Lead Capture, Did You Get the Lead?
Posted on 07. May, 2009 by Kaleidico in Blog
Lead Capture, Did You Get the Lead?
Ah, the exuberance–a client, or relationship, or Web form
submit produces a hot lead. Beware! This is probably the most dangerous
moment in that lead’s life. Does you sales process effectively capture
leads? Most leads are lost or misplaced. They fade away without even an
initial call. This is why thinking about your lead capture process is
crucial to sales success.
Getting the Lead
Start with a base line, how do you capture leads today? If it is
like most it is a messy stack of business cards and sticky notes. If
you are lucky they are still in some usable form. Unfortunately, they
probably have long since been shuffled into some arbitrary drawer or
worse the waste basket.
Can you see why lead capture is so important. It is not that hard and it pays big dividends.
There are only a few basic communication channels that produce a
lead–word of mouth, telephone, email, Web. This makes organizing your
lead capture method a snap.
Here are some simple lead capture methods:
- Word of mouth: Have a dedicated index card in your wallet or purse
- Telephone: Have a stack of index cards or a dedicated notepad next to your phone
- Email: Set-up filters, tags, or star incoming email identified as a lead
- Web: Have these inquiries feed directly into your lead management software
The ultimate goal is to get all of these captures into your
centralized lead management software, but these effect immediate
capture techniques will make sure you have each lead. The next step is
to quickly validate the lead information and get it into your lead
database.
Validate the Data
Maintaining accurate data is always a challenge. Clients’ telephone
numbers, addresses, and emails are always changing. Making this task
more efficient takes away a lot of sales contact frustration.
Using a service like Jigsaw, CardScan, Plaxo, or LinkedIN can help
automate much of the processes of keeping your clients and business
relationships contact information current. These services sync with
most lead management software and alert you to changes.
Score and Prioritize
As you assemble a sizable lead management database rules for
managing and contacting leads becomes important. The best approach is a
simple system. One effective system is to prioritize like you would
your tasks list: A, B, C, D for urgency and 1, 2, 3 ,4 for priority.
Analysis of your leads and their outcomes will help you continue to
tune your scores and priorities. Initially you might prioritize leads
by relationship, source, or perceived urgency to close. With more data
and lead reporting you may find other more valid indicators.
Do It Fast!
Lead capture success and the deals that come from it boil down to
one concept–a sense of urgency. Make sure you get that new lead into
your lead management software as soon as possible. And don’t delay
contact. Make sure you make that first follow-up on the same day.
Nothing impresses more than a sense of urgency. It immediately sends the message that they are an important.
