“These leads are amazing. Let’s double the budget for the next campaign,” said the client… in your dreams.
The reality is more often like this: Your client is frustrated because the leads you gave them are “bad”. And you’re frustrated because your marketing agency spent a lot of time optimizing the campaigns to get them those leads.
What if the problem is not you… it’s them? What if there’s an easier way to satisfy your clients without squeezing your brain dry for more lead generation ideas?
Having helped 50,000 marketers, sales professionals, and small businesses convert over 30 million leads, we’re going to share the most important tips we learned on turning bad leads into good leads. And by the end, you’ll know exactly what to say if your clients grill you over bad leads again.
Are the leads that my agency is generating really that bad?
You might get a few bad apples here and there, but that’s no reason to start doubting your marketing skills. Remember that lead generation is just one leg of the race. What happens after a client gets the lead matters just as much.
As marketers, we’d only consider a lead as bad if they have no chance of ever buying the advertised product or service, even in the long run. However, from your client’s perspective, a bad lead could simply be someone who doesn’t pick up a call within the first 3 rings. If you’ve optimized your lead gen efforts, then the issue could be in the sales approach.
🧙 Now in the world of lead conversion, there are two truths:
- You need to be fast at reaching out.
- You need to follow up.
The more pressing issue is the first outreach because it’s one problem sitting on another problem. If your clients are not messaging the prospect immediately after their contact details are submitted, the prospect is likely to go cold.
Similarly, if you’re only delivering your leads at the end of the day in an Excel spreadsheet, your clients will miss out on that brief yet crucial window of time for effective outreach. When your client believes that they’re contacting leads quickly, the tables then turn on you for not delivering the leads fast enough.
So what can you do about it? Let’s tackle one issue first.
Next time your client questions you, share these 4 crucial tips that will turn ice cold leads into flaming hot sales.
Clients usually don’t complain for the sake of it – they genuinely feel like they have an issue and they’re looking to you for a solution. And you’re in a good position to share with them these key tips that will boost their conversion rates for the next campaign.
⏰ Contact new leads within the first 15 minutes
People nowadays have a short attention span, so if you’re not quick to reach out, they’ll move on to the next thing and might even come across your competitor’s offerings. Once a prospect expresses interest in your business by filling out a form, you should always strive to contact them within 15 minutes – while they still remember you. Anything after 30 minutes will decrease your chances of actually connecting with your prospects.
P.S. If you’re still delivering leads manually to your clients, which further delays the first outreach, there’s a simple solution coming right up that will notify them instantly when new leads come in.
📱 Use the right channels to message your leads
Your leads are more likely to see your outreach when you message them on chat apps like WhatsApp, iMessage, or SMS – whichever is more popular in your region.
Compared to calls and emails, which take significant effort to respond to, messaging apps are where we live and work throughout the day. With increased chances of visibility, you’re also more likely to get a response, especially when you can give more context as to why you’re reaching out. Remember to mention your product or service within the first 10 words, in case the prospect only reads the preview of your message but doesn’t click into it to read everything else.
🧑 Personalize your messages
Nobody likes to be addressed as “Sir/Madam”, especially when it comes from an unknown sender. All of us receive dozens of unsolicited messages every week. And 99% of the time they’re either scams or peddling questionable money lending services. It’s a big enough issue that most people will throw “Dear Sir/Madam” messages into their spam folder without a second thought.
Therefore, when messaging your prospect for the first time, it’s important to address them by name. A simple “Hey Michael 👋” goes a long way in turning a generic sales pitch into an introduction that feels personal and inviting.
💬 Follow up 2 to 3 times over the next few days
A lead who doesn’t respond to your first message should be nurtured, not thrown out of the picture. They might have been too busy to see your message, or they have forgotten to reply, or they’re simply not in the right mindset to buy yet. In fact, most customers only decide to buy after multiple interactions with a salesperson, especially if you sell big ticket items that require careful deliberation (e.g. real estate). Therefore, you should have a plan to follow up with your leads over the next few days, regardless of how the first call or message went.
If you sell high ticket items like cars or properties, your plan to follow up should even extend beyond days into months or years. The idea is that people will eventually want to buy the products you’re offering – you just need to be there when they’re finally ready.
One simple tool to help your clients save time and be more productive at converting leads.
It’s not enough to just share the best practices with your clients. They might have objections like “We don’t have enough time to do all that!” So here’s a simple tool to help them receive and convert prospects more effortlessly – Privyr.
Privyr is a mobile app that connects directly to lead sources like Facebook, TikTok, and Google Ads, giving your clients instant alerts as soon as a new lead comes in. It also lets them text or WhatsApp the lead within seconds, in just a few taps – no need to type, copy and paste, or even save the contact details to their phonebook. Here’s how it works:
- Whenever there’s a new lead, your client receives an instant alert on their mobile phone.
- They can tap a button in the app to message the lead within seconds via WhatsApp, iMessage, or SMS. They never have to manually input the contact details into their phonebook.
- They can select a personalized message template for the first outreach. Privyr automatically applies the name personalization to the message when they hit the send button.
- They’ll receive automated reminders to follow up with a lead after a few days, and can send a personalised follow up in one tap.
- Privyr even offers file and page tracking, lead distribution and team assignment, and many other features to help engage and convert prospects quickly.
In other words, Privyr helps your clients see through each step of a productive outreach workflow while reducing the amount of work they have to do. And the best part is that Privyr has a free forever plan. No harm in trying a new way to get more sales that doesn’t involve rehauling your entire marketing campaign, right? 🙂
TL;DR Your leads are not bad. The outreach just needs a little push (notification).
