10
AUTOMATION
Surefire Ways
To Destroy A Quality Lead
Leads are the holy grail of marketing . The more leads you have , the more opportunities you open , the more deals you close , and the more revenue you generate . Right ?
Through your marketing and promotional efforts , people are raising their hands , opting in , asking questions , and wanting more information through actions like the following :
• Free report download
• Dark web scan request
• “ Contact Us ” form submission
• Referral
• Business card acquired at a networking event or trade show
• Inbound phone call
• Webinar registration
You are spending a ton of time , money , and effort on marketing to generate these inbound leads , but are you destroying them ?
Without a doubt , IT services firms lose thousands of dollars every year due to very poor or nonexistent follow-up with the inbound leads they generate .
There are proper ways to handle every lead so you can convert them into profitable , paying customers . Here are 10 mistakes MSPs make that are destroying quality leads and sending potential revenue down the drain .
Mistake 1 :
You Don ’ t Enter New Inbound Leads Into Your CRM .
If you don ’ t capture those leads , you ’ re going to lose track of them ! Every single lead , whether it ’ s an inbound call , a new referral , or a website form fill , needs to be added to your CRM and followed up with immediately . You must have a centralized system for organizing and tracking all of them so you can follow up efficiently and keep opportunities from falling through the cracks . You are destroying that lead if you don ’ t have a tracking system .
Mistake 2 :
You Don ’ t Review Or Clean New Leads .
With most form submissions , it ’ s likely you won ’ t have much more than a name and an email address for the lead ( maybe a phone number and company name , if you ’ re lucky ). As soon as a new lead is added to your CRM , notify your list cleaner to scrub the lead . The scrubbing process includes cleaning up data and conventions , deleting invalid contacts , and also doing a little investigating . With some basic web research , you can verify and / or add contact info , company name , business address , industry , website , etc . This will set your appointment setter and sales reps up for greater success , and they won ’ t be wasting their time dialing wrong numbers or speaking to the wrong person .
Mistake 3 :
You Send Spammy Emails .
You ’ ve got a new lead , hurray ! It ’ s very exciting to build your list and see your potential for new opportunities growing . But the last thing you want to do is go overboard and send too many emails .
Just because someone downloaded your free report doesn ’ t mean they ’ re wanting to be bombarded with an onslaught of emails regarding topics they ’ re not interested in . You risk turning them off and getting that dreaded opt-out or even worse , a spam complaint , which can harm your email reputation and deliverability and cause you to lose that lead . Simply give your new lead what they asked for , then send useful , informative messages that drive action at an acceptable frequency .
Mistake 4 :
You Don ’ t Call Your Leads .
Each new inbound lead should be called 2 – 5 minutes after making their request . Technology Marketing Toolkit ’ s call center manager , Missy Vega , motivates her appointment setting team to “ Claim it . Call it . Book it !” An automated follow-up system can make this process so much easier by creating tasks and / or reminders to immediately call and follow up with your new leads . If you don ’ t call , you risk wasting that lead !
Mistake 5 :
You Rely ONLY On Email .
Although sending emails can be very cost effective , don ’ t limit yourself ! Take it offline as part of a multimedia approach to your marketing endeavors . Your marketing automation platform can generate lists for direct mail initiatives and even integrate with social media platforms . In a short amount of time , you develop omnipresence , which positions you as the local or industry expert . Simply relying on email is a big mistake when it comes to your leads .
22 | MSPSuccessMagazine . com • VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5