Lead Nurturing
I always find it kind of amazing how the obvious becomes "new thought". Lead Nurturing is my new favorite. If you are unfamiliar with it, it simply means staying aware of where your customers and prospects are in the buying cycle, and moving them along in the correct direction.. Then, you zero in on them with timely messages that turn up the heat. I assure you that near-eastern spice merchants, traveling ancient trade routes, new the same tricks. They just didn't have a smart phone, Facebook or Craigslist.
Your employer probably makes available to you a CRM. That's customer relations management software. Some are pretty good, some are not, but utilize it. They generally allow you to reference what product a prospect thinks they need and let's you schedule appropriate times to contact them.
But remember this: They are mostly there to watch what you are doing.
Ten or twelve years ago, you were lucky if you had an employer provided database program to work with. Heck, fifteen years ago one was lucky if one had access to a single, communal computer.We actually wrote things down. With a pen! On paper! Can you imagine?
Interestingly, it works just as well. With technology as it is, I am not suggesting a return to the stone age. I am suggesting that you actually write down your contacts information.You should also get their contact information someplace you can access it, electronically. Finally, I have yet to see a CRM that can adequately remind you of your need to contact a certain customer or prospect at a day and time prescribed by the SOFTWARE - with help from management. The problem there is a disconnect between people writing code and people doing the selling. That's why some of us are pros, and some not. Where it is on the computer or not, it is imperative that you look at your notes on every prospect very regularly. Software is great, but it gets a little tough on it to remember that this guy wants mocha leather but his wife prefers camel. He wants chrome wheels but the misses likes alloys. Believe it or not, we are actually better at that than a computer. You might want to write that down, somewhere.
One of my favorite people in the world, Kent Dobbs, whom owned a successful car dealership, said this about lead timing: "It is like a Ferris Wheel and you do not know when they (your prospects and previous customers) are going to get off of it. They don't either. You need to make sure you are top-of-mind when it's their turn to hop off the wheel - when they are re-entering the market!
You can reach me at kevconn2@gmail.com, Facebook at jkconnell, and Twitter @jkconnell. I would love to hear from you. Also, visit our website, http://bit.ly/2sizyoY, with new ideas, techniques and technologies, all the time.
Copyright 2017 James Kevin Connell
