Follow-up is especially critical for businesses relying on digital lead-generation channels like website forms and social media campaigns. By actively reaching out to customers who have expressed an interest in your product or service, you can nurture relationships, build trust with prospects, and increase sales. Without timely and effective follow-up, these leads may quickly move on to other options.
The main goal of inbound lead follow-up is to increase revenue. Staying in contact with potential customers lays the foundation for a lasting relationship and creates opportunities for upsells and repeat purchases. Moreover, timely follow-up allows you to capitalize on the enthusiasm of a newly interested customer by providing them with information about your product or service that will help them make their decision faster.
The Right Follow-Up Frequency
When considering how often to follow up with inbound leads, there are a few factors to consider. The frequency of your follow-up will depend on your industry and the type of product or service you provide. For example, if you’re selling an expensive luxury item, following up more frequently may be necessary to showcase the value of your product and build trust with potential customers. On the other hand, if you’re selling a low-cost product with a short sales cycle, following up every few days may be too frequent.
The sooner you reach out to your leads with that initial contact, the better your chance of connecting with them. That’s where automation tools such as the ones which improve speed to lead come in handy. These tools allow you to respond automatically and route leads based on specific criteria, allowing you to follow up with leads quickly and efficiently. Keeping in contact with them will increase their chances of becoming customers.
How to Get a Responsive Follow-Up
Provided that you’re following up at the right frequency, you should use a few tactics to get a prospect to respond faster.
Group your leads by segments
By segmenting your leads, you can customize your follow-up messages and make them more relevant to the customer. For example, suppose you have a lead from a particular industry. In that case, you could tailor your messaging to reference that industry or highlight product features that benefit customers in that sector.
Be persistent
Following up with leads is often a numbers game. The more you follow up, the higher your chances of getting a response. Just be sure to provide value and refrain from sending too many messages or being overly pushy.
Follow-up at different times
Try reaching out to customers at other times or days of the week to increase your chances of connecting with them. Some people may respond better to emails sent early in the morning, while others prefer late-afternoon messages.
Be concise
Keep your follow-up emails short and concise to ensure your lead reads your message. Introduce yourself and explain why you’re reaching out, then offer a few helpful resources or next steps to help them move forward in their decision-making.
Provide helpful content to your leads.
Nurturing your leads with helpful content is a great way to keep them engaged and increase your chances of guiding them through your sales funnel. To do this, create an email nurture sequence that regularly sends relevant, quality content. Focus on providing value throughout the sequence, through product demonstrations, educational articles, or case studies. Additionally, use automation tools to personalize emails with customer data such as name and industry. This will show the customer that you’re taking the time to get to know them and increase their chances of engaging with your content.
By following these tactics, you’ll be able to keep in contact with potential customers, provide useful information to help them make their decision faster, and nurture leads with the right content. This provides value, including helpful resources such as articles, videos, or case studies that position your company as an expert in the field.
Specify the Next Steps
To encourage leads to take action and move forward in their decision-making process, it’s essential to include a clear and concise call-to-action (CTA) in your follow-up emails. Your CTA should be tailored to each lead’s needs and could involve setting up a meeting or call, signing up for a free trial, or downloading an informative guide. By specifying the following steps and providing a personalized CTA, you can increase the likelihood of your leads taking action.
Final Thoughts
It’s up to each business which are the best follow-up processes to move on. Some tactics will prove more challenging than others, depending on your audience. Through intentional experimentation, you’ll identify those low-hanging fruits that make the sales process better than it was before with quick wins.
Businesses that can adapt to and effectively utilize these approaches will be able to remain competitive and achieve their goals in the long run.
