All sales processes begin with an essential first step: lead generation. If this first step is solid and consistent then you have very good chances of converting these leads into customers. However, the process doesn’t end with the lead, you will have to work hard towards making a sale.
Many companies don’t analyze the quality of their leads and this turns into a big problem, especially for the sales team who contacts people who are not yet ready to buy.
The only way to avoid bad sales leads is to start sorting them, so you don’t waste your time and energy chasing the wrong people. If you have too many unverified leads, your sales team will lose contact opportunities with the right prospects who are real good sales opportunities.
There are some strategies that top marketing companies follow rigorously to escape bad sales leads, and if you do too, these steps will enhance your quality of inbound sales inquiries and turn cold calling into sales.
ASK LEAD-QUALIFYING QUESTIONS
It’s important to understand that each prospect is unique and that It’s necessary to establish a personalized communication with each of your customers. Making the right questions to qualify each lead is an easy step you can take to prioritize and categorize your leads.
Through questions you open the door of trust with each potential client, and also you will have the opportunity to know more about their challenges and needs.
Asking questions gives you the possibility to interact more with your prospects, get closer to solve their concerns or problems and ultimately get to know their interests. Then you’ll have a clear picture of who is genuinely interested in what your company offers.
ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
It is not advisable to ask questions that make your prospects feel attacked or invaded in their privacy. Avoid asking too many direct questions, focus instead on asking flexible questions that invite them to talk about their pain points and overall business situation.
Most sales teams don’t listen to what the potential customer has to say and only focus on talking about the benefits of the product or service they are trying to sell. Lead quality open-ended questions will help you evaluate how urgent the purchase decision is.
FOLLOW-UP BY PHONE
One of the most common mistakes is to send automated emails to leads. This new era of automated emails helps, but you can’t be dependent on a fully automated lead qualification process.
Instead of sending automated emails, we recommend you to communicate with your customers over the phone. Keep a detailed conversation that allows you to have human interaction with your customers, over time this will allow you to strengthen the relationship with your customers.
Get on the phone and talk to them, because people who are genuinely interested will want to hear from you ASAP.
HIGH PRICE POINTS
If you have all the above points covered and you have not yet been able to convert a lead into a customer, there’s a possibility that the prices of your products or services are too high. We recommend you to compare your prices with the competition.
As we mentioned in the beginning, lead generation is just the first step to approaching a real sale, it still takes a lot of effort to get to a real conversion.
Many companies rely on capturing leads leaving aside a proper sales process. Is this your case? Then we recommend you to follow the detailed points above and and begin seeing new customers and new sales rising.
Want to know more about successful lead generation? Download the Sales Strategies to Accelerate Inside Sales Lead Generation Guide.
