You may recall that in our first post in the “Don’t be that guy” category, I called out Citrix for the overly aggressive sales experience I had with them when I signed up for a webinar.
I think it’s only fair that I follow up with a suggestion on how these first interactions within the lead nurturing process might have been done differently.
Step 1: Align the first email with the first step in the sales cycle.
The fact that I was required to use the GoToWebinar product in order to attend the webinar should not have translated into the broad assumption that I have an interest in the product. The email, as you recall, began with “Thank you for your recent interest in … ” and thus was geared towards a lead.
A more appropriate introduction might have been:
“Thank you for signing up for (the webinar). Citrix is pleased to partner with (webinar company) to bring you this informative presentation.”
Step 2: Segment responses for follow up.
The second part of the email might have contained a link:
“Would you like to learn more about collaboration technology? Please take a moment to view this presentation. You are welcome to contact me directly at …”
As you can see, the link to the presentation provides a data-gathering opportunity.
The recipients who click through to the presentation might indeed be interested in the product. They might receive a second email thanking them for their interest and asking them to expect a call.
A different email might be sent to those who did not click through to view the presentation:
“We hope you enjoyed (the webinar). We are proud to make it possible for you to experience the best web collaboration experience ever. Should you wish to learn more about (our product), please feel free to contact me or check out this presentation.”
Step 3: Don’t hand it off to sales until it’s actually a lead.
Making the effort to nurture recipients into prospects and prospects into leads increases your chances of connecting with those who are interested in your product at the right time.
This makes it possible for salespeople to manage their time more efficiently. Even though it requires significant involvement on marketing’s part to nurture those leads through the process, by the time the leads are handed to sales, the chances of leads actually closing will increase.
(In our particular example, however, the issue was compounded by the fact that the salesperson lied. My suggestion? Just don’t do it.)
Your third step about waiting to hand it off to sales is an excellent point, and something I have never heard before. I’m a student studying business and have recently started independently looking into learning about lead nurturing. I watched a video (see below) about the basics of lead nurturing, and found your article starts off where this one ends. Thanks for your insights!
–Peter
http://www.fueldog.com/dogbytes/bid/86346/3-Steps-Towards-Effective-Lead-Nurturing