For years, you have had a steady flow of quality leads. Everything seems to be whirling like a well-oiled machine. Then without warning, your leads begin to dry up.
What happened?
For one thing, leads that aren’t ready to buy today aren’t dead, they are just not ripe yet. It doesn’t mean they will NEVER be right, it means they are just not ready today. To help them “ripen,” you must remain in front of them so that when the right time arrives, you are the choice that is closest to their reach.
Getting the lead in the first place takes time, and converting that lead can take even longer. Your services aren’t a $5 magazine or a $10 pair of socks. These leads are jumping in and out of the ring as they mull over their situation and your costs. Depending what your practice area is, your prospects are either not suffering enough yet (bankruptcy) or they are still trying to make their marriage work (family law). It may be a matter of timing as to whether their pain is enough to jump in.
You must nurture them until the timing is right.
Too often, entrepreneurs give up on leads, and if they don’t see any life in them, they assume they are dead. If you have heard my story, you know this is a grave mistake. One year, the bankruptcy firm I helped grow experienced tens of thousands of dollars solely from unconverted leads.
If you are experiencing a sluggish sales funnel, it is time to stop treating unconverted leads like roadkill and begin treating them like the diamonds in rough that they are. Plus, these diamonds have friends that may not be a diamond in hiding but a living, breathing lead that is ready to buy. If you are in front of your leads, they will tell their friends who ARE ready about you. They will recommend you. Their friends will call you and say, “I’m in!”
What can you do to nurture your hesitant leads?
You will do the same thing young people do when they are trying to win hearts, you communicate! Phone calls, emails, text messages, direct mail-all are means of communicating that can revive even the most lackadaisical lead. When you begin truly watering your lead garden with nutritious communication, it won’t be long before you begin to see the growth.
Take the time to figure out a way to touch your unconverted leads in not just one but all ways of communicating, and your funnel will begin producing again for you.
