Your business might already have a great social media presence. Or, maybe you’re doing great with your Google ads. You could even have a great website that receives TONS of traffic. That’s all wonderful… but did you happen to get their name or contact info? Do you have a lead form to immediately capture these interested visitors and turn them from a random anonymous internet user into a qualified lead? Where do all of those potential leads go and what happens to them once you’ve collected their data? How do you keep track of what source they came from or what their initial interest was with your company? Whoa, that escalated quickly. But don’t panic. We’re going to go over all of this together and by the end of this post, you are going to feel much better about this critical stage of your marketing and sales funnel.
Filter your Lead Capture
First, let’s talk about lead capture and why it is so important to your business. Try to think of your lead capture as a filter. It filters out some of the more qualified leads from those who might have no interest at all. Hard truth time: whenever you are generating interest and visitors to your pages whether it be web or social, no matter how great, not all of those people are going to be your customers or clients. That’s not bad news though! In fact, it’s good news, because we have the ability to fine-tune this “filter” to better understand which of these visitors ARE your customers. By utilizing a proper lead capture form, you immediately get the information that is critical to building the relationship and ideally closing the sale. Looking at website visitor numbers is great but you will never know who is truly interested in knowing more about you or your product without a lead capture form in place. When you are networking, you are talking with people. You ask their name and, hopefully, getting some general information about them. A lead form can do this for you in situations where you are incapable of meeting an interested person face to face: your website.
Lead Capture Page
What does your current form of lead capture look like? It could be something as simple as a pop-up on your website asking for an email in exchange for a brochure, an e-book, or maybe even a discount on their purchase (that always gets ‘em). Sometimes you’ll find that just an email address isn’t enough. You find that your contact list grows and grows, but definitely not in line with your sales. One approach to this problem is simply asking for more information on your lead form. I know what you’re thinking, “But, Ben, if I ask for more information won’t fewer people fill out my form because it’s too much of a hassle?” The short answer: possibly. However, as I said before, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. By doing this, you are asking the right questions and you are attempting to see who is really here to be a customer or client and who is here to just browse and kick the tires. Finding out that answer as soon as possible will help you immensely in the long run and it helps you see how to focus your sales efforts. Don’t be scared to ask for details such as phone, zip, preferred store location, or even the specific product or product type that they are interested in. Honestly, you might be surprised to see that you can get exactly the information you want, so long as you know how to ask for it and who to ask it of. If people are interested in you or what you have to offer then they will give you what you need to keep the communication line going, because, once again they are interested and that’s a very good thing! A proper lead form will take you a long way and will be a crucial step in your sales funnel. Lead forms can be present on a variety of platforms and knowing how to manage those forms and tie them all together with your CRM system is absolutely key.
Pinpointing your Lead Source
One of the great things about digital lead capture is the fact that you know exactly what lead source that lead came from. You can tell down to the very ad or webpage how that lead got to you and then gave you their information. Now, most often, you will be thinking of your website lead forms as your lead capture, but it can be from any web form, Facebook Lead Ad Form, or even a form that your sales staff uses to add new contacts to your CRM who have physically gone to one of your stores and expressed interest in learning more. Knowing where your leads come from is incredibly valuable information. Taking it one step further is knowing why they came to you and what they want… this right here is gold. Remember what I said earlier about asking for information and you might just get it? Well, this is definitely a case right here for that. If you ask what they are interested in, either simply product type or a specific product model, you will more than likely get the answer. They are telling you exactly what they are looking for and guess what? If all has been taken care of up to this point then you have or can get exactly what the person in front of you (either physically or digitally speaking that is) wants! Now it’s just up to your sales staff to take over and do what they do best.
Leads Housed in CRM System
No matter where your lead forms are, something to always remember is that all of your forms should be directly fed into your CRM system. For some CRM systems and some platforms, they will link seamlessly with one another. Although ideal, that’s not always the case. Sometimes you will need to implement another integration system for the information to be moved from one place to the next. Here at The Get Smart Group, we utilize Zapier as our integration software. It makes getting two systems that typically wouldn’t talk to each other speak to each other incredibly well. Like the punch bowl at the party, it helps break the ice and get everybody talking to one another. If you are unsure if your CRM is up to par and able to handle these needs or maybe you just need a CRM to begin with, we can help you with that. The Get Smart Group is completely ready to set you up with the CRM system that’s right for you and ready to handle your demands.
Lead Nurturing
Hopefully, you are feeling better about lead capture and understanding its importance to your business. And if you are, but are still feeling a little unsure of where to start, then maybe we can help? Don’t forget you can always schedule a free consultation with us here at The Get Smart Group. We are more than happy to try and help you grow. So try out some forms, ask some questions. It’s not any worse than asking nothing at all! Remember this is how you are filtering and funneling your leads. Very much like how an old (or new) prospector would pan in the river. You have to wash away a lot of the surface rock to get down to the real gold. Now that your leads are safely tucked away in your CRM, you can start the real work of lead nurture…. Lead nurture, you know, is where you further develop your relationship with the potential customer or client…. It’s where you are focusing on your marketing and communication with the prospect. Still nothing? Ok, stay tuned for the next post: Lead Nurture, what it is and how to do it properly. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered 😉
