Successful lead generation isn’t all about bringing in new prospects. It’s just as crucial to nurture the leads you have – including previous or lapsed customers, people who’ve made enquiries in the past and contacts who’ve since moved on to new roles.
Lead nurturing is absolutely vital to your sales process, but it isn’t easy to get right. It’s all about building relationships, which takes time, skill, trust and a number of different approaches.
Before you get started, let’s take a closer look at 4 of the most pressing reasons why lead nurturing really matters:
- Leads need to be ready to buy
It’s important to remember that customers tend to prefer to move at their own pace. Many new leads simply aren’t ready to buy. Some even aren’t quite ready to engage, but this can change over time. If your sales team makes approaches too early, their success rate is likely to be quite low.
But with a lead nurturing process in place, your team can educate, advise and support at all the right stages until the right time comes. This process moves the customer from ‘aware’ to ‘qualified and ready to buy’.
- Nurturing scoops up otherwise lost leads
If you sat down and really looked at it, you’d be astonished at how many leads slip through your grasp. Some aren’t followed up quickly enough or at all, while others are snapped up by competitors. Lead nurturing aims to plug these leaks in your sales funnel, ensuring that there is a robust, carefully planned process for dealing with all leads at every stage of their buying journey.
- It’s cost-effective
Research consistently shows that it costs far more to acquire a new lead than to nurture an existing one. In fact, it can cost five times as much. But according to one study, businesses that do well at lead nurturing are able to generate 50% more qualified leads at 33% less cost.
- It increases sales and opportunities
All other benefits aside, this is the bottom line – lead nurturing can significantly boost your sales. Research has found that 67% of B2B marketers experienced a 10% increase in sales opportunities when using lead nurturing campaigns. 15% of these marketers saw sales opportunity increases of 30% or even more.
A separate study found that lead nurturing increases the number of opportunities entering the sales pipeline by an enormous 118%. At the same time, ‘unrated’ leads were eliminated and conversion rates improved at nearly every stage of the sales funnel.
Need help with lead nurturing?
Lead nurturing isn’t always easy. It can be hugely time-intensive, and requires careful planning to create a process to effectively engage and nurture leads throughout the sales pipeline.
If you have enough on your plate right now, why not outsource to lead nurturing specialists instead? Our experienced agents here at IT Focus will focus on building and maintaining relationships with qualified leads, ensuring that all prospects remain engaged and interested in your brand. Call us on 0330 058 0100 or email info@itfocus-tm.com to find out more.
