This article was contributed by Samir Sampat, a Marketing and Events Associate with Smith.ai. Smith.ai’s 24/7 virtual receptionists and live chat agents capture and convert leads by phone, website chat, texts and Facebook. You can follow Smith.ai on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Generating qualified leads is typically the most challenging for small businesses and sales professionals. Although it may help, you don’t need to require yourself to read multiple 10,000-word books on the subject. You can save time and learn by simply jotting down notes from others that are successful and integrating their strategy.
The three most common types of leads that your business will have are cold leads, warm leads, and hot prospects. We’ll explore each lead type further and how to help them move forward into the next stages of the buying journey.
Cold leads
Cold leads are exactly what you’d expect—leads or prospects with which you’ve had no previous contact or relationship. You’re just reaching out to these leads to see if they might have an interest in your products or services. These leads are most often the hardest to reach and work with for a business because there is no pre-existing relationship with them, but they don’t have to be intimidating.
Luckily in today’s business world, it’s easier to work with leads than ever before. Many companies are whittling away at their “cold” category by building an online brand image and presence that makes their business recognizable. This can unwittingly turn many of your cold leads into potential warm leads without you having to do anything extra.
Warm leads
Warm leads have some knowledge and interest in your business already. They’ve contacted you via Facebook, your website, or another channel. Perhaps they’ve signed up for your email marketing but haven’t yet converted into a client. These leads can range from lukewarm to boiling interest, depending on who they are and where they’re coming in from.
Warm leads are typically easier to handle. They’re also often the source of the many inbound calls your business receives. Unlike cold leads where you have to proactively reach out and try to connect, most of your warm leads are going to come looking for you. They’re more likely to convert than cold leads.
That doesn’t mean that your warm leads still don’t need some nurturing. You’ll want to continue to engage with them about any updates to your products or services. You’ll also want to continue encouraging them to carry on through the buying journey in an inviting manner like through webinars discussing similar use cases in a relaxed forum.
Hot prospects
If you’ve done your job (or lucked into finding a lead who’s already “arrived” on their buying journey), you should have some leads that are ready to convert quickly. These leads are better than warm leads because they have a much better understanding of what they want and need, and how your business can fulfill that.
When you have “hot prospects,” it’s important to act swiftly to close them. If you’re a small business and unable to handle these leads yourself because you’re focused on other work, outsourced services that conduct outreach campaigns can help with lead conversions.
Acting quickly with hot prospects is crucial. They’re typically one conversation or step away from converting into a client. You may think they’re on the two-yard line but no deal is official until the transaction is complete. More often than not, businesses get leads to this point and assume they’ll finish the purchase themselves. Some might, but others will be quite shocked if you suddenly drop the ball this late in the game and leave them to their own devices.
Now that you have a better understanding of the various lead types being captured for your business, you should be in a better position to convert them into loyal clients.
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