Sales: Converting Leads into Customers and Clients for Life
How Essential Business Coaching helped Sam distinguish Conversion Processes to generate maximum business consistently
The Situation
Sam had been operating a commercial landscaping company for seven years and although he had made profit, it had not been consistent nor met his goals. He described the whole process of winning and keeping ideal clients as a rollercoaster ride.
He had no documentation to tell him how much time was spent in the process of winning clients, nor did he have anything written about the way he converted a lead into a client, although he believed he was good at it. He knew for certain that there were far more leads coming in than contracts being signed.
His motivation when we met was to get back to his real passion designing landscapes and to relinquish the sales role to others. That meant his two sales people had to use Sam’s approach consistently and reliably, since without consistency in converting leads, his turnover and profit were inconsistent too.
Developing an understanding of Leads, Conversion and the connection to Clients for Life
First we discussed how leads were being generated and whether they were attracting the kind of client Sam wanted. We set about writing a process that would respond to and convert the leads coming in, while assuring that no important detail was overlooked. The conversion system had to track each step in the client’s decision-making process. Communication between client and sales person had to be clear and documented so that the landscaping design, when executed, would exceed the client’s expectation.
The Steps to Resolution
Using his own successful way of converting a lead, Sam created a clear and simple form which he called the ‘Decision-Making Chain’ to record and track the conversations he had with a perspective client. When he presented it to the team, he was amazed to learn that his sales people had had no real idea of why he was so successful. It all became clear when they used the Decision Chain documents and followed his actions consistently.
They used this same Decision Chain tool to listen for and track specific conversion patterns and identify key decision indicators. Repeated use and review of the tool enabled them to refine the process and make it more successful. The Decision Chain tool also tracked how much time was spent, how many calls were involved, and what the most frequently asked questions were. Sam now knew the percentage of leads that became clients and from there he refined his lead generating messages to invite the ‘ideal’ client to respond.
The outcome
Three months of tracking gave Sam the cost of converting a lead; he developed a brochure of Frequently Asked Questions which cut down time spent in phone conversations. Sam’s sales people gained confidence and took on greater responsibility for contacting leads immediately and in converting leads consistently. Sam could plan that at the end of nine months he would once again be designing full time.
CONVERTING LEADS TO CUSTOMERS AND CLIENTS
Answer these questions to rate your skill in turning leads into customers and clients
1. What is the cost of converting a lead to a client or customer in your business?
2. Do you have measurable lead conversion indicators to use to project future results (or track the past)?
3. Can you say with a degree of confidence the point in the your conversion process where the potential client is most likely to say, “No”?
4. Do you have a process to track and monitor conversions so that you can stay ahead of the business environment and meet current client needs?