5 Ways to Warm Up Cold Leads

Effective Strategies to Warm Up Cold Leads

Every smart business owner is aware of the importance of finding and maintaining leads. Leads are always the best way to convert potentially interested people into actual customers. It’s understandable that during the course of running your business, sometimes, following up with leads gets pushed to the back burner. Now that you’re ready to begin marketing your products again, instead of going back to the beginning and looking for a fresh list of leads to work, you could try to warm up the old ones you have on your list. Focus on the possibility that some of the people and companies that you were in contact with in the past, are still looking for the kind of products and services you provide. Here’s what you need to do.

Prepare Your Campaign in Advance

You can work leads by sending them emails, calling them over the phone or using social media channels to interest them in creative content that intrigues and informs. Prepare the strategies you’ll be using like for instance, targeting members of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest  and subscribers on YouTube. Next, put together the appropriate content you’ll need by using the services of expert designers — agencies or freelancers. You’re going to need articles, blog posts, infographics, and video clips, to name a few. When you think you have adequate material for 3 to 4 months of emailing and posting, begin contacting the leads.

Contact Only Interested Leads

Check through the list you have and work with your email service provider to pick out the contacts that have responded in some way to your emails in the past. It is also preferable to be careful when working with purchased leads. Or, you could end up breaking the rules laid down by the provider. When you send out new emails, you’ll have to begin by reminding them of what your company is all about, and the products and services you provide. Typically, people are likely to forget about you within 4 months if you haven’t contacted them in this period. Fresh emails should help them recognize your brand and build some measure of trust.

What Should Your Email Say

Refer back to your conversations with the leads in the past and use the information to design your email. Avoid sales pitches and instead, add some interesting and relevant information. You could also ask them if they’re interested in receiving emails from you regularly, moving forward. A great email has three sections:

1. Have a catchy subject that instantly interests and attracts your readers. Aim at creating a personal connection with them.
2. The body of your email should be concise and offer some solution to common issues that most people face. It is advisable that you use rich text in place of HTML. This will indicate that the email is being sent by an expert on the subject and not a marketing team. Add links to content published in other blog posts and articles on well-known informative sites. Remember that the emails should not be about the company or the products you have.
3. Add a call to action and direct the readers to the content so they can find solutions to any situations they’re facing or concerns them in some way. You could also ask them to hit the “Contact Us” button for any other detailed information they need.

Evaluating Responses

Work with your customer relationship management team to understand the reactions of the mail recipients, whether they have responded by visiting your site or by looking for more information. In other words, assess the interaction and engagement figures. The data they provide you with will help you design future communication tactics.

Prepare for Unsubscribes

Since you’re contacting leads after a while, chances are you’ll have to deal with many of them opting to Unsubscribe from your list. Take this as a positive reaction, because you’ll know for sure that these people are not interested in your products, and you can eliminate them from your list. You’ll now be down to fewer prospective customers that you can pursue actively. Keep in mind that it is not necessary that every person you contact should need your products and services.

Your Next Step

Continue to send out emails every week or so, and ensure that the time frame between two emails does not extend beyond 45 days. You might be concerned when you don’t receive the responses you expect right away, but you need to be persistent. Try using different kinds of layouts and formats. Keep an eye on the evaluation data to assess what works better. Play around with diverse information and send out questionnaires and surveys. This approach will help you engage your readers and their responses will help you understand what they’re expecting to see.

Connecting Strategies

Use the interaction data to identify the interested leads. And then, get your sales personnel to contact them over the phone. Here are some factors to keep in mind.

• All calls must be made during working hours from 10:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the evening.
• Remember to speak to the person using his/her first and last name. The tone of the conversation must be upbeat and cheerful. Begin conversations with a reference to the weather or any other neutral current event that interests most people.
• Calls must not last more than 10 to 12 seconds. The sales rep must introduce the company and explain that the call is a follow-up to the emails sent. Ask questions to engage and interest the person. Like for instance, ask if the person found the information in the emails useful and if he/she would like to comment on it.
• If people respond by saying that they don’t need your products, thank them for their time and let them know that you’ll be in touch later.

Aside from the regular emails, you can also send short messages via social media channels by way of reminders. All these strategies should help you reconnect with prospective customers and build up your client base. Again.