5 Tips When Dealing with Inbound Marketing Leads

5 Tips When Dealing with Inbound Marketing Leads:from Business 2 Community by Fred Strahl
So you’ve joined HubSpot and the leads are flying in. More leads than you have ever seen from cold calling, direct mailing, or conventions combined.  That’s great…but now what?  Unfortunately, more leads do not always lead to more revenue.  Generating leads is only the beginning.
You have to see each lead as a seed.  If you want to reap the benefits of this seed, you have to nurture it.  Lead-nurturing emails can only do so much and at some point you have to pick up the phone and make contact.  Here is a list of tips to keep in mind while cultivating your leads.

• Qualify each and every lead – Find out if the lead is worth your time.  Are you talking to the decision maker or an influencer?  Can this company fit your product in their budget?  Finding out the answers to these questions can save you a lot of time.
• Have Positive Results Ready – Show off your success!  Success stories and testimonials prove that your product has worked before.  Leads want to see this.  Showing exactly how your product has benefitted others will make it easier to explain to your lead why it will also benefit them.
• Know how to deal with a “No” – Know how to roll with the punches.  No sales call ever goes as planned so make sure you are ready to face any obstacles you may encounter.  You can prepare for these “No’s” by having backup questions to ask the lead.  By doing so, you have a better shot at hitting the customer’s points of pain.  For example: Lead:  No, I do not have the money to change my current strategy. You:  I understand sir, however, what if a change of strategy could save you money and increase your cash flow?
• Build Rapport – Rapport must be built between the lead and the salesman.  If the lead doesn’t trust you, than why would they believe that your product can help them?  You can do this by asking questions that inquire about their personal business.  For example “Tell me more about your business”, “Were you always interested in this field?”, “How did you become so successful?”, etc.  This shows that you are interested in them as a person and not just as a potential source of revenue.
• Approach every lead as a problem solver NOT as a salesman – This is the most important tip.  If you come off as a salesman, you will be stereotyped as a person with one goal: to sell something and make a profit.  You NEED to show that you are different.  You are a problem solver. The main goal should be to solve whatever problem the potential customer is having.  If you show this, you will build the rapport needed to gain trust from the lead and ultimately increase your chances of closing the sale.

To learn more about sales and using inbound marketing to increase leads, contact us today!

Photo by Phil Sanko