Salesforce.com helps you to manage the sales funnel. As a buyer engages your sales process, they are captured as a Lead. this information could come from web forms or from your sales team. Most of your Leads will not be ready to convert to an Opportunity. This is to be expected and a strategy should be developed for the majority of your leads that are not ready to move forward in your sales process.
If there is not a process for nurturing unready Leads, then you may miss opportunities to engage when the timing is right. Here is how you can manage your Salesforce.com Leads more effectively:
- Segment By Ratings. Lead Rating is a native field. Customize this to have meaning from the generic “Hot,” “Warm,” and “Cold”. The readiness of your Lead may be by time (i.e., 60 days, 90 days, etc.) or fit (i.e., Needs Product, Cannot Use, etc.). This segmentation will be valuable for various marketing buckets.
- Prepare filtered marketing campaign lists. This entails creating Campaigns in Salesforce.com for segmentation as well as filtered lists.
- Integrate a marketing automation system. This is a system which will sync based on your segmentation. Triggered email communications over a period of time can be used to nurture Leads and monitor their activities.
- Send timely and personal communications. Based on your segmentation criteria, develop regular email marketing that speaks to the concerns and interests of the prospect. Some may need to be slowly educated. Others may need to see continual success before they jump.
- Monitor responsiveness. If your Leads are engaged with opening emails, visiting your site and consuming your digital content, then create a follow-up task list in Salesforce.com to take appropriate action.
With this kind of strategy to augment your tactical sales process, your team can work with Leads based on nurturing and marketing activities that prepare buyers for the sales conversation.
How can this help your sales process? Feel free to comment below.
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