Phone marketing that is cold and devoid of passion and warmth has never been ideal, and it is not good to make a cold and emotionless call to a customer. In today’s marketing world, the ideal is to contact only qualified customers, but these customers are not easy to get.
Indeed, there exists a third type of customer, not disinterested nor fully qualified, they are warm leads. These are the customers we will delve into in this article. By understanding their unique characteristics, you can identify them in your customer base and decide whether to pursue them or not. This knowledge can empower you to tap into a potential goldmine of customers, sparking optimism and motivation in your lead generation efforts.
What is Warm Lead?
These customers show interest in your goods and services when you contact them. Generally, they have shown an implicit and indirect interest in what you have to offer, which has led them to provide you with their contact information.
This information is less comprehensive and complete than the information you receive from qualified customers. Still, it’s better than a cold lead from which you can’t get any information.
Let’s take an example to understand this better. Consider these three people: X, Y, and Z. Mr. X is a disinterested customer who wants to avoid connecting with you, Y is a qualified customer, and Z is a potential customer. You also have a sales representative and a pet food wholesaler for “best pet food” products. The dog is for shopkeepers and those who have animal shelters.
Disinterested customer
This person may have one of your ideals as a buyer, but he needs information about your business type. Such a customer may have come across your name on the door and wall of the streets by chance or seen or heard your name through advertisements, emails, and cold calls.
Mr. X has never heard of “best pet food” products. He is a senior representative of an animal shelter and has yet to take steps to show his interest in your business. You also obtained his contact information from an internet source. If you call him, your call will probably be unwanted and unexpected for him, and he will answer you coldly.
Qualified customer
As a qualified person, Mr. Y is more likely to become your regular customer than others. There are two types of qualified customers: qualified marketing customers and qualified sales customers.
A person eligible for marketing is someone we consider to be a qualified customer based on the sites they visit, the things they download, and other actions related to your business. A qualified salesperson is someone your marketing team has thoroughly evaluated and researched and is confident that this person is ready to interact with the company’s sales team.
Mr. Y is a pet store owner who has visited your company’s sales pages several times and is an avid reader and fan of your content. This person has shown wanting more interaction and purchase from your company. So, he will contact you first as a marketing-qualified person and then as a sales-qualified person. If you can establish a constructive relationship with him, you will see that he is qualified to sell, interested, and willing to buy from you.
Potential customer
This person is placed between the previous 2 cases. This means that he wants your products and services to some extent and is aware of your business, but he has yet to invest as a qualified customer, and time and energy have not been spent getting information about him.
This person has recently visited your site and works at a shelter, but it is still being determined whether he is responsible for buying animal food. He has also downloaded articles about dogs from the internet.
He knows you, but selling the product to him is impossible, and it is not worth spending your time and energy to attract him. Unlike Mr. X, he knows you and is aware of your business, but like Mr. Y, he is not eligible to sell.
Why Should Warm Leads Not Grow Cold?
If you think you have many of these customers on your to-do list, it’s worth investing in them. Of course, convincing and attracting them is much easier than creating an efficient relationship with an uninterested customer. They have shown interest in and awareness of your business, so they are more likely to listen to and communicate with you.
You can get their contact information if you attract and get their attention. You should invest in such customers, but do not treat them harshly; converse gently and respectfully.
A friendly phone conversation or email containing content related to your business can be useful and get their attention. As he becomes interested in your business, you can explain your business vision and information through your marketing and sales team.
This will guide him in seeing if he has what it takes to become a qualified customer. These enthusiastic prospects may not become qualified and loyal customers, but they are worth your time and energy.
Benefits of warm leads
There are also benefits to spending time with these prospects, as following up with them can be effective and make it easier to have a productive interaction with them. Here is the text divided into two sentences:
“Dealing with such people is less stressful for your sales team than for those who are not interested in your business and your brand is not attractive to them. They (the sales team) will be tired of dealing with such people.”
They are more satisfied, relieving the stress of cold calling and rejection.
Of course, the way you deal with and manage customer relations is also important. Your approach and behavior should be different with each customer. Potential customers differ from those with no background of your brand and what you do, or those qualified for you. This personalized approach makes each customer feel valued and integral to the lead nurturing process.
You should know how to deal with each of them. Depending on how you sell and market, you should be able to attract several potential customers. Dealing with such people is less stressful for your sales team than for those who are not interested in your business and your brand is not attractive to them. They (the sales team) will be tired of dealing with such people
Ways of Generating Warm Leads?
There are different ways to generate these types of leads, which I will mention here:
1. Using the prospecting service:
One of the best ways to generate warm leads is to use third-party services like CUFinder. These lead generation platforms can provide you with information about potential customers who may be more interested in what you offer using various filters you set yourself.
2. Google/Facebook ads and opt-ins on websites:
One of the ways to attract warm leads is to constantly put your brand in front of potential customers using Google/Facebook ads and opt-ins on websites. This can attract leads that are more relevant to your customer persona.
3. Blogging:
Another way to generate warm leads is content marketing. You can attract these leads to your brand by publishing blogs, engaging videos, LinkedIn and Facebook posts, etc. Keep your blogs relevant to your target market; people will engage with your content.
How to Nurture Warm Leads?
Since email, message, and cold calling only generate cold leads who have no idea about your product or service, you should combine them with other ways to identify warm leads. You can make the initial contact via email, SMS, phone, etc.
Cold calling targets a segment of the audience with a problem with your product or service. This helps to let leads know that you understand their needs, which attracts them to you. Getting the customer’s attention by making phone calls and emails would be best. Then, use the following ways to nurture leads.
1. Personalized emails:
Email marketing has been one of the most effective marketing methods for years. You can use emails to connect with cold leads and nurture them. To make the process more effective, tell them how your services and products can solve their problems.
2. Offer value:
Offer things to customers that are valuable and grab their attention. These can include free trials, free consultations, attractive discounts, free ebooks, etc. Be sure to mention these items in the email that is ordered.
3. Stay in touch with leads on social media:
Now, we are in the era of social media, so your leads are present on these social networks. Find them and interact with them on these platforms.
6 Ways to Keep Warm Leads from Growing Cold
As you might have understood from the things we said up until now, warm leads are hard to nurture, and it can even be harder to keep them from getting cold. Thankfully, there are some ways to save you from this trouble. If you want to prevent your warm leads from getting cold, you can use the following methods:
1. Use multiple channels:
These days, there are different ways to connect with different people. You can communicate with your warm leads through social media, email, SMS ads, online ads, etc., so don’t settle for just one way of communication. The more different methods you have, the more warm leads you generate and the more interaction you will have with them.
2. Ensure appropriate use of social media:
Focus on your ongoing social media activity. As you know, nowadays, these media surround the whole life of people, and you can interact closely with your warm leads in them. According to a 2023 survey, 73% of marketers believe that their efforts through Social media marketing have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.
3. Follow up regularly:
Follow-up is one of the most important parts of sales. If you find a warm lead, don’t let them get cold outside; you can keep them warm by following up regularly. However, striking a balance is essential. You must neither be a pest nor be too tardy. Don’t overdo it because it will make the customer angry or scared and cause them to run away. On the other hand, if you are too silent, the customer may think you do not care about your sales and become cold.
Keep track, for example, regularly sharing news of the latest services and products, events, prizes and offers, etc., with your warm leads. Also, if you have warm leads who have not responded to an email, it is better to follow up after a short period.
4. Make friends with them:
You are not supposed to be the salesperson behind the line, email, etc, all the time. Sometimes, it’s good to try to have a more friendly conversation with the prospect about common topics of interest. This will make them trust you more and make the sales process easier.
They have genuine interest, and they know fake friends too well. Simple things like birthday wishes, special discounts, or special events like Christmas and Easter can strengthen this friendship and help keep the relationship alive.
5. Be a good listener instead of a speaker:
Your focus should be on the leads, not on yourself. One of the most attractive customer experiences is when the other party listens to them. They do not just want to sell them something, finish their work, and move on to the next target. You can ask them about their interests. This not only encourages your customers but also provides you with very good information about their behavior patterns and interests.
6. Content enrichment:
According to various surveys, almost 91% of B2B companies say content marketing is more successful than traditional marketing in generating leads. We suggest that you produce your content according to the interests and behaviors of your potential customers and warm leads. For example, create an interactive demo to show them how your product or service solves their problem.
In addition, you can use online content such as blogs, articles, e-books, webinars, training videos, infographics, and many other things to show leads that you value their needs.
CUFinder Prospecting Engine and Warm Leads
CUFinder is one of the best lead-generation platforms, and it is useful not only for anyone who needs leads but also for anyone who needs them. With a very large database and data guaranteeing more than 98% accuracy, this platform can make the sales process much easier.
Lead generation, if not the most important part of marketing, is one of its most important steps. At the same time, many experienced judges believe that it is the most difficult stage. Finding clues in a tangled mess can be time-consuming and difficult.
CUFinder prospecting engine can provide you with these leads much more easily than you think. Adjust the filters based on your ideal customer persona and enjoy the result. This engine has two categories and more than 50 different filters, so you can apply the smallest details you need and get the highest quality leads within minutes. Remember that by using CUFinder CRM integration, you can easily transfer the data you have obtained to your CRM and eliminate manual transfer.
Last Word
Warm leads are your best chance to advance the sales process and turn potential customers into real customers. In this blog, we told you what warm leads are, why they are important, how to cultivate them, and how to keep them. If you want to have a good and effective sales funnel, be sure to focus on this category of leads. Do not leave them out there to get cold.
Comments