Let me tell you about one of my clients. He had some very lucrative leads, but he was hearing crickets. I’m going to share with you seven easy steps that you can implement that I also share with my client, that you can use to turn those cold leads into closed deals.
I’m helping contractors just like you scale your business to multiple six figures by landing government contracts so that you can hit your revenue goals, work less, and what’s that third one? Oh, and take on fewer clients, but guess what? Still hitting your revenue goals and increase your bottom line profits.
Here’s the deal. He had some very lucrative opportunities before him, but he was hearing crickets.
Maybe you can relate.
They had asked for proposals. They had asked for bid numbers. Do you have the manpower? Do you have the resources? All of these things were yes and check, but he was still hearing crickets. He heard nothing else from them after that.
Now he’s wondering, “What’s the deal? What happened? Why haven’t I heard back?
I’ve given them everything they asked for and I have not heard from them.”
That is the question of today and how to overcome hearing crickets.
Let’s dive into my seven easy steps that I shared with him that you can execute on starting today to get your cold leads turned back into warm leads, and eventually what? Closing the deal.
Step number one.
You’re out networking, you’re meeting people online, social media, you’re getting referrals, however, your leads are coming in, you need to organize your leads. You can’t be looking all over the place. “I know I had a lead last week, where is it?”
- Is it on your phone or in your notes section on your phone?
- Did you put it in a spreadsheet?
- Did you write it down on a sheet of paper?
- Did you jot it down on a napkin?
You have to organize your leads so that you can track them. Because what you track, you close.
Step number two.
Create a workflow for your leads.
- How are your leads coming in?
- How will you follow up?
You need to have a workflow in place, (or if you want to use the term system), in place for how you’re going to manage your leads and stay on top of maintaining and following up with those leads.
That’s the only way you’re going to be able to convert them consistently.
Step number three.
A couple of ways that you can track your leads:
- Spreadsheet
- Digital
Definitely, if you’re old school, you can use a spreadsheet, that’s awesome. I like to do something digital. Even if you’re old school and like paper, I would say put it in a digital format and then print it off. That way if someone else needs to access it in your office, on your team or while you’re out of the office so they can get to it.
Either do just digital or do both.
Step number four.
Now my favorite software for tracking my leads and customers is Pipedrive. I love Pipedrive. With Pipedrive or any other system that manages your contacts, most of them will have where you can put reminders. The reminder will pop up and it will connect to your calendar.
Any CRM system will do:
- Pipedrive
- Streak
- HubSpot
There’s plenty of CRMs to choose from.
It is very important to track certain information that will help you in closing your leads.
Where did the lead come from? That’s a conversation starter later on down the road.
- What were their needs and interests?
- What product or service that you offer that they were interested in?
- What was their current struggle?
- Why did they have the conversation that they did with you?
That is need to know information.
You want to always maintain notes of the conversation. Not just the initial conversation, but throughout the life cycle of the relationship. You should be jotting down notes from each and every conversation.
I like to keep track of the first interaction so that I can also check my numbers. You know I like to check my metrics. I want to check my conversion rate and how long it took me to convert them from a lead to a client.
Follow up is important. You need to know
- How you’re going to follow up.
- How often you’re going to follow up.
- Is it every other day?
- Is it going to be in different increments?
- What the follow up process looks like for you time-wise.
- The type of follow up.
- How you’re going to follow up.
Step number five.
I want you to go out and get five new leads in the next seven days. I believe you can do that.
Whether you’re going out networking or if it’s online, I don’t care how you do it, but go out, get your five leads.
Filter them through your new system, the seven steps I’ve given you that you can implement today. Then start closing some deals.
Can you do that?
Step number six.
Close the deal.
Step number seven.
Rinse and repeat.
I get asked this question a lot. “Well, they said no, so why should I follow up?”
I always say you follow up until they tell you to stop. Just because they said no, does not mean they will never buy from you or they will never need what you have to offer. What they’re saying is no for right now. Just think, when someone says no, it just means no for right now. Still put them into your follow up system.
If they say it’s going to be a couple of months, if you have your follow up system done right, which I teach my clients, you can still follow up within the two months and then get back to the conversation of their needs after the two months.
Make sure you continue to follow up, know that no just means no for right now.
Convert those cold leads back into warm leads and then close more deals.
This is, just so you know, video two in a four part video series on Sales Push. I’m giving you strategies that you can take and implement immediately to start generating some leads and closing more deals in your business. If you missed last week’s video, here’s the link, 7 Steps to Narrow Your Focus.
If we have not talked already or if you are not on my calendar, please schedule an appointment within the next two weeks to discuss your 2020 Contracting Goals and your plan to achieve them.
Consulting with me or retaining my support within my mentorship for Getting Government Contracts can help you move from where you are today to where you want to be.
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I’m helping contractors just like you scale your business to multiple six figures by landing government contracts so that you can hit your revenue goals, work less, and what’s that third one? Oh, and take on fewer clients, but guess what? Still hitting your revenue goals and increase your bottom line profits.
