Nurturing leads

What if they aren’t at the purchase stage yet?

Don’t write a proposal. Instead educate them in a way that costs you very little time. Add them to your mailing list so they get automated emails with information that addresses their problem. Connect with them on social media and send out links to blog articles. In other words; use content marketing to your advantage to nurture them so they are primed to do business with you once they reach the buying phase.

Don’t make the mistake of getting caught up in endless meeting requests. Clients will often want to get a coffee or have lunch to talk about their upcoming project, but this drives up your cost of sale and doesn’t necessarily get you closer to a signed contract.

Instead, when a client asks you for a coffee or lunch, ask for a call instead and keep it to 15 minutes. Always end every conversation with an action. Don’t leave it too general like “hey let’s chat again in a few weeks”. Instead pick a specific day and time for the next step, like “I’m going to research your questions and I’ll call you next Wednesday at 10 am to show you how I’m going to achieve what we talked about”.

The next step should be a proposal, and if you’ve done your work up front to get to the proposal stage, you’ll only be sending proposals to qualified prospects who are at the buying stage and primed for what you have to offer.