In this section we'll take a look at how the best companies are handling leads for the best possible conversion rate.
When most marketers talk about conversion rates they're typically talking about what percentage of traffic to your site or ad results in a lead, so a completed form or phone call enquiry.
But what about the percentage of these leads that result in a booked job and money in your bank account? Because at the end of the day that's what this whole business is all about.
One of the most overlooked aspects of lead generation are the systems and procedures top sales teams are using to improve their chances of turning a caller into a buyer.
One of the questions we ask every new customer is - 'what's your sales process like once we generate a lead for you' - often it's something like 'we take down their details and send it over to the sales team/guy and they call them back when they have time'.
While this approach will work, there's plenty of room for improvement and after being in the lead generation game for a while now, we've worked out some top tips to help you get the most out of your leads.
When a prospective buyer finally decides to make a move and get in touch via a form which could be on your website or a landing page from an ad campaign, time is absolutely of the essence.
You see, that prospect is one of a couple of types of buyers:
One, they're ready to go and they're on the hunt for help, which means they're probably filling out your competitions forms too, which means if you wait a day or two to get in touch your competitor may have already booked the job.
Two, they're interested but it wouldn't take a whole lot to distract them, which means you need to strike while the irons hot and their interest is piqued.
In both cases, making contact quickly is important either for fending off the competition or striking while the prospect is most interested.
To help you do that well you should ensure that:
Tyre kickers exist in every industry, roofing is no different. Whether they just want to ask some questions about options available to them or how long something will take or how much it will cost...
The reality is tyre kickers are a big opportunity and most companies don't have the patience or systems to keep them warm and convert them in the future.
With a smart CRM and a little bit of work you can keep your business top of mind for when they do finally decide to pull the trigger.
In the section above I mentioned creating a record in your CRM for each new lead. If your CRM is decent it should have the ability to track opportunities as they progress through each stage of your sales process.
Once a tyre kicker has been identified you should move them into a seperate sales process and start them on a longer term warm up campaign. In the marketing world we call this a 'drip' campaign, which is simply the process of sending someone a sequence of pre-written emails designed to keep your company in their mind and help them make a decision.
To get started on your drip campaign, have a think about common questions or concerns your customers often have. These are great topics for your emails.
Next write 100-500 words on each topic, be sure to include a call to action at the end of each email with a link to your contact form and a phone number they can call.
Write 4-8 emails and have them automatically be emailed to your list every week, this will make sure you're in their mind when they do finally make a call.
If a prospect receives all of your emails and still hasn't made a call, have your CRM put them in a follow up funnel and schedule a task to send them an SMS in 3-6 months to see if they want to book a call.
