Business leads typically cost money, and are the heartbeat of any business. Tracking your leads through the buying process is more important than ever in today’s digital landscape!
Leads are members of your target market who’ve basically held their hand up and said they’d like to learn more about your product or service.
Not all leads are created equal, however. Most won’t be ready to buy, and they’ll be at different stages of their buyer journey at different times. It’s your job to sort through these leads and separate those that are ready to buy from those that need more nurturing.
This is easier said than done!
On average 58% of leads that request a contact are never followed up. Often, this is because a reliable lead tracking system isn’t in place.
So, what exactly is this Lead Tracking “Thing-A-Ma-Jig”?
Lead tracking is the process of identifying the source of leads, and moving them through the marketing funnel until they’re ready to buy. It helps businesses track where their prospects are in the buying journey and take the appropriate actions that will convert those leads into buying customers.
Lead tracking allows you to:
- Collect data about your prospects as they call, visit your web pages, submit forms, interact on social media, or react (or not) to your emails.
- Score leads based on their engagement with your business. For example, someone who requests a service brochure scores higher than some who’s only opened an email.
- Nurture leads since not every lead is ready to buy. Long-term leads are often the most valuable therefore it’s important to establish a strong relationship with them.
Lead tracking connects your sales and marketing teams, and avoids lost sales opportunities. Initially, you may be inclined to think lead tracking is the responsibility of your sales team. However, it’s actually a collaboration between sales and marketing. This collaboration actually helps uncover more qualified leads, and, believe it or not, can help fine-tune your campaigns.
So, why exactly is it important that your home service business has a system for tracking leads?
On a basic level, a lead tracking system is important because you’ve spent hard earned money acquiring these leads.
It therefore makes sense to track your return on investment…right?!?!
How can a reliable lead tracking system help your business?
Improve response lead time
60% of buyers say they’ll look for an alternative if they don’t hear back within 24 hours. Furthermore, 78% of customers buy from the business that responds to them first. A lead tracking system allows you to automate follow-ups, even when the business is closed. Improve customer acquisition
As we’ve just said, the first few hours (even minutes) after a prospect’s first contact are crucial. A lead tracking system ensures no one falls through the cracks. It ensures every lead is followed up and acted upon. Improve the buying experience
If you capture data in your CRM, your sales team can have more tailored and fruitful conversations. Your prospects will feel more comfortable doing business with you and you’ll convert more leads.
Improve customer conversion and retention
In the same vein, your CRM data will help your marketing team better meet your customers’ needs. It will help them uncover more sales opportunities. When leads become more engaged, they can be scheduled to receive more content and be prioritized for sales follow up. Improve lead distribution
If your business’s services several areas, a lead tracking system helps you distribute your leads to the sales force in an organized and timely fashion – whether that’s geographically, chronologically, or by product line. Measure your performance
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. A lead tracking system gives you a tangible idea of how many leads you’re generating, where they come from, what they cost you, and how much revenue they bring in. You can then set new goals and work on improving weak areas.
In short, a lead tracking system helps you stay organized. It allows you to identify sales cycles, buying patterns, and assign leads to different team members (if needed), which can lead to improved sales performance and better conversion rates.
How Can You Track Your Leads?
Establish your goals
Understand the difference between the different types of leads and how to treat them. Write some numbers down – How many leads do you want to generate? In what time frame? Install a CRM
Although spreadsheets are great for many calculations, they don’t work for customer relationship management. If you haven’t done so already, install a CRM that’ll help you track and follow up on your leads. Choose a software that’ll capture basic information such as name and email that way you can send personalized, automated emails. Install marketing automation software
Marketing tools will play a major part in the success of your future marketing campaigns. Automation software covers the complete range of marketing activities, including email, social media, account-based marketing, referral marketing, advertising, and customer journey automation.
Follow up
All the software in the world won’t do your business any good if you don’t perform the most important task. That is to follow up on your leads. The most successful salespeople know it takes at least four attempts to start a meaningful conversation with a prospect. Perhaps the most important thing you can do for your lead tracking is motivate your sales team to be proactive in following up leads.