4 Tips for Lead Nurturing in your Small Business

The art of lead nurturing – When a prospect submits a form on your website, prompt responses are crucial. Research from Hubspot indicates that speed is key, with more than 4 out of 5 consumers considering an “immediate” response important. “Immediate” is defined as 10 minutes or less.

You receive a new email in your inbox. Someone has filled out a form on your website, asking for more info about your product. What’s your next move?

“Reply back” is the obvious answer, but it’s just the beginning.

When an active prospect reaches out like this, there are several more steps you’ll want to take to guide them deeper into your sales funnel.

Crafting an Email Template:

Craft an email template tailored to capitalize on the information prospects provide through the form. Below is an example that you can customize:

“Hi [first name],

Thank you for reaching out to [your company].

I noticed you had a question regarding [Question or description of problem].

I’m here to assist and will respond within 24 hours with further details.

Best regards,

[signature]”

Feel free to tweak the language and fields to align with the queries commonly posed by prospects. If spam submissions are a concern, consider adjusting the process accordingly. While this template may not resolve all of the prospects’ issues immediately, it establishes a point of contact within that crucial 10-minute window.

CRM Integration:

Besides sending a post-submission email, ensure your form automatically creates a new record in your CRM. Many CRMs like HubSpot offer this.

Incorporate Leads into Your CRM Workflow starting small – try avoid integrating your responses immediately while you learn and adapt your script for a few scenarios, with the goal of AB testing the success of the different scripts. Do integration later.

Include in your 1st response:

• Greeting
• Thank you
• How can we help?
• Company Profile
• Contact/follow up plan – clarify preferred contact method
• Add to database

 

Post-Submission Sequence:

Tailor your follow-up based on where prospects are in the sales process.

A well-designed post-submission plan involves multiple touches across various channels:

• Immediate automated email follow-up.
• Checking their LinkedIn profile to increase visibility.
• Follow-up email within 24 hours with requested info.
• Phone call within 24 hours to qualify prospects.
• Weekly nurture emails for six weeks.
• Phone calls within 24 hours of each email.
• Ongoing social media engagement.
• Final phone call after six weeks if no conversion.

Adapt your approach based on prospect engagement data, and don’t hesitate to move on from unresponsive leads. Prompt, thorough follow-up demonstrates your commitment without overwhelming your workload.

Don’t Keep Customers Waiting

Many business owners and salespeople often overlook submitted forms, allowing them to languish on their to-do lists. However, as the data above highlights, time is critical.

Demonstrate to your prospects that you respect their time and interest by providing prompt and comprehensive follow-up, all while ensuring it doesn’t burden your workload further.