afford to lose to the competition? It’s not simply a matter of revenue, it’s one of rep- utation and sustaining growth. The simple fact is that the company that responds first is most likely to get the business.
You can learn more about optimising your lead funnel at our free information micro site –
dontleakleads.co.uk
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