Are you looking to acquire more customers with less leads? That strategy would certainly improve your profit and decrease wasted marketing dollars. Unfortunately, you probably don’t even know how many opportunities you are throwing away every day. Proper sales management will instantly put you on top of every deal and increase the pull-through on your sales pipeline. But, are you making these 5 common lead management mistakes?
Email is Not CRM Software
This is unquestionably the top of the list of sales management mistakes. Email is a communication tool for a short-term discussion or collaboration. It is not a tool to build relationships with hundreds of clients over numerous years.
The human brain can only manage so much information. You attempting to remember to follow-up and consistently stay top of mind with hundreds of customers is a guaranteed failure. You need a system that will routinely automate some contact and remind you to reach out personally on a regular basis.
One Call Closes are Fantasy
Everyone thinks this is possible, but it ranks up with winning the lottery. If you hit it be happy, but don’t try to feed yourself playing the game.
This is why a methodical process of following up on prospects is critical to success. Industry surveys show that the average lead takes a minimum of 5-7 contacts to close and generally requires 30-60 days. So, don’t get frustrated and toss that two week old lead.
Sales People Can’t Pick Leads
Again our primal human nature creeps in and foils up on this one too. We can’t pick the right leads. We will invariably gravitate to inherent biases, which is typically counter productive to our sales numbers.
Trying to tackle only the biggest accounts or loan amounts, without capturing a few small ones along the way, is the perfect example. Your sales management system should help you create an ideal lead profile for each of your sales agents. You will be amazed at perception versus reality.
Prospects Need to be Nurtured
Are you trashing valuable non-responsive customers? More so than ever, leads need to be effectively nurtured. Challenging economic conditions slows everyone’s buying decisions. The key here is to stay top of mind so you are first in mind when the need or the pain becomes right for a purchase.
This does not mean just throwing them into your email machine, but rather building a detailed follow-up plan that includes email, mail, and telephone. And don’t forget to add value to each of those touch points–an interesting article or report, an example of success, or best practices session.
Get My Next Lead Increases Sales Velocity
Often we forget that sales is about numbers. How many times do we spend too much time organizing or getting ready to do something. The best strategy in most cases is to do as my Dad often used to say, “Do something, even if it’s wrong.”
Simply getting onto the next lead will produce more sales than any other strategy. So, stop reading this and improve your lead management–do something!
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Want more information about Kaleidico's lead management software or services call 866.667.5253 or visit www.kaleidico.com.
