Guest article by Enrico Stützel | Reelwerk Media
A Lead Is Not Yet a Customer
Many companies invest a great deal of time and money in generating new enquiries. They run advertising, rely on referrals, use lead platforms or invest in their website.
So the lead comes in. This is exactly where the real problem begins for many companies.
The enquiry lands in the inbox. A phone number is written down somewhere. Someone wants to call back later. Another employee does not even know whether contact has already been made. After a few days, it is often no longer clear what actually happened to the enquiry.
The problem is then not lead generation. It is what happens afterwards.
A good lead process therefore needs to ensure that every enquiry is reliably captured, someone takes responsibility and the contact is followed up until it is clear what happens next.
Speed Plays a Major Role
When someone submits an enquiry, they are actively dealing with a problem at that particular moment. This window of opportunity is valuable.
The longer a company waits to respond for the first time, the more likely it becomes that the prospect will continue searching, contact another provider or put the issue aside for the time being.
For small and medium-sized businesses, this does not mean that someone has to monitor the inbox all day. Many steps can now be automated in a sensible way.
For example, a new enquiry can be acknowledged immediately. At the same time, the contact can be saved in the CRM, assigned to an employee and a task for the next step can be created.
The prospect immediately knows that their enquiry has been received. At the same time, the responsible employee can see what needs to be done. This creates structure without anyone having to manually trigger every single step.
All Enquiries Belong in One Central Location
Many companies do not have too little software. Often, the opposite is true. Information is spread across too many places.
Part of it is in the inbox. Part of it is in Excel. Some contacts are stored on an employee's phone. Appointments are in the calendar. Notes are written on paper.
This works as long as the volume of enquiries remains small. As soon as several employees are involved or new leads come in regularly, things quickly become confusing.
A CRM should therefore be the central place for all relevant information. At any time, it should be clear who the contact is, where the enquiry came from, when it was received, who is responsible, what has already been discussed and when the next step should take place.
These points may seem trivial at first glance. In everyday business, however, they make a major difference. A company suddenly no longer has to rely on memory. Everyone involved can understand what has happened with a prospect.
Lead Capture Should Work Automatically
A new lead should not have to be manually transferred from one system to another every time.
If an enquiry comes in through a landing page, an advertising campaign or a lead platform, the contact can be automatically transferred to the CRM. From there, the lead can be assigned directly to a clearly defined process.
A simple pipeline could consist of the following stages:
- New enquiry
- Contacted
- Qualified
- Appointment scheduled
- Proposal
- Won or lost
This makes it immediately visible where a prospect currently stands. Especially for companies with a regular volume of leads, this can save a great deal of time.
The individual tool itself is not the most important factor. What matters is that there is no gap between the lead source and sales.
Not Every Enquiry Is the Same
Automation does not mean treating every prospect identically. That would not make sense either.
A company should first define which information is needed to properly assess an enquiry.
For a trades business, location, requested service and timeframe may be important. For an agency, budget, company size and project type may play a larger role. For a consulting business, the current situation and the desired outcome may be decisive.
Some of this information can already be collected when the enquiry comes in. The contact can then be automatically categorised and assigned to the appropriate person.
This results in fewer follow-up questions. Employees can focus more quickly on the contacts where there is actually a concrete basis for a conversation.
Scheduling Appointments Does Not Have to Be Complicated
After the initial contact, the next round of back and forth often begins. The prospect asks for an appointment. The employee suggests Tuesday. Tuesday does not work. Wednesday would be possible. Wednesday is already booked internally.
A simple appointment suddenly turns into several messages or phone calls.
This can be solved much more easily. The prospect can select a time directly from the available slots. The appointment is automatically added to the calendar and both sides receive a confirmation.
If additional information is needed before the meeting, this can also be collected in advance. This saves time and simultaneously reduces the risk of losing a prospect between the initial contact and the appointment.
Follow-Up Should Not Depend on Memory
Not every customer makes a decision during the first conversation. That is completely normal. It only becomes a problem when nobody follows up afterwards.
This happens more quickly in day-to-day business than you might think. An employee plans to get in touch on Thursday. An important job gets in the way. Friday is busy. A week later, the contact has been forgotten.
A structured process therefore works with follow-up tasks and reminders.
After a conversation, a task can automatically be created for a specific point in time. Depending on the situation, suitable messages can also be prepared or sent automatically.
Communication should still always fit the situation.
Automation should prevent tasks from being forgotten. It should not make communication feel cold or impersonal.
Not Everything Should Be Automated
A common mistake is trying to automate as many steps as possible. This is rarely useful.
Recurring processes with clear rules are very well suited to automation. These include, for example, capturing new contacts, internal notifications, appointment confirmations, reminders, follow-up tasks and certain follow-up processes.
A real sales conversation works differently. Individual advice, complex questions and objections still require a human in many cases.
This is where the real benefit of a good system lies. Technology takes care of routine tasks. Employees gain time for conversations, decisions and tasks where their experience is actually needed.
What Gets Measured Can Be Improved
A structured lead process does more than create order. It also makes it visible where prospects are being lost.
How many leads come in? How quickly does the first response take place? How many contacts are actually reached? How many appointments are generated? How many appointments take place? How many proposals and deals ultimately result from them?
Without these figures, companies often only look at the cost of a lead. That is not enough.
A cheap lead can ultimately be expensive if nobody responds quickly or follows up consistently.
A more expensive lead can be significantly more valuable if the process afterwards works properly.
For companies, this changes the question they should be asking. Instead of always asking whether they need more leads, it is worth first looking at the enquiries they already have.
What actually happens to the leads that are already coming in?
Conclusion
New enquiries are important. However, their real value only emerges when they turn into conversations, appointments and customers.
A good lead process ensures that no enquiry gets lost between the inbox, Excel, the calendar and individual employees.
The prospect receives a quick response. Responsibilities are clear. Appointments can be scheduled easily. Follow-up tasks are not forgotten. Everyone involved can see at any time where a contact currently stands.
Automation does not replace personal sales. It creates the structure that is often missing in everyday business.
Many small and medium-sized businesses therefore do not necessarily need more leads right away. Often, the bigger opportunity lies in turning the enquiries they already have into appointments and customers more consistently.
About the Author
Enrico Stützel is the founder of Reelwerk Media.
Reelwerk Media develops digital customer and enquiry systems for small and medium-sized businesses.
CRM, customer communication, appointment scheduling and recurring processes are brought together in one central system and automated wherever it actually makes sense in day-to-day business.
Further information: www.reelwerk-media.de
