Businesses invest big resources to generate leads for the sales pipeline, but without consistent follow-up those leads never convert to sales, lose value, and erode your business reputation. By automating the follow-up function, your business can ensure that no leads fall through the cracks.
Managing sales leads is a crucial part of generating new business. Unfortunately, many small and midsize businesses miss opportunities to convert leads into sales by dropping the ball on customer follow-up. Closing this gap in the sales process can increase closing opportunities and response to existing customers as well. In this discussion with bMighty, Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft, a software-as-a-service provider of automated follow-up solutions, shares his perspective on the importance of automating the follow-up process and how it can improve revenue opportunities.
bMighty: Why do growing businesses have so much trouble with their marketing efforts?
Clate Mask: There is too much separation between sales force automation and marketing automation, but in small and midsize businesses they're integrated. Often sales and marketing people are the same people. So when people look at these products, they need integrated functions.
bMighty: How would automating processes help them with these efforts?
Mask: Most small and midsize businesses have a problem when it comes to follow-up with prospective customers or partners. It's either a manual process or often it doesn't get done. I speak at conferences to thousands of business owners and I always ask them how they follow up. I usually get a pained look and they'll say, "It's hard. We don't do it very well."
If you take away sales and marketing automation, there's a problem out there in following up with people. You need to get back in touch with that customer who purchased something or that partner you saw at the conference last spring. There are so many instances where follow-up is required. Most of the time, follow up is the nitty-gritty hard work that needs to be done and will lead to a sale. But small and midsize businesses tend not to do that. Follow-up tends not to get done. I talk about automating those follow-up activities.
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bMighty: Can you be specific?
Mask: Let's say you have set up an appointment for someone to come to your office, and you know if they show up it's a 50% chance there's a sale. But getting them to show up is tricky. You can't call or e-mail because it's time intensive. But what if a voice mail is left automatically? Or an e-mail is sent automatically? So now, with follow up, people show up 70% instead of 50%.
Or what about if someone comes to your Web site and asks for information. What happens next? You're waiting for them to call you. It goes into the CRM database and you need to take action. What if automatically there are follow-ups of e-mails on day one, day 15, and then a voice mail and then a postcard, and then in 60 days another e-mail. Then in 90 days, a final e-mail. You set up your automation system on a predetermined schedule with automated communications. The nature of sales and marketing is it takes multiple contacts.
Let's say you're a sales rep, and in a conversation with a customer he says he has price concerns and then he says, "This is not the right time -- give me a call in six months." Half the time, you don't make the call and the other half of the time, the customer doesn't care anymore. But you can follow up automatically and send information addressing his concerns. Then he gets something every few weeks, something that warms him up. It's a better opportunity for the sales guy than not talking for six months.
If you're putting on a conference or a seminar and attendance is critical, if you can follow up automatically the night before and leave automatic messages, it's a simple way to follow up and will have a major impact on the success of the event. After registration, you can even set up a five-step follow-up system just based on registration. It gets rid of the legwork and the grunt work to make sure people show up.
These are the kind of things that plague small and midsize businesses. They don't have the manpower or they fall victim to human nature to not follow up unless it's really hot. The only way to put timing in your favor is by being there when the time is right. This gives you an orchestrated way to stay in touch and positions you as a welcome guest.
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bMighty: How can you get personal with your clients or partners in an automated fashion?
Mask: Let's say you're a sales consultant at a retail store and someone comes to the store and is not sure about a suit and you want to make that sale. So you take his e-mail address and you send an e-mail with information not just about the suits but also about getting something his wife would like. You speak to the issue, not just to the product.
That's very specific but you might experience that all the time so you can assemble a three-step sequence based on prior experiences with customers and you can build a story around that in automated communications in e-mails, voice mails, and letter testimonials. It's in an automated fashion, but you are still reaching out to customers in a specific way.
In my business, I'll see something over and over again, so I'll build automation around that. If you're in a business for a period of time, you can hit your customers with solutions and merge in personal information. If I'm selling you high-end cat food, I want to talk to you in e-mails and letters about this, but I have your cat's name and other personal information and my automated e-mail is pulling in all the personal information.
Naomi Grossman is assistant editor of bMighty.com.
