If you’re in sales, then you know that the key to success is to close leads. But what do you do when those leads are cold? You can’t just go in for the hard sell right away – that’ll turn them off and they’ll be gone before you know it. So how do you close a cold lead?
The answer lies in understanding what a cold lead is and why they’ve gone cold in the first place. Once you understand that, it’s much easier to come up with a strategy for re-engaging them and getting them interested again.
In this article, you will learn how to close leads — both warm and cold.
Close Leads: A Sales Technique
The term “close leads” refers to a sales technique in which a salesperson uses a series of questions to identify the needs of a potential customer and then presents a solution that meets those needs.
This technique is designed to create a sense of urgency and encourage the customer to make a purchase.
The Secret to Closing Sales: Lead Response Time
This probably isn’t the first you’ve heard this, but you still aren’t focusing on how quickly you respond. Here are a few statistics on why a quick response time matters.
- 75% of prospects do business with the company that contacts them first
- The average response time on digital leads is 17 hours
The key to closing sales is responding quickly to leads. By being the first to reply, you put yourself in a position of power to close the sale.
Since the average response time is 17 hours, you can put yourself ahead of the competition by responding in minutes instead of hours.
B2B studies also show that 55% of companies take 5 or more days to respond to sales inquiries. This delay makes it seem like you’re actually trying to NOT win the account.
Lead response time is one of the most important factors in sales success. Many businesses still miss the mark, leaving opportunities open for others to take advantage of. You can improve your response time with a few strategic and tactical tips.
Getting your response rate up doesn’t have to be difficult. A few simple tactics can have a huge impact.
Speed to Lead Strategies
- Focus on response time to prospects
- Create processes and accountability for who owns this responsibility
- Track, benchmark, and report on communication timing metrics
- Reward improved performance and improvement
Speed to Lead Tactics
- Utilize channels built for speed like SMS and messaging
- Use auto-replies to immediately confirm receipt
- Generate immediate notifications to your sales staff of new leads
- Create efficiencies with repeatable processes (process outlines, saved replies)
- Track and report “time to first reply” and “total conversation time”
By implementing these speed strategies, you can dramatically improve your response time to close more deals.
How to Close Warm Leads
Once you’ve determined that your prospect is in the market to buy what you’re offering, you can proceed to close the deal. Here are some tips on how to do just that.
Address Your Customers’ Objections
Know the concerns or hesitations that your customers have about your product. Are they worried about setup? Are they concerned that their employees will have a difficult time using your product?
Be aware of these reservations and tackle them head-on. By doing so, you can ease their worries and guarantee a smooth rollout of your service.
If a customer is hesitant about setting up your product, assure them that you will be there every step of the way. This will make them feel more at ease with moving forward.
Provide Value Within the First 15 Seconds
If you have your prospect’s information on hand, you can leverage it to provide them with some immediate value within the first 15 seconds of a sales call. You can find out what their needs are and how you can best provide value to them. This can help you build rapport and credibility with your potential client.
If your prospect has signed up for your newsletter, ask them what information they were looking for when they signed up. Then, you can address their pain points and explain how your product or service can help.
Appeal to Emotion
As online shopping becomes more popular, the emotions of customers become more important in closing sales.
In the past, people would go to a retail store with a shopping list and logical mindset.
Today, e-commerce sales make up 14% of total sales, and deals closed through social media are expected to increase by 21.3% in 2022.
These purchases often happen on a whim and aren’t based on any logical reasoning.
When reaching out to a warm lead, you must create an emotional response. The prospect should feel a sense of urgency, and they should want to make it stop as soon as possible.
The solution to their problem is right at their fingertips. They won’t have to look elsewhere. This will solve their issue quickly and easily.
Be the Solution, Not Just a Product
Don’t forget that your business is more than just a product or service. This is what will set you apart from your competition.
Your company needs a clear, concise, and convincing message that resonates with your customers.
To attract the most customers, it’s vital to communicate what makes your company unique. Remember that your potential customers are likely comparing you to other businesses, so you must highlight what sets you apart from the competition. By doing this, you’ll stand apart from the crowd and bring in more business.
Listen More Than You Speak
To become the solution, ask the prospect questions that will help you identify the problem so you can suggest a solution.
Here are some of the best questions to ask your warm lead:
- What is your number one challenge with staying competitive in your industry?
- What is your plan to solve this problem this year?
- Is your budget a barrier to resolving this problem?
- Is this a priority for you right now?
When building trust with your prospects, make sure to ask questions that let them do most of the speaking. This lets them know that you value their opinion and that you care about their needs.
Update Your Knowledge
To convert leads to sales, you need to convince your prospect that you’re an up-to-date, well-informed vendor in your industry. You can do this by hosting regular training seminars for your sales team so that they are always up to date with current market trends.
Be Honest
If you’re honest with your lead, they’ll be more likely to trust you. If you’re wrong, admit it. Your honesty will build their trust in you.
Offer a Free Trial
If your prospect is on the fence, offer them a free trial of your product. This will give them a chance to try the product out for themselves, without the pressure of buying.
After trying out your product, you must follow up to see how your prospect liked what you had to offer. Hopefully, they were impressed with what they received and won’t hesitate to buy.
If your customers have decided to go with a competitor, try reaching out to them a couple of months after their initial purchase to see if they have regrets.
Close With a Personalized Sales Strategy
It’s important to remember that every prospect you talk to will have their own specific concerns and goals. As salespeople, it’s our job to not only understand these but to cater our sales pitches to them.
Before you attempt to close your prospect, make sure you ask the following questions:
- What do you hope to get from our product?
- How do you envision our product helping your company reach its business goals?
- What metrics are you using to track your effectiveness?
The answers to these questions will better help you identify your warm and qualified lead.
When you speak to a lead in a direct and personable way, it shows that you are committed to finding a solution that will work for them. This is much more effective than simply trying to close the deal.
Top Tools for Closing Warm Leads
Since you already have a warmer prospect, you should have a better chance of making a sale than if you were trying to sell to a prospect who wasn’t familiar with you. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll make the sale. Here are a few tools to help increase your chances of converting a lead.
LeadLander
Leadlander can be effective for contacting your website visitors. It can tell you exactly who they are, when they visited, and which pages they looked at.
If you want to make more sales, you need to think carefully about both when you reach out to your prospects and what you tell them. By being deliberate in both of these ways, you can significantly boost your conversion rates.
HubSpot
If you’re looking to boost your sales, consider investing in a customer relationship management (CRM) system. We recommend using Hubspot, which is a free, customizable, and user-friendly option.
With Hubspot, you’ll be able to receive instant notifications when new opportunities arise with your prospect, making it much easier for you to keep track of where you are in the sales process.
This tip could give you the edge you need to convert more of your warmer and highly qualified leads to sales.
Clearbit
Clearbit can help you make quick work of building a list of qualified, interested contacts to reach out to.
You can create different lists for different types of contacts, such as by company size, or fiscal year. Using tools like this can save you time on your lead generation.
With tools like the Lead Enrichment API, you can be confident you’re reaching out to the right lead. You’ll have more time to focus on converting your warmest leads to customers, and your conversion rates will increase.
That could really boost your conversions.
Drift
With Drift, you can automate your sales process so that all of your qualified, interested, and warm leads are sent a personalized message.
If you want a more personal and interactive website, consider incorporating a live chat feature like Drift. You can also use it to send customized messages to your website visitors, as well as set up chatbots that automatically schedule meetings with your prospects.
With Drift, you can automate your sales process and provide 24/7 one-on-one assistance without ever having to speak to your prospect.
What Does a Closed Lead Mean?
When a lead is closed, it means that the sale has been finalized and the customer is now a paying customer of the company. The lead is no longer active, and no further action needs to be taken by the sales team.
How Do You Close More Leads?
There is no one answer to this question as there are many different ways to close more leads. However, some tips on how to close more leads may include building rapport with potential customers, understanding their needs and wants, and having a strong sales pitch.
Additionally, it is important to follow up with potential customers after initial contact has been made.
What is the Difference Between Contacts and Leads?
A contact is an individual with whom your organization has had some interaction, while a lead is an individual who has been identified as having the potential to become a customer. While both are important for sales and marketing teams, leads are typically given more attention since they have the potential to turn into customers.
Conclusion
If you’re in sales, then you know that the key to success is to close leads. We have outlined several ways to improve your closing rate, including shortening your lead response time, providing value during sales calls, and personalizing your sales strategy.
Need Help Automating Your Sales Prospecting Process?
LeadFuze gives you all the data you need to find ideal leads, including full contact information.
Go through a variety of filters to zero in on the leads you want to reach. This is crazy specific, but you could find all the people that match the following:
- A company in the Financial Services or Banking industry
- Who have more than 10 employees
- That spend money on Adwords
- Who use Hubspot
- Who currently have job openings for marketing help
- With the role of HR Manager
- That has only been in this role for less than 1 year