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The Unappreciated and Overlooked Way To Close More Sales without More Leads.

by iAmNameLess
58 replies
I know if you take a look around the forum you see people asking how to get started, how to find leads with linkedin, email marketing, cold calling.

People want to know how to get started with no money whatsoever.

People want the newest strategies available to generate leads and sales, and with all the sales bravado this forum will naturally attract there's something that is very rarely talked about here and it is the fact that most of the leads you generate are not going to be ready to buy from you immediately.

After talking to many many people in the last few months, some that are newer and some that have established businesses, it's shocking how many are not using lead nurturing strategies to eventually close more sales.

It's absolutely obvious that 99% of people on this forum are concerned more about generating leads and generating sales than anything else, but they waste away good leads simply because they're not ready to pay right now.



We all want one call close sales.

Unfortunately, it's not going to happen for 99.9% of us, and that's okay. What's not okay is letting good leads slip through your fingers when you're investing a lot of time, energy, and money to generate these leads.

How many leads convert into customers for you? Is it 1%? 10%? 25%? 50%? No matter how awesome you are at sales, you're not going to close everybody.

Lead nurturing is something that is preached a lot for inbound marketing, but really, it should be used whether you're doing inbound or outbound marketing. Just because you cold call, doesn't mean you can't setup a lead nurturing system.

Start nurturing these leads!

How many of you already have a system in place? What strategies do you like to use?
#close #leads #overlooked #sales #unappreciated
  • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
    this thread should get over a 1000 views and many reply's.

    thanks Iamnameless

    you are a professional

    Yes. I have a plan, strategy, system, process, and funnel in place!

    what a waste otherwise.

    And, I plan on "not yet ready " to buy prospects.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    Biggest deal I EVER signed in my life?
    Had corresponded and chatted with client for 2 years!

    Other top 3? Pretty much all followed the process below.

    Someone makes contact from my marketing funnels.
    1. I assign priority to those that have the best end result since time is limited and I do not want to work with everyone.

    2. I learn about their problems, encourage them to use me as a sounding board.

    3. As time allows I give value with nothing expected in return other than perhaps if I need to know something they have intimate knowledge of. For example often many of my best clients are people that I bought from first!

    As far as my time investment often it has been simple short friendly chats and answers to questions they know I have knowledge of.

    This is a win win for so many reasons.

    These "clients" have to a large extent become very much like friends that I enjoy talking to by the time they choose to cut me a check or form a partnership to help them.

    At that point I actually enjoy the thoughts of helping them with the big picture and exciting goals because of the track record of friendly communication.

    I think people think of lead nurturing as a hard task.
    Just turn it into something enjoyable, don't stress it so much.

    It can be as simple as having conversations with people you like and making sure you don't go too long without chatting.

    The other awesome benefit is that you filter out people you would not want to work with. You can learn alot by listening and taking your time. Red flags pop up and you take them out of your nurturing funnel.
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  • Profile picture of the author DaniMc
    So very true.

    I had a phone call today from someone I've been calling since November. I have left 6 voicemails for him since then. He is a slam-dunk at this point.

    Another provider had set an appointment with him in December, then no-showed, and never called back.

    I use a dialer and have people set on varying schedules for followup. If someone is a good candidate, I will call them and leave messages until they tell me to stop, or they hire me.

    Persistence works like magic.
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    Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      My experience (limited though it be) is that, if you are just calling "Yes, but not yet" prospects, you'll eventually get about 80% of them to buy from you.

      This means that they have already shown interest, and you are just nursing them along, until they buy from you..or someone else.

      We all have stories where we bought after the 30th call, or the 30th e-mail. Persistence works. And I would recommend this approach to nearly everyone. Calling someone familiar is almost stress free. And eventually, they get used to you.

      You can give them the feeling that they have gone through this long funnel, by lots of contact...before you ever call them. Glazer-Kennedy did that for years...a 22 step direct mail funnel...and then a phone call. The one phone call generated 66% of the sales. But it was preceded by 22 contacts. The direct mail softened them up.

      On the phone, or other contact...I can see a long funnel...until they buy. Personal in person selling? The actual presentation is at the end of multiple contacts, so the repeated contacts are done before the presentation, not after.

      Anyway, that's my deal.
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      One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

      What if they're not stars? What if they are holes poked in the top of a container so we can breath?
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      • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
        The time between enquiry to payment can be shortened
        by targeting your message to ready to buy people.

        Those that have an urgent problem
        but can't make up their mind which
        is the best solution for their situation.

        Best,
        Doctor E. Vile
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        • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
          Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

          The time between enquiry to payment can be shortened
          by targeting your message to ready to buy people.

          Those that have an urgent problem
          but can't make up their mind which
          is the best solution for their situation.

          Best,
          Doctor E. Vile
          I agree, but don't you think it's important to also have the proper messaging and nurturing to those that will be buying but aren't quite ready yet?
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            I agree, but don't you think it's important to also have the proper messaging and nurturing to those that will be buying but aren't quite ready yet?
            If you get so darn good at siphoning off those ready to buy one's,
            but aren't quite sure which is the best solution, then you don't
            have to do 'busy work' with a long follow up sequence.

            I see so much opportunity that is wide open,
            not captured for the first group.

            Best,
            Doctor E. Vile
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            • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
              Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

              If you get so darn good at siphoning off those ready to buy one's,
              but aren't quite sure which is the best solution, then you don't
              have to do 'busy work' with a long follow up sequence.

              I see so much opportunity that is wide open,
              not captured for the first group.

              Best,
              Doctor E. Vile
              Fair enough, but the work is on the front end and rewards are in the back end. Set up your lead nurturing system once, and you don't have to do "busy work".

              I don't know about you Ewen, but I would want both the people ready to buy now as well as nurturing a bunch of others that will be ready to buy so they buy from me.
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              • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
                Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

                Fair enough, but the work is on the front end and rewards are in the back end. Set up your lead nurturing system once, and you don't have to do "busy work".

                I don't know about you Ewen, but I would want both the people ready to buy now as well as nurturing a bunch of others that will be ready to buy so they buy from me.
                Having lot's of bait laser targeted to different segments,
                having a presentation which really helps the buyer make a great choice,
                without overtly giving all the reasons
                why you are so great, plus eliminating all other options,
                supplies you that constant supply, if the market is big enough.

                I'm seeing lot's of inbound marketing with long
                education on the backend lack the laser targeting
                the ready to buy's, hence take longer to get to the money
                than what could be.

                Best,
                Doctor E. Vile
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  • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
    The beauty of a predictive dialer that is set up properly is ...

    They keep getting follow up calls and fresh notes added
    --- until they say "remove me from your list"

    or you finally caught them at the right moment ... and they buy
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    • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
      the back end can be automated alot, as a business process.

      as Iamnameless states :

      Just because you cold call, doesn't mean you can't setup a lead nurturing system.

      I don't do 1 call close, so isn't anything after that, nurturing?

      and

      What's not okay is letting good leads slip through your fingers when you're investing a lot of time, energy, and money to generate these leads

      all that front-end marketing of costs, time, and effort!!!

      thanks again to Iamnameless.
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Stevens
      Originally Posted by kenmichaels View Post

      The beauty of a predictive dialer that is set up properly is ...

      They keep getting follow up calls and fresh notes added
      --- until they say "remove me from your list"

      or you finally caught them at the right moment ... and they buy
      Call me stupid, but what's a predictive dialer?
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      Yours in prosperity,
      Skochy - The Musical Salesman

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      • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
        Originally Posted by Scott Stevens View Post

        Call me stupid, but what's a predictive dialer?
        A predictive dialer is a telephone control system that automatically calls a list of telephone numbers in sequence, screening out no-answers, busy signals, answering machines and disconnected numbers while predicting at what point a human caller will be able to handle the next call.
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    Doing something effective, quick for you to do or get done and inexpensive for you to do or get done but bringing a decent return for the prospect will often shorten the lead gen cycle .

    If youre talking the talk, then show them you can and do walk the walk, when they see leads you've generated for them for 'free' (of course they'll pay for them later ;-)) , they'll think what will he do for us when we start paying him ,000s .

    Im thinking of quick PPC ,FB ads , even just setting up something as simple as relevant searches on Hootsuite can bring in a number of genuine ready to commit leads that the prospect wouldn't have gained access to or knowledge of without our assistance. easy quick free, highly effective, deal clincher and lead gen cycle shortener, reduces the risk the prospect is taking, you show them you deliver
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    Mike

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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    few years back I was selling Sky TV packages , cold calling ex, new customers, predictive dialler .

    anyway rules were they were allowed one call back and then bin them til the next data run.

    For me selling is all about breaking the rules, hehe, so people were already with another provider, tied in for 7 months, they cant leave without being penalised , so obvious, diary it forward and call them when theyre ready to move, rebuild the relationship accordingly , that was obvious, else in different scenario, keep contacting them nurturing them along, reminding them why Sky is better than XYZ etc, it was also breaking the rules, but I was top sales guy there because of breaking the rules , the rules still stood when I left.
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    Mike

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  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    I was trying to think how I could add to this chain of thought in regards to nurturing clients before purchase.

    I use a ton of different funnels and sales paths that combine automation and manual follow-up.

    Nearly all of my sequences are just value adding rather than asking for the sale although I do use a technique of inviting prospects into some of my live training that I do each month.

    I'll pay special attention to acknowledging their attendance if they show up during my live casts and I'll usually pop an offer out for them to join my coaching program.

    The other thing I often do is make personalized content for specific target prospects. I landed a large corporate job by attending several events and maintained regular contact...only to meet for coffee....but then I started sending very specific samples of some really top ideas that they could use immediately.

    They recognised the extra effort I put into customisation...that's why it is important to keep good notes, maintain the relationship at all times. We've even sent gifts for prospects to give to other family members...for example we knew a specific decision maker was going to become an aunty and when the time was near we sent a fully personalized gift for them to give to their sister who was giving birth to their first child. That gift resulted in about $15K of work in the following 4 months. We did spend about $300 to get the gift right.

    - Note - Female targets recognise attention to relationships.

    I'd shot a video back in May last year that I was going to use as part of a lead magnet about relationships prior to selling. I've pasted it below for your reference....not great but you may get a tip or two.

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    • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
      well done Oz on thread consistency.

      no time to look at video.

      What came to mind is to specify, what were doing.

      is this offline?
      online?
      combination of both?
      etc..,

      I am coming from selling Offline business, by Cold Calls, then more Calls & Email and lead capture pages,
      then more calls, emails, social media, & mobile, & follow -up webpages - automating as much as possible

      Op's Line - Just because you cold call, doesn't mean you can't setup a lead nurturing system.

      It's all communication - no more, no less
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      • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
        Originally Posted by kirbymarketingconcierge View Post

        well done Oz and thread consistency.

        no time to look at video.

        What came to mind is specify, what were doing.

        is this offline?
        online?
        etc..,

        I am coming from selling Offline business, by Cold Calls, then more Calls & Email and lead capture pages,
        then more calls, emails, social media, & mobile, & follow -up webpages.
        Nowadays relationships don't distinguish between offline or online, homo, hetro or bi.

        It is the old / new way of business.

        I'm not a big facebook user but I have clients who are and they wholeheartedly believe, as do their fans, that they are in a relationship.

        It doesn't matter the media...what matters in the concept that you and the prospect are in a relationship.

        The key is to nurture that until you both succeed...otherwise it is gonna end badly.

        Ewen's insight is to hit the "ready to buy" market and that is a bit like the "both succeed" idea.

        The nurturing approach assumes someone is going to ascend to the "I'm gonna jump in bed with you one day mentality"

        Maybe Ewen's right....if it ain't happening....it ain't happening.

        Anyway the relationship thing works for those longer to convert funnels.
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          Being at the Right Place at the Right Time.

          THAT is what produces a sale. It can be a one hit cold call, I one hit walk in, first visit to your website, that mailer you sent out. Any and all of these methods have that potential. BUT, repeatedly we share, and experience that multiple touching is not a preferred method per se but a REQUIRED method.

          Claude shared a funnel the included 22 mailings prior to the first phone call, with a 66% conversion.

          I have shared, and Claude shared in this thread that repeated touches over time can produce upwards of 80% conversions.

          There has been discussions about print ads requiring an amount of time to run before conversions take place. ( again multiple touches )

          E-mail lists... My experience is that many times the first time something is offered that there is an obvious amount of conversion, but its the 2nd and 3rd and maybe fourth time that collectively out weighs the initial offer.

          All of these are methods indirectly and directly related to nurturing a contact. For any one of us to say that the only focus needs to be in sheer numbers and hitting right at the buyer stage, would be contradictory to what each and every one of us actually practice.

          As mjbmedia mentions with his experience with Sky TV, development of a database based on results from some prequalification questions can be very effective. Not only giving you an idea that you need to contact these folks in the future, but specifically WHEN to do so. I follow the exact same methods in selling my Satellite services.

          I think it all comes down to literally working smarter and not harder. Obtaining any amount of insight that the prospect may not be interested now, but could be later... and simply reaching out and being in the right place at the right time later to convert.
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          Success is an ACT not an idea
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          • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
            from Savidge - Being at the Right Place at the Right Time.

            the laws of probability - the #'s game

            the more I communicate, the more people I encounter, the more people
            I hit at the right time and place.

            work smarter, not harder? automate, process, segment, leverage technologies,
            manage the salespeople in process and funnel....

            we talk in generalities - marketing
            we live in detail - #'s, results, efficiency and effectiveness, conversions...

            what would you rather do place a call the 1st time
            or place a call and say we spoke a few weeks ago, and ______
            (you didn't buy then, maybe now???)
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            • Profile picture of the author savidge4
              Originally Posted by kirbymarketingconcierge View Post

              what would you rather do place a call the 1st time
              or place a call and say we spoke a few weeks ago, and ______
              (you didn't buy then, maybe now???)
              I don't know if you were being rhetorical or really wanted an answer to that.... but you simply wont sell anything if you don't at least make the first call, and by all the numbers being presented here, up to and including the 700% ( +/- ) increase that can be gained by a back end follow up system - you simply would be a fool for not making the "we spoke a few weeks ago, and ______" call as well!
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              Success is an ACT not an idea
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          • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
            Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post


            I think it all comes down to literally working smarter and not harder.
            I think the one that wins works smarter and harder, LOL. Good post and insight, thank you.
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            • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
              68% of Small Business have no Follow-up,
              Back-End System in place and those that do
              see an increase up to 700% in 2 years

              Source Hubspot 2012, 2013
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground
    Glad to see an authority here broach this subject and other heavy weights chime in. For too long the zeitgeist here was on just picking up the phone and burning through a hundred calls a day just straight pitching and trying to one call close.

    I hope this creates a new evolution in things so that beginners start seeing how vital it is to have a complete marketing and sales process that does all the things mentioned in this thread.

    I still think it's worth rolling your value proposition or offer past everyone you speak too to test whether they're a lay down and you can get an instant sale, but definitely should not lead with it and use it strategically when the opportunity presents itself.

    I think though making the first ask on the phone to be permission just to send them something so as to drop their guard, then qualify them and, if the signs are right, pitch them, is worth it, as then you're covering those who would buy there and then, getting the ones who aren't but who could be later into your funnel and filtering out a good few of the one's who won't buy at all having no interest.

    A guy called Mwind here had a really good script for that. But I can't remember the thread.


    Stratton Oakmont, Jordan Belfort's old company had a pitch like that. It seemed in the film that all the calls were one call closes on the phone, but their script was more about getting permission to send them some info and maybe get in touch if good opportunities arise. Then if they agreed, ask some qualification questions. The main pitch was something like this, after some preamble:


    'Very simply, Sir, with your permission, all I would like to do is introduce myself and my firm, forward you a complimentary issue of our monthly research report and at a later date, and at a later date perhaps get back to you with our latest recommendations. Fair enough?''

    In order not to waste your time with an inappropriate investment or something that was not suitable for you...

    [Qualifying questions]

    [Dealing with objections]
    ------

    If anyone is trying to sell on the first call with just anyone, then they should stop that and listen to the advice in this thread. You'll get a lot more response rate if you drop their guard and let them know the reason is to maybe send over some complimentary info (which can look like educational material but does a lot of selling) and perhaps follow up later with some more info and concentrate on first trying to get as many as possible into your funnel rather than trying to get the sale there and then.

    Glad to see this thread. Playing the long and short game together in one approach is better. Having blog posts, emails, resources, consumer guides, press releases, testimonials, webinars tell them your someone serious and positions you well and opens up so many doors. It's a must unless you really can spend all day on the phone yourself or cost effectively hire telemarketing teams to burn through massive lists.
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    • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
      savidge - My point was everyone would rather call a warm lead than a cold one on the phone.




      Underground makes a great post above.
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    What is the aim of nurturing prospects?

    you hope they end up buying

    You can inform, educate, entertain them til youre blue in the face with social media, email, video, face to face, direct mail etc etc and earn nothing from it all.

    what is it the prospect is really wanting from you, what is it that will determine they use you and not the other consultants.

    Lets say theres 3 consultants competing for a contract, 2 of them use relationship marketing approach to nurture and promote every so often, 1 actually delivers 20 fairly well targeted leads for free that the business is able to sell/nurture.

    now I don't know about you, but I think majority of prospects would rather have the latter than 15 educational emails etc .

    One of the best ways to shorten the nurturing cycle is to deliver what the prospect actually wants , at least in part , genuine targeted leads, they might not be the best of leads, but theyre free, and theyre proof you can and do deliver.

    Anyone can type out educational content, create videos, deliver seminars/webinars, theres so much info out there, copy paste, tweak, anyone can look clever.

    Delivery, real life delivery is what its all about.

    I been to loads of presentation type things where the person on stage is waffling on sounding good and knowledgeable, but when I then ask them a deep question about their marketing subject(s) , they go to pieces cos its not something they've already copy pasted and often they cant answer it, they only know what they've read, not what they've actually delivered, and that goes for a lot of the relationship building content/ even face to face the person will only say what they know, they wont purposefully bring up subjects they don't know
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    Mike

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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

        Totally with you, Results is the basis to any good solid provider client relationship. BUT what happens if we knock back the scenario a notch - and start talking about those leads? How do you get them?
        Yeah and lead nurturing isn't just for those that are providing lead generation, it is a concept that can be used across the board in many different industries.

        I think Hubspot is one of the best in the business at this from an inbound aspect, but to fit their agenda they seem to be preaching anti-outbound messages when it reality the inbound marketing concept with lead nurturing, lead scoring, etc. is something that can be applied to both inbound and outbound sales and marketing.

        Love the discussion happening here guys, great input all the way around.
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
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          • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
            Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

            I So mjbmedia writes a great post and basically says: SCREW informing, educating, entertaining, social media, email, video, face to face, direct mail, and whatever else... just send the bloody bastages leads and be ahead of the game. And to be perfectly honest its funny as bloody ell, but straight up the truth in regards to developing a relationship with a lead gen client.

            But you turn back and look at e-commerce, and all of those things he says screw: informing, educating, entertaining, social media, email, video, face to face, direct mail, and whatever else... those are all of the tools that nurture and develop confidence in our ability in the eyes of our clients, as well as nurturing and converting the clients customers.

            So my question after all of that... Is it just me, or there really that much difference between the models?
            haha no Im not saying screw them at all, tho I get why you say that and know its partly in jest.

            Im saying a way, one way, to shorten the nurturing and lead cycle time is to actually show them you can do and will deliver what they want from you, and at the end of the day that's all they normally want, very few serious business owners want to know how to do what we do, they just want the results we bring , show them you deliver and they'll likely use you over others who try to educate them with things they have little interest in truly learning, think of what the prospect truly wants, drill = hole = shelf = more storage. he doesn't want the drill, he wants the neater storage, the drill is a means to an end, the business owner doesn't (rarely anyway) want the education, they just want the decent leads (in this scenario)

            I will be back later but gotta rush now morning here in UK
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Stevens
      Originally Posted by mjbmedia View Post

      What is the aim of nurturing prospects?

      you hope they end up buying

      You can inform, educate, entertain them til youre blue in the face with social media, email, video, face to face, direct mail etc etc and earn nothing from it all.

      what is it the prospect is really wanting from you, what is it that will determine they use you and not the other consultants.

      Lets say theres 3 consultants competing for a contract, 2 of them use relationship marketing approach to nurture and promote every so often, 1 actually delivers 20 fairly well targeted leads for free that the business is able to sell/nurture.

      now I don't know about you, but I think majority of prospects would rather have the latter than 15 educational emails etc .

      One of the best ways to shorten the nurturing cycle is to deliver what the prospect actually wants , at least in part , genuine targeted leads, they might not be the best of leads, but theyre free, and theyre proof you can and do deliver.

      Anyone can type out educational content, create videos, deliver seminars/webinars, theres so much info out there, copy paste, tweak, anyone can look clever.

      Delivery, real life delivery is what its all about.

      I been to loads of presentation type things where the person on stage is waffling on sounding good and knowledgeable, but when I then ask them a deep question about their marketing subject(s) , they go to pieces cos its not something they've already copy pasted and often they cant answer it, they only know what they've read, not what they've actually delivered, and that goes for a lot of the relationship building content/ even face to face the person will only say what they know, they wont purposefully bring up subjects they don't know
      This reminds me of when I used to sell cars. If we could get them on a test drive, then we were pretty much home and dry.

      Even if someone came into the dealership and said they didn't have time to go out on a test drive, and just wanted prices to take away with them, we would still take them through the process:

      1) Sit them down
      2) Qualify them
      3) Select a car
      4) Find a way to get them out into the car for a test drive
      5) Bring them back in to close.

      Because if we did that, we had a great chance of them buying.

      Bums on seats/puppy dog close, whatever you want to call it.

      As an early part of the nurturing process, a demo/free trial does a few things:
      - Shows you are not desperate for their business
      - Makes them trust you more
      - Increases rapport-building time
      - Shows that you have listened to them and are looking out for their best interests
      - Proves your product actually does what they are looking for, before they have committed any money
      - Singles you out as different to your competitors

      The more I think about this, the more I am thinking about putting my money where my mouth is and going into higher ticket markets.

      Great thread.
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      Yours in prosperity,
      Skochy - The Musical Salesman

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      • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
        from savidge - Does anyone see a correlation between the lead nurturing at the client to customer level vs the Marketer to the client level?

        yes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground
    If your job is delivering customers to others, which I suspect is what most people here are into, if you did have a way to deliver 20 free leads to any business on your list for a price that wouldn't cripple you to get them - and you'd easily recoup it - then you're onto a winner offering something like that.

    I think you'd still need to have a way to create various touch points, because of the scepticism factor and too good to be true thing.

    It's a good point though. Just throwing a barrage of jumbled 'content' at them on a wide variety of disparate themes in your area is not the the way to go. All your material should be strategic, reinforce your USP or value proposition, position you properly in your market against competitors, make them aware or problems and build pain points, offer solutions, create trust and authority, risk reversal and show proof, just like any good sales process and letter.

    Content in a variety of formats but all on message with no pointless waffle or company self-aggrandizement allows that, and might be necessary to some degree even if you are making an offer of bringing them potential business for free. And especially for on-boarding and after sales care and building a long-term business relationship where you can sell them other services.



    Most people will want to and should give themselves every advantage available to them and be willing to put in the work to do that. One of my favourite sources of education and training is one that Chet Holmes did with Jay Conrad Levinson from Guerilla Marketing. I was listening to a tape at the weekend on a segment they called the 7 musts of marketing.

    To them, and relevant to the thread, the aim of marketing is to keep top of mind with a prospect. Top of mind awareness so that when they need the product or service they come to you.

    That could be disputed as everyone will have their own idea of what the aim of marketing should be, but it's very important no doubt. For example, some business might not want a stream of new leads right now, because they might be busy, focusing on other things, in some kind of legal dispute, have staff problems, supplier problems or whatever, but might still be keen to learn more, keep informed, see what you do and could perhaps refer you.

    The 7 musts of marketing they outlined were:

    1. Personal contact.
    2. Direct Mail.
    3. Internet
    4. Company brochures and literature (sales literature on at least a dozen sales points, letters of recommendation/testimonials. At least 4 letters about your core USP/Value Prop/Ultimate Strategic Position from users that back that up)
    5. Advertising
    6.Public relations and press releases
    7. Education of clients/tradeshows

    I don't know about anyone else, and they did go into more detail about what's required in each one to really make you want to adopt them after doing each one right, but for me that gives a nice overview, and being someone not wanting to do things by half and have every advantage, that is very nice and comprehensive framework to attract people in, make sales, build brand recognition, trust, authority, market share, education and nurture leads, stay top of mine, out-shine your competitors, the whole gambit. In a lot cases here where others aren't competing against companies who can easily outspend you like a big company can, you could dominate your market if no one else is doing that. It filled in a few remaining gaps for me about what a complete proven sales and marketing strategy looks like when done professionally.

    Personal Contact, but phone or in person was deemed the most important and effective.



    I'm sure the above won't be relevant to everyone. Just having one or two method to get a stable of 10-20 clients would do them, and if they can front the cost of acquiring that customer by getting them 20 free leads, it's certainly worth a concerted, focused campaign, I'd do that if that was my field.

    I'd check out Ewan's Advertising Mistakes thread in relation to this for more about the type of content people should include.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelWinicki
      Originally Posted by Underground View Post

      Personal Contact, but phone or in person was deemed the most important and effective.
      I was listening to a conversation between David Dee and the head of sales at GKIC (the company Dan Kennedy contributes to) and they both agreed that when it came to cost per lead and cost per sale, that telemarketing had a lower cost per lead/sale than direct marketing. They had experienced this at GKIC and others who maintain a tele-sales force have told them the same thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author joe golfer
    A lot also depends on the complexity of sale. If you are pitching a large, expensive or complex product or service, lead nurturing is a fact of life. Want to sell the city on your new-fangled water filtration system? Welcome to at least 12-24 months of lead nurturing of 10 different players. Want to sell your coupon book to local stores to support the school band? Different story.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by joe golfer View Post

      A lot also depends on the complexity of sale. If you are pitching a large, expensive or complex product or service, lead nurturing is a fact of life. Want to sell the city on your new-fangled water filtration system? Welcome to at least 12-24 months of lead nurturing of 10 different players. Want to sell your coupon book to local stores to support the school band? Different story.
      Absolutely... A locksmith doesn't exactly need lead nurturing, they simply need to be in front of the people who need them right now, and be able to get the job done.

      For longer sales processes, things that are more complex, large commitment of money, you can't really get around the concept of lead nurturing.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Does anyone see a correlation between the lead nurturing at the client to customer level vs the Marketer to the client level?

        So looking at the Locksmith, the electrician, the Plumber there is a site, there is a phone number... then on the customer end there becomes an INSTANT need... Whamo blamo there is a lead. There really is about ZERO nurturing at the client to customer level.

        Turn that around.. between the marketer and the client.. what does lead nurturing look like? To mjbmedia, and I think many here agree; send the client 20 leads as fast as you can... skip all the other crap, and call it a day. Make the check out to XXX please.

        The other side of that... we talk about these complex funnels and this and that and the other, and those clients from what has been said on this very forum can take MONTHS and even YEARS to land. But again look at the complexity and the amount of nurturing the client follows through with to get THIER customers.

        For me this is a very recent revelation. I am currently selling CRO. when you get right down to it, there is no Nurturing at this level for the client. That part is already done. It is simply a matter of getting all of that nurturing to kick a higher yield.

        I am about to admit something that may shock you... with the exception of 2 out of 58 clients that I have gotten over the last 60 days or so, they have been one call kills. And to make it even worse... with a whopping 5 to 10 minutes in pre-qualifying / targeting each client on my call list ( pre-call ), I have been able to close 1 in 30 calls.

        I have left some posts on this very thread, that looking back made no sense ( and I removed - apologies to iAm for that ) and the reason is, I had that WHOA moment, and just couldn't get my mind around it enough to communicate it.

        this very thread is what connected the dots for me. I was either hitting a stupidly lucky streak, or there was a reason. and the reason as I see it now... is the fact that I am hitting my prospects a step beyond that "Nurturing" stage between the client and their customers.

        So whats happening on my end is the Nurturing between ME and my clients is greatly reduced. In comparison to say web design, where there was a far greater amount of nurturing required to bring new clients into the fulfillment funnel.

        I hope this post makes more sense... what do you guys think?
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        • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
          Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

          Does anyone see a correlation between the lead nurturing at the client to customer level vs the Marketer to the client level?

          So looking at the Locksmith, the electrician, the Plumber there is a site, there is a phone number... then on the customer end there becomes an INSTANT need... Whamo blamo there is a lead. There really is about ZERO nurturing at the client to customer level.

          Turn that around.. between the marketer and the client.. what does lead nurturing look like? To mjbmedia, and I think many here agree; send the client 20 leads as fast as you can... skip all the other crap, and call it a day. Make the check out to XXX please.

          The other side of that... we talk about these complex funnels and this and that and the other, and those clients from what has been said on this very forum can take MONTHS and even YEARS to land. But again look at the complexity and the amount of nurturing the client follows through with to get THIER customers.

          For me this is a very recent revelation. I am currently selling CRO. when you get right down to it, there is no Nurturing at this level for the client. That part is already done. It is simply a matter of getting all of that nurturing to kick a higher yield.

          I am about to admit something that may shock you... with the exception of 2 out of 58 clients that I have gotten over the last 60 days or so, they have been one call kills. And to make it even worse... with a whopping 5 to 10 minutes in pre-qualifying / targeting each client on my call list ( pre-call ), I have been able to close 1 in 30 calls.

          I have left some posts on this very thread, that looking back made no sense ( and I removed - apologies to iAm for that ) and the reason is, I had that WHOA moment, and just couldn't get my mind around it enough to communicate it.

          this very thread is what connected the dots for me. I was either hitting a stupidly lucky streak, or there was a reason. and the reason as I see it now... is the fact that I am hitting my prospects a step beyond that "Nurturing" stage between the client and their customers.

          So whats happening on my end is the Nurturing between ME and my clients is greatly reduced. In comparison to say web design, where there was a far greater amount of nurturing required to bring new clients into the fulfillment funnel.

          I hope this post makes more sense... what do you guys think?
          Yeah it makes sense. Some services and products are things that do not need nurturing, but I am rather surprised you're not needing to do any nurturing for CRO. Definitely true that web design requires nurturing, and even SEO requires nurturing for those not yet ready to buy.

          The way I see it, and possibly in your situation as well... is that if you feel you have no need to nurture leads (excluding immediate service related industries) then it's because you aren't filling up your pipeline with a wide variety of leads.

          Now if I remember correctly, you said you're capping your services to 60 at a given time, so I guess in your situation, you don't exactly need luke warm leads in your pipeline that are being nurtured, but couldn't you see the value in having people going through your funnel who AREN'T ready to buy at this exact moment in time and basically have them move through to be on a waiting list for your services?

          Ewen mentioned that if you get good enough at identifying your target market's readiness to buy, you don't need to bother with nurturing. But at the same time, a lot of advice he has given on this forum is positioning yourself and giving people a reason to buy from you when they're ready, which is a form of lead nurturing.

          There's obvious situations and scenarios that lead nurturing isn't necessary. If some people are good enough at finding the right person at the right time type of deal, that's great... I just think it's better to develop your own funnel of right people at the right time and continue nurturing leads that are at every stage in the process until they're ready to buy.

          Overcoming objections before objections are ever had, is a very powerful thing.
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          • Profile picture of the author savidge4
            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            Yeah it makes sense. Some services and products are things that do not need nurturing, but I am rather surprised you're not needing to do any nurturing for CRO. Definitely true that web design requires nurturing, and even SEO requires nurturing for those not yet ready to buy.
            When I made the switch, I fully anticipated an amount of nurturing. We literally jumped in so fast, the intent was to determine what some of the hang ups were and to develop some type of system with some real time actual facts to work with instead of developing some nurturing net based on assumed needs.

            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            The way I see it, and possibly in your situation as well... is that if you feel you have no need to nurture leads (excluding immediate service related industries) then it's because you aren't filling up your pipeline with a wide variety of leads.
            Our target is very defined. right down to e-commerce site running a woocommerce back end, that advertises product here, here and there. Already has some amount of good practices in place such as SSL and being PCI compliant etc...

            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            Now if I remember correctly, you said you're capping your services to 60 at a given time, so I guess in your situation, you don't exactly need luke warm leads in your pipeline that are being nurtured, but couldn't you see the value in having people going through your funnel who AREN'T ready to buy at this exact moment in time and basically have them move through to be on a waiting list for your services?
            The intent and the model we were working towards was to get 20 clients a month, and swing them through a 3 month process. 20 clients each month across the 3 months would have brought us into max load in the 3rd month, and the thought was to then minimize empty slot exposure by only needing to find 20 clients every month.

            It really didn't work that way. Once things clicked... we got to 40 clients so fast, I didn't realize we had gotten to that number. I am looking at next month to either fill 40 spots or fall back on the more rational plan of evening out the financials and decreasing the inflow burden, and seeking 20 new clients next month, and the same each month there after.

            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            Ewen mentioned that if you get good enough at identifying your target market's readiness to buy, you don't need to bother with nurturing. But at the same time, a lot of advice he has given on this forum is positioning yourself and giving people a reason to buy from you when they're ready, which is a form of lead nurturing.
            I read everything Ewen writes, mostly not once, but 2 or 3 times. at times he can be a cryptic SOB LOL I truly believe in what Ewen says in this regard. I have noticed, and could be wrong... but each and every example that Ewen uses to display this visually is a customer based piece, and not B2B. I like to think that in the realm of e-commerce we have this down pretty pat. Using keywords as the identifier for those "looking" and those "buying". Basically different intent, so delivery of different content.

            More often than not Ewen is sharing a mailer piece, so the targeting is not so much the same, but the message is driven specifically to wedge the thought of "conversion" based on meeting any one of a preset criteria. It is really genius when you look at it.

            I honestly do not play much "online" with lead development. But if the above scenario works on the customer side, I am sure it would work on the prospect side. There simply has to be that keyword separation that determines where in the buying process a prospect would be. Are they buying, or are the looking?

            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            There's obvious situations and scenarios that lead nurturing isn't necessary. If some people are good enough at finding the right person at the right time type of deal, that's great... I just think it's better to develop your own funnel of right people at the right time and continue nurturing leads that are at every stage in the process until they're ready to buy.

            Overcoming objections before objections are ever had, is a very powerful thing.
            I agree with this 100%. I think CRO is just one of those goof ball services. I call it a "kink" most business owners don't think to themselves "I am going to seek and find a firm to increase my business' profitability with the traffic I already have" Or better yet.. they may think it, but how exactly would you search that? if you go search "CRO" in a search engine... I hope you are looking for music LOL

            Part of my opening is that we are a "Conversion Rate Optimization Firm" and the #1 response? "What is that?" and then the response... "Through testing and data we increase your business' profitability with the traffic you already have." and the #1 response to that? "Is that what that is called!?!"

            So as I have shared on average we are making 30 calls for every close. 50% of those calls are the person we need to speak to is not available. of course these people get funneled and we try to get a time frame to contact. 50% of the remaining 15 calls are opted out due to a pre-qualification parameter. That parameter is traffic flow. As defined as the matrix is we follow in developing our "call list" it is amazing how some companies are drawing such small amounts of traffic.

            As I do CRO, traffic is what determines how fast you can cycle through a test. My personal minimum preference for traffic across a test cycle is 1000 visitors. If I am doing a total of 110 test, and the site is only getting 1000 visitors a week, it would take going on 9 years to complete the project. LOL Ok so not really, we do double up tests where we can, but you get the point! hahaha

            ( A note here, we did let this group go for a short amount of time.. there were actually people in this group just short of begging for us to "just try it". we now run these folks into a traffic flow lead process, and try and land them in as traffic development clients, to later upgrade to CRO clients. As willing as these folks are for CRO - they are more jaded in the realm of traffic development and this is taking a fair amount of nurturing - almost to the point of why bother in comparison to CRO alone. )

            The remaining 7 to 8 calls is where there is the no, not interested, or I cant afford that, I don't deal with companies in the USA ( heard that 6x ) etc. your basic objections and that's fine. Then there is that 1 call.. basically "when can you get started" its just kinda crazy.
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            • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
              [QUOTE=savidge4;

              I read everything Ewen writes, mostly not once, but 2 or 3 times. at times he can be a cryptic SOB LOL I truly believe in what Ewen says in this regard. I have noticed, and could be wrong... but each and every example that Ewen uses to display this visually is a customer based not b to b.

              This is for b to b...

              [url]http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-marketing/646690-update-warning-little-ad-trick-blows-competition-out-water-25k-2-days.html[/url]

              Best,
              Doctor E. Vile
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              • Profile picture of the author savidge4
                [quote=ewenmack;9838780]
                Originally Posted by savidge4;

                I read everything Ewen writes, mostly not once, but 2 or 3 times. at times he can be a cryptic SOB LOL I truly believe in what Ewen says in this regard. I have noticed, and could be wrong... but each and every example that Ewen uses to display this visually is a customer based not b to b.

                This is for b to b...

                [url

                http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-marketing/646690-update-warning-little-ad-trick-blows-competition-out-water-25k-2-days.html[/url]

                Best,
                Doctor E. Vile

                Haha had to dig to 2012 for that one LOL so basically the exact same method... here is what we offer, and here is the criteria that needs to be met for you to be a buyer. The concept is like I said brilliant, and more importantly the method is obviously timeless... which in itself speaks volumes. as much as things have changed in the last 2 years... the method remains the same.

                As much as I am labeled a marketer, I simply am not one on that level. I aspire to be. To mix what it is I do "online" with the insight you have would be deadly. Singling out each of those points and breaking down the plausible 2 traffic points that separate each from lookers and buyers would crush it. Seriously that post is something we are doing right now, and those points are not on our radar in terms of gaining traction in my business site development, and probably should be. ( duh )

                Reading stuff like that both excites me and pisses me off. it clearly points out that I lack that knowledge needed to draw leads from that elevated level. - im an e-commerce guy. I have said it before and I will say it again. Getting leads and selling stuff are really 2 different animals. but looking at it from what I believe to be Ewens point of view they are one in the same. I get it... I just dont get it! LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    Winning prospects for ourselves was the OPs original query.

    This doesn't need the long winded content driven approach IMO, not saying there shouldn't be any, just that there is a quicker way. We don't have to supply them with the best leads going, just people/businesses they can connect with and begin a relationship. eg your prospect is something to do with weddings /honeymoons, use Hootsuite to find people in locale talking about engagements, weddings, on their SM channels, = targeted leads, now quite what the business then does with those leads is where you can start your pitch , how do we connect with them? what message(s) should we send out, when where how, what platforms? Ahh yes well, good morning, lets come in and have a little chat about all of that shall we $$$$

    Now remember we are only looking to show our prospects what we can achieve for FREE. We aren't giving them the best leads, we aren't giving them the service we will when theyre paying us ,0000s , we wont lead them to FTSE or Fortune 500 connections with these freebies, this is just us showing what we CAN do , imagine what we WILL do when you set up a contract Mr /Mrs business owner
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    • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
      from OP - After talking to many many people in the last few months, some that are newer and some that have established businesses, it's shocking how many are not using lead nurturing strategies to eventually close more sales.


      Disclosure - As Oz stated on another thread, "thread consistency"

      would like to have a great thread, not make it about me or get into the weeds
      too much.
      ( and live up to Ken's "upswing thread" at http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...s-upswing.html)


      The ineffectiveness of most business's, for it sets me apart.

      I like the the simple, but neglected truth of business reality.......

      to test, see the results, and make the business calculation and decision that this way can make me more money and/or save on costs with better a sales/marketing process long term, branded, beats the competition, etc..,

      If I can make a "1 call close", can I wait, And :

      get a bigger 1st time sale? if I just wait 1 more week?
      make the sale with less pressure?
      get referrals?
      focus on the back end , residual, upsell, and more benefits down the road?

      can We Appreciate (from Iamnameless's "Unappreciated" title),
      (appreciation = grows in Value)

      Create Long Term Customer Value from my potential lead list, customer list, target

      market, long term strategy, ... OR

      is it sell right now or never,
      it's a small sale,
      I work off of large volume, low price
      focus on online, low touch, low maintenance marketing , not selling dynamic
      don't care about that side of it because I am doing what works,
      this is my long term strategy,
      my sales and marketing Plan is working,
      be competitive,
      have the sale team on board,
      etc.., etc., etc...,

      hope this help's.

      Feel Free to critique or run some counter business assertions.
      (To take 30 minutes to write this out is more pain that any member :
      calling me an Idiot,
      a bad writer,
      wrong,
      not what OP was looking for,
      or off base in 30 words or less is better - IMO)

      but bring it back to OP's 1st Post

      Overlooked and Unappreciated way to close more sales

      happy friday or saturday am to all!
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      • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
        Originally Posted by kirbymarketingconcierge View Post

        from OP - [B]I like the the simple, but neglected truth of business reality.......

        to test, see the results, and make the business calculation and decision that this way can make me more money and/or save on costs with better a sales/marketing process long term, branded, beats the competition, etc..,
        but bring it back to OP's 1st Post

        Overlooked and Unappreciated way to close more sales
        Something we've tested that is counter to what a lot of IM suggests is to add more fields to opt-in forms and in particular adding phone fields.

        We don't necessarily make a long looking form but we use various multi-step sequences that are usually hidden much like breaking a survey up over three or four pages.

        This hasn't hurt opt-in but it definitely improved conversions because I think it has multiple benefits.

        Firstly, you can call the prospect pretty much immediately or very shortly after opting in.

        Secondly, the data you gather from the prospect allows you to get them in the right follow-up sequence which makes their experience so much better because you are sending specific relevant follow ups.

        Thirdly, you eliminate the tire kickers and the competition who are trying to spy on your activities because you get a pretty good feeling for where they are at from your first outbound call. We still put them in a sequence just not one where we show all our cards.

        From the first call onwards we try to get mailing details so we can send samples, resource kits, checklists, DVD's etc.

        We've adapted these mailings to various niches and in most cases the results show these methods work for the higher value sales and in particular if you are relationship building.

        One other thing I've found when we are targeting larger accounts for of our commodity selling type businesses is to put a compulsory quantity field in various quote forms. We set a high minimum value.

        What this does is eliminate all the home shoppers or small non-financially sound type of business from contacting us...

        ...or in the case of a serious larger business who has a requirement for a smaller quantity they will contact us then via email or phone to state their case as to why they should be allowed to make a smaller purchase.

        In many cases this had lead to good long-term business because you've positioned yourself from the outset and if you meet their smaller request you come across as being empathetic to their situation and they are usually very grateful.

        I originally learned this the hard way because I had a standard personalized email that was automatically sent to all people who had requested quantities that were smaller than our minimums and just plain non-economical to even reply to.

        I had a very upset National sales manager for a leading soft drink company call me and give me a serve because I'd referred him to a small local retailer when he'd requested to purchase a single unit.

        After that call I immediately added the minimums and changed the dissections so we wouldn't have a problem like that in the future.

        A few weeks later there was a very polite request, via our ticket system, from a major company in Texas who were coming to Australia for a conference in the Sydney Convention Centre. They didn't need the standard minimums but they did need special attention because deliveries to these type of venues have very tight schedules and delivery windows.

        That request was met and subsequently we picked up all of their Australian requirements and now around 2 years later we are talking about supplying their whole Asia Pacific requirements.

        The more we look at real relationship building which is often ONE on ONE communication the more we move away from the automated sequences. We still use automation but with discretion.

        It's like anything you do to be successful....

        ...it requires REAL work done by real people.
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        • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
          I made a post a while ago with a list of resources
          on speeding up the follow up process and how
          to get unstuck.

          They come from my client Bryan Kruizberger...

          HubSpot have brought him in to teach their Sidekick
          members.

          http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...resources.html

          Enjoy!
          Doctor E. Vile
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  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

    How many leads convert into customers for you? Is it 1%? 10%? 25%? 50%? No matter how awesome you are at sales, you're not going to close everybody.
    I went back and re-read the OP and the title "The Unappreciated and Overlooked Way To Close More Sales without More Leads." which really suggests we should all be focussing on how to get more conversions over time.

    I decided to go over some figures for the conversion rate of leads I'd generated for a client, in a surgical niche, for the 2014 calendar year.

    The client always complains of not having enough traffic, enough leads, enough sales and why it couldn't be like the old days.

    I was surprised in what I found.

    The data I looked at was the online leads generated and this excluded the leads that may have called on the phone, contacted via social media or walk-ins.

    When I started with them they were getting on average 23 genuine qualified online leads per month verified via their goal settings and they expressed a desire to get that to 60 leads online.

    There is a long purchasing/nurturing cycle with these leads as often there are serious psychological issues to overcome along with having adequate medical insurance or the ability to self-fund, obtain finance or meet government requirements to release funds from retirement savings.

    From my observations is it is 5-8 months from when a prospect enters the funnel to when they finally commit and have the capacity to proceed.

    Within the first week we put 28 leads in the funnel. By the end of the first month...well 5 weeks because we started in the last week of the month prior we generated 168 leads.

    For the year 1734 leads. These leads are ones who have been followed up via phone and all invalid contacts have been removed from the list.

    87 sales from those leads for $1.68M gross sales....so about 5% conversion...actually better than I expected...

    ...but here's the thing.

    The company insists on using various staff, some of them clerical, or even some nursing staff, to nurture and attempt to close the sales.

    I've suggested employing a professional sales team or a professional telemarketing company but because they are all medicos they think this is "unethical" as prospects should talk to medical professionals.

    They still want MORE leads ...

    ...yet complain frequently about their inability to cope with communication issues with the leads they already have.

    Some of the leads are easily converted because they have co-morbidities which force them into taking immediate medical intervention and in these circumstances it is a one or two touch conversion.

    New prospects who are underfunded or have no insurance require somewhere between 14 and 25 touches between seeking help and booking a consultation. Often these touches are via auto and manual email, Skype or phone and each contain gradual steps that the prospect must take to move towards commitment.

    Where I'm going with this is it often doesn't really matter (unless it's zero) how many leads you deliver to a client or even to your own business.

    More often than not you get more leads than what your business can cope with.

    This is system failure.

    This is why it really takes time when working with a client to really closely look at the systems in place to handle the prospects you deliver because if those systems are dysfunctional your efforts will be undermined.
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground
    Great advice here all round. Ozi's killer post reminded me of the importance of really drilling down with leads with things like surveys and setme off on doing some industry research to find better qualifying questions to ask leads. In my case right now, that's in the recruitment sector.

    Just found a great piece of research for the coming year in regards to what's happening in the industry where I am and the main growth area is the graduate jobs market. The research shows what the top 100 companies are doing. What the most active sectors will be, and where I should focus and set myself up to get in on these trends, etc.


    A great lesson to act on in this thread is that the more you can get to know your prospects and their situation, as well as your market the better, more targeted and more sharper you're lead nurturing will be, so don't be afraid to go for more stringent qualifying questions on sign-up to weed out the time-wasters.

    Look for research in your market to find vital information to inform your process and understand what's important.

    Just for illustration purposes, before I read the executive summary of this document all I had in mind as targets was recruitment agencies, companies and people looking for jobs in a certain location. Pretty amorphous and general. After searching for and finding some great research in the area, for all of 20 minutes, I know that the graduate jobs market is a prime area to get into this year as most of the top 100 employers will be increasing their efforts there by nearly 10%.

    I know which sectors and companies are the ones really invested in the market and putting their focus there and will therefore be more open to pitches in that area. I have facts and figures to include in my copy to show prospects that I have a basic understanding of the market and where it is heading, and can craft specific solutions based around those if, after surveying them or qualifying them fully, they are actually one of the companies looking to increase their graduate intake that year.

    A great lesson I got from this thread is to be selective about leads that come in and not get tempted, just because they show interest, to try to serve them just because they have an interest, if it really doesn't make sense.

    I'd advise anyone to try to look for trusted research in their area that they can glean some great information from, like a document like this for your market:

    http://www.highfliers.co.uk/download...GMReport15.pdf
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      [QUOTE=Underground;

      A great lesson I got from this thread is to be selective about leads that come in and not get tempted, just because they show interest, to try to serve them just because they have an interest, if it really doesn't make sense.

      [/QUOTE]

      I have a application process for people to become
      consulting clients.

      Not all who apply get accepted.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile
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      • Profile picture of the author Underground
        Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

        I have a application process for people to become
        consulting clients.

        Not all who apply get accepted.

        Best,
        Doctor E. Vile

        Yeah, I checked that out the other day. Reminded me of the powerful positioning involved in when you are selective about who you work with.

        They are the ones that have to qualify. So powerful. I've known that for a while, but until I had the expertise, I'm not the type of person who could front it and pull it off.

        I've seen many who just assume that authority and have no such reservations, and it's like the feeling you get when you see a beautiful woman with a really ugly guy, and you know he must be rich or well endowed or have some other thing going on. In this case they just assume authority in some way and most people well still pay them 10 times as much.

        One case I was just looking at of making customers go through a series of steps, I was just checking out a company called E-consultancy and their website to see how much they charge to place a job ad on their site to a audience of digital marketers.

        They don't show prices upfront. You have to register. Give details of the job, then go to step 2 to where you Upgrade & Review. They offer you a £155 upgrade to a premium placement where you job offer is at the top of the search. Without that they are asking for £775 without VAT or 930 with VAT just to post a standard job ad on their site for 14 days.

        They sign up process is multi-staged and they are using their authority to great effect. They do get a lot of traffic. And have about 300-400 business advertising right now generating around £300,000 in just two weeks.

        I think most of us have been told to be make it ''braindead simple'' for people to pay, but there's more than enough evidence, even on this thread with great examples, that the more exclusive you can make your process when you have certain factors in place, like authority to cash in on, the better.
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        • Profile picture of the author kirbymarketingconcierge
          The question I always have.

          Will I make more (esp. 1st time sale),

          If I treat this as communication between 2 business's,
          and not a "the selling opportunity", right away.

          I started years ago, extending the sales cycle just 1-2 weeks,

          communicating Trust & Credibility,

          and I more than doubled the average initial sale, in a sales room(35+ salespeople).

          If I get an email, and the text dosn't say "I want to buy right now", it's communication, and it's a process.

          Ideally, the respondent is at Ewen's "tipping point", and an easier deal and sooner.

          Or likes Oz's steps, thereby proving to me, they are more real.

          Can we automate this process? yes.

          From the standpoint that every buyer (you, me, and prospects), have their own "buying process".
          Most importantly for us, we can calculate what the process is, and set up follow-up steps so they
          appreciate and identify with it.

          It's not perfect or smooth, but isn't this what marketing is? make things flow & more cost effective.
          I'm just a sales guy!
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground
    This thread is highly pertinent to me right now. I have three different lists in three different markets that I need to build autoresponder/lead-nurturing/sales content for. Was just reading Ryan Deiss's new book Invisible Selling Machine about this. One of the best sources on email marketing I know of. He has a really complete system to teach that is based on these 5 steps. Hopefully others might get some benefit from this outline of what your lead nurturing should cover:

    Here’s how it works… Each email we send has one of five purposes:

    1. Indoctrinate – Introduce new leads to you and your brand, and turn strangers into friends

    2. Engage – Talk to your leads about what interests them and encourage them to buy a relevant product or service

    3. Ascend – Welcome your new customers or clients and encourage them to upgrade their experience by purchasing from you again

    4. Segment – Learn what they want to hear more about and what they might want to buy next

    5. Re-Engage/Win Back – Bring them back when they’ve fallen out of touch or the relationship has gone cold.


    Each step builds upon the previous step, and works to seamlessly, effortlessly and invisibly transition strangers into friends.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by Underground View Post

      This thread is highly pertinent to me right now. I have three different lists in three different markets that I need to build autoresponder/lead-nurturing/sales content for. Was just reading Ryan Deiss's new book Invisible Selling Machine about this. One of the best sources on email marketing I know of. He has a really complete system to teach that is based on these 5 steps. Hopefully others might get some benefit from this outline of what your lead nurturing should cover:

      Here's how it works... Each email we send has one of five purposes:

      1. Indoctrinate - Introduce new leads to you and your brand, and turn strangers into friends

      2. Engage - Talk to your leads about what interests them and encourage them to buy a relevant product or service

      3. Ascend - Welcome your new customers or clients and encourage them to upgrade their experience by purchasing from you again

      4. Segment - Learn what they want to hear more about and what they might want to buy next

      5. Re-Engage/Win Back - Bring them back when they've fallen out of touch or the relationship has gone cold.


      Each step builds upon the previous step, and works to seamlessly, effortlessly and invisibly transition strangers into friends.
      "The Machine" course he put out is pretty much the same thing, and I'm implementing it right now. Very in depth and awesome program.
      Signature
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      • Profile picture of the author Underground
        Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

        "The Machine" course he put out is pretty much the same thing, and I'm implementing it right now. Very in depth and awesome program.
        Yeah, I've been a fan of his for a while because he's email approach was head an shoulders above anyone else I'd seen so took notice of it, and then wanted to find out what he was doing. I've been for a few courses and trainings of his and there is some cross over. This book seems like a core product that has the info that would tie all the other courses together.

        I'd recommend any of his products anyone. Great real world stuff.
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        • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
          Originally Posted by Underground View Post

          Yeah, I've been a fan of his for a while because he's email approach was head an shoulders above anyone else I'd seen so took notice of it, and then wanted to find out what he was doing. I've been for a few courses and trainings of his and there is some cross over. This book seems like a core product that has the info that would tie all the other courses together.

          I'd recommend any of his products anyone. Great real world stuff.
          You know... I opt in with new email address once every few months just to see how he has things set up. Same with survival life the other company they own. Free training right there.

          Hubspot is another company that basically provides you with free training if they think you're a real lead. Some of the best hands on training with consultative sales, and inbound marketing.

          What I mean by free training... is they're selling you and you're learning every trick and strategy they're using.
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          • Profile picture of the author Matt Lee
            Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

            You know... I opt in with new email address once every few months just to see how he has things set up. Same with survival life the other company they own. Free training right there.

            Hubspot is another company that basically provides you with free training if they think you're a real lead. Some of the best hands on training with consultative sales, and inbound marketing.

            What I mean by free training... is they're selling you and you're learning every trick and strategy they're using.
            First i gotta say I loved catching up on this thread, Nathan & contributors added a ton of value here. I don't have anything else to say that hasn't already been said in regards to lead nurturing but i did want to chime in on what Nathan said about Hubspot - I've learned a lot on hubspot, not just by the posts but through their marketing process with me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground
    Yeah, they're great to replicate. I went through Ewan's stuff he posted on the other thread. They give a major education when modelling them as well as the content and books they put out.

    Good series they did on Cold Email with Bryan Kreuzberger from breakthroughemail.com. Great system he has, like Aaron Ross used at Salesforce, but he's asking like 6 grand plus for the course. That would be a great aggressive prospecting and sales strategy in addition to building your lead nurturing and would fill your funnel nicely.
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  • Profile picture of the author Inner Athlete
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