A Six-Step Guide to Profitable Lead Nurturing

Lead generation is the most critical stage of any marketing program. Yet a shocking number of vendors do not spend the time devising a clear approach to lead follow up. The result is a programme which delivers strong content responses, but produces a weak sales pipeline. This creates frustration between sales and marketing departments. This short guide will assist you in effective, profitable lead nurturing. Its aim is to provide you with the very best tips for strengthening your level of engagement and improving your return on investment.

Defining 'leads'

It is critical to highlight that the leads supplied to you are not sales leads. What you receive is a business professional who has actively expressed an interest in the content that you are promoting i.e. a 'prospect'. This provides you with an opportunity to engage this user through the paper that they have downloaded. Leads fall into two categories:

Email lead: the user has had to read the subject line, open the email, be interested enough in the content to click on the link, then register to download.

Telemarketing lead: the user has had to take a phone call, confirm all their details and agree to receive your paper via email.

For a business professional to go through either of these processes, they must have a query/problem that needs a solution which is an opportunity for you to nurture a lead by engaging in a dialogue with this individual and present the benefits of your solution.

The six steps to profitable lead nurturing

Step One - Quick Follow-up

Think about how quickly you follow up on leads supplied to you. It is incredible how often we hear of vendors contacting prospects four to six weeks after the download of a white paper. A late sales attempt = a harder sell - it is not guaranteed that they will remember your paper!

Step Two - Clear Communication

A key mistake made in most sales follow up is the failure to reference where that user had downloaded that asset. Look at the following two openings:

"Hi, I am calling from '........'; you recently downloaded a white paper on Email Security trends"

The above is very assumptive and fails to inform the user where they downloaded the paper.

Look at this alternative introduction:

"Hi, I am calling from IT Security Associates. You recently downloaded one of our white papers on Email Security Trends that was supplied to you from '........' on February 21st"

The second opening makes a clear reference to what email the user has opened and the date that they opened. You have created two immediate prompts.

Step Three - Build a Relationship

It is surprising how many sales departments will discount leads based on one call. If a prospect does not have an immediate requirement, this does not mean that they won't have one in the future. Build a relationship with that prospect, keep in touch and try to stay at the forefront of their mind. This increases the chances that they will contact to you once they have a project.

Step Four - Understand the Decision Making Process

The decision making process within any organisation is fragmented involving multiple contacts. The engagement with your assets provides you with an ideal opportunity to discover the user's buying process. You can look to use the relationship to ask who else would be interested in the paper and what other individuals work within that organisations buying team.

Step Five - Arrange a Time

It is imperative that you agree on a follow up with that prospect, whether this is next week or in six months. Think about the white paper they have downloaded and consider what the next relevant paper is that they should receive. For example, if they have downloaded a short guide, do you have a case study that demonstrates how the technology can work in practice?

Step Six - Patience is Crucial

Lead nurturing is a long process. Like panning for gold you can strike lucky at anytime - but patience is critical.

Edited by Mark Warburton, Editorial Assistant at http://www.idgconnect.com/blog