Often a business will see that their lead to conversion rate is quite low and this is obviously one of the most alarming stats as it highlights an inability to really capture the customer’s interest.
One of the biggest reasons behind this is that a business will put substantial time, money and effort into the generation of leads but then lack the structures and processes in place to enable staff to convert them. Not investing in your sales staff and the conversion processes ultimately leaves your lead generation investment worthless.
There are 3 key factors that need to be considered when it comes to the conversion of sales:
- Quality of the lead
The quality of your lead is heavily dictated by your marketing efforts. These needs to be highly targeted and accurate to ensure you have high quality leads to people or businesses that are genuinely interested or have a need for your product or service. If you fail to do this, you will waste time dealing with low-value customers and your conversion numbers will look bad.
- Poorly-skilled sales people
Your sales representatives need to be highly skilled in the value proposition and providing additional value to the buyer. Too often companies fail to invest in highly skilled and highly relevant sales representatives leaving their customers unsatisfied. If the sales people talk about features and prices too early they fail to realise the value for the buyer.
- Failure to follow up leads
Too often sales people will only follow up a lead with one effort. Statistics have shown that in order to convert a sale you may need to make up to 5 follow up calls and from the first showing of interest, a customer may not buy for three months. This means that sales reps need to be persistent and patient and regularly follow up leads and check in with clients and prospects.
In order to ensure that your business doesn’t miss out on leads, there are 3 important steps to take in your marketing and sales pipeline:
- Know your business
Having a strong identity and goal will be reflected in your sales efforts. Make sure everyone believes in the businesses direction, values and is striving for the same goal.
- Know your market
Capturing the right market is incredibly important so that your sales efforts are well directed and you don’t waste tie chasing low-value customers.
- Align your sales process to your customers’ needs
This follows on from highly targeted marketing and ensures that you are providing your customers with value beyond your product or service. Look to provide relevant and meaningful solutions tailored to the customer.