Investing in a focused lead nurturing program can uncover opportunities that have been overlooked in the past, either by your own sales team or by your competition.
While many lead generation programs focus entirely on finding net new customers, our experience with lead nurturing programs has revealed that there are solid opportunities to be found by reaching out to current customers and revisiting dormant leads.
B2B Lead Nurturing – 2 Ways to Uncover Opportunities
1. Current Clients
Current clients or those with whom you’ve conducted business recently are often an untapped resource and one that is ripe with potential.
What can you gain from reaching out to current clients? It’s likely that there are several customers who are not benefitting from all of the services or products you have to offer.
Reaching out and exploring new possibilities with someone who is already familiar, and happy, with whatever you are currently providing can lead to new sales with less effort than it takes to convert a new prospect.
There is often a hesitation amongst sales teams to contact current clients, fearing that it might be too “sale-sy” and a bother. On the contrary, reaching out to those who are happy with your services and may be able to benefit from more is a smart and efficient way to keep your sales pipeline healthy.
It’s possible a current client is searching for a service or product and is unaware that it is something you offer; they may even be looking to other vendors without knowing that it is already available through a trusted partner.
A phone call to a client in this situation is beneficial to both sides and can result in a quick sale because the preliminary steps are unnecessary.
We have current clients who outsource to us for lead nurturing services and they continually experience excellent results.
In addition to uncovering more sales opportunities, reaching out to current customers is just good business. Customer service is a top priority for businesses, and a call from a representative to make sure things are running optimally, or to ask if there is a need for improvement, should be common practice.
A check-in call from a representative is an opportunity to provide excellent customer service, and explore options and upgrades that can lead to increased revenue and happy clients.
2. Warm or Dormant Leads
Most businesses or organizations have a list or database with names of those who have, at one point or another, had contact with them. This could be web inquiries, whitepaper downloads, or those that have received a proposal in the past that never went anywhere.
There is a tendency to ignore this list, assuming that there is no real opportunity within. This is a mistake.
These prospects have some warmth to them, and while the opportunity may not have been there in the past, calling and reconnecting with them is a proven practice that can lead to great results.
These are leads that are not entirely cold, and the familiarity with your name and your business can provide great leverage at the front end of a call, allowing you to get to the real conversation faster, and with more ease.
If there was any spark of interest in the past, even if the sale did not move forward at the time, there is a chance that the interest still remains.
Whatever the reason the sale didn’t advance may no longer exist. There may still be a need, or the timeline to purchase may be clearer.
Consistent outreach from a seasoned sales rep will keep your business, and your solution, top of mind.
Look for Leads where Others Don’t
As providers of outsourced B2B lead generation services, we often see companies that consistently go after new leads while those in need of nurturing take a back seat.
Your competition is most likely focusing their time and attention on new leads, but B2B lead nurturing can lead to extremely positive results and an excellent ROI.
Dedicate time to current customers and dormant leads, or outsource to those with the expertise to qualify them, and you will uncover opportunities that others overlook.
John
