Yep, that’s right – our policy is No Lead Left Behind. Sometimes, despite careful nurturing, leads choose not to buy. Even if your lead management framework is smart and strategic, and your leads get the right content at the right time, some prospects get cold feet in the final stage. That’s why it’s important to have a plan in place.
A shocking 80% of leads end up lost or discarded, but effective lead management strategies prevent losing potential revenue in that black hole. Wondering how to do that? We’re here to help. Your plan should include ways to re-engage and re-nurture, whether a salesperson manually puts leads back in the system or they’re placed there through web interaction.
Your system should have set timelines for re-engagement of recycled leads. These provide directives for sales contact and automatic content distribution, helping your team deal with varying levels of lead readiness.
If sales determines a lead isn’t ready to commit, they should return them manually to the beginning of the process. Their insight determines which of the set timelines, described above, should be applied to a recycled lead.
Sometimes leads aren’t working with salespeople when they decide to wait. Your lead management should have a set of lead scoring rules in place to determine digitally if a lead needs to be recycled. Certain web behaviors indicate a failure to buy, but that doesn’t mean the lead should be lost.
In some cases, leads get to decide for themselves when it’s time to be recycled. Some newsletters and product pages allow a lead to indicate their level of readiness, at which point the system can respond by sending them the right content or alerting a salesperson for outreach. To recycle effectively, think outside the box when it’s time to align web design with the buying process.
Lead recycling is a long-term, strategic commitment that won’t always seem to pay off in the moment.
Image via (cc) John Lambert Pearson
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