The average home improvement company closes three out of ten leads. Sound about right?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Of the remaining seven, four of them will buy a similar product within the next year.
That’s right. Those leads that your sales team has marked as dead? … More than half of those (four out of seven) will soon write a check. Shouldn’t your name be on it?
It can be, provided you have a well-executed approach for staying in front of these folks.
The Cash is in the Rehash
In most cases, it works something like this: Leads go to the sales team, salespeople follow-up individually, the better closers get more leads. Rinse and repeat.
That’s fine, but it’s incomplete. After all, given that our industry’s average cost per “issued lead” (i.e., leads given to the sales staff) is $377 it’s a mistake to give up too soon on leads that still have plenty of life in them.
Towards that end, keep these three concepts in mind:
1. You’re sitting on a pile of gold.
Great salespeople are “coin-operated” – as they should be. They live to close.
So when they get a lead, they follow-up quickly, set an appointment, and stay in touch. But it’s typically just for a little while. Because when they hear something less than “yes,” they quickly move on to the next hot prospect.
But not all homeowners are ready to buy today. Maybe finances are tight. Maybe they remain unconvinced of the need for your product. Whatever the specifics, enlightened home improvement companies stay in touch so that when things change, they are the obvious choice.
Which brings us to…
2. You need a clear and consistent system.
A nurturing system requires dedication and commitment – it’s farming, not hunting.
You need to work it every day (not only when you need a quick sales boost): tracking, reporting, learning and improving as you go. Like any efficient machine, you can’t build and tune-it overnight.
When I worked for one of the largest residential roofers in New England, our systems kept us nurturing leads for 18 months before we walked away.
3. Treat different leads differently.
Not all dormant prospects are in the same place – mentally, financially, or demographically. As much as possible, you want your nurturing tactics – what you do and when – to line up with these appropriately.
Postcards, for example, provide a physical experience, suggesting more urgency. They work particularly well for price promotions.
On the other hand, the homeowner who remains unconvinced of the benefits of your services may respond better to an information-based drip campaign (e.g., white papers, success stories) via email, text, social media or some combination.
That’s where your lead nurturing system is of particular value. Use it to tag and subdivide your list so that you can distinguish between prospect types and relative potential. And, by the way, always include a clear call-to-action in anything you send – today might be the day!
Get Your Money’s Worth
You’ve already invested a lot of time and money in capturing leads. Now is the moment to commit to turning your dead leads into live assets. Develop a consistent and systematic approach to staying in front of your future customers, so that they come to you – and nobody else – when the they are ready to buy.
To quote from a famous horror movie, “It’s alive………ALIVE!”
