Agency Tips : Winning leads is all about not taking the hint.

When I first started SJ Innovation, my lead plan was simple. I wanted to get as many leads as possible with the hopes that a few of them converted. My tactic was simple. I would send out tons of emails to people on Craigslist and LinkedIn, see which ones said: "Yes, I want your service." I was playing a numbers game. And I was making a mistake.

As a software development company, it can be easy to get trapped in the mindset that everyone is a lead. After all, every business uses software, right? Sure! But not all of those businesses are ideal customers.

Here's what works best. You want hyper-targeted leads that you follow up with until they say no.

That second part is HUGE.

That doesn't mean that you stop following up once they say maybe or give you a not-so-subtle hint that they're not interested. You stay in contact with them until they say, clearly, no.

Today, I want to talk about the art of the follow-up. Here's how we score leads for SJ Innovation, and why we think businesses across the globe should follow suit.

The 2-ingredient Secret Lead Formula

The SJ Innovation lead strategy has two total ingredients — Consistency + Informality.

Let me start by saying this. The majority of salespeople follow up. There's a statistic floating around out there that 48% of salespeople never follow up with leads. That's a fake statistic. Most of us try to follow up with our leads. But there's a big difference from following up and consistently following up.

Here's the very real statistic that scares me. The majority of sales reps throw in the towel after two contacts with a customer. Did you know that HALF of all sales conversions happen after the 5th contact? That means that your chance of converting increases every time you contact a customer, and they don't say no. There's a reason they haven't told you they're not interested. They probably are. It just may not be the right time for your services. But if you aren't in their face when it is the right time, your competitors will be.

It's the same reason that 20% of salespeople make 80% of sales. They aren't more personable. They're more consistent.

You have to walk the fine line between sales harassment and sales persistence. You want them to notice you. But you don't want to sour their taste for your brand by spamming them with, well... garbage.

Here's what I do. I start by marking new leads in my calendar. These aren't just regular leads. They're qualified. My team only chases leads that we know we can convert (if they give us a chance). These are people that fit directly into our buyers' persona and buyer's journey. I send them an email every month. That's right. One email a month. That's it.

And here's where secret recipe number two comes into play. You need to send them the right email. For the past few years, email marketing has become MailChimpified. What do I mean?

That prospect is going to be receiving tons of automated, fill-in-the-blank emails. Sure! You can make a stellar template that feels impersonal. But it's not. You want to send them a good, old-fashioned email.

Marketing and sales are all about finding avenues with the least attention and using them to get in your prospect's face. Automated emails and social media are incredible. But everyone is using them. Their power has been weakened. How many businesses are still sending actual emails using their inbox?

Not many.

Here's an example of an email I sent out last week to a lead.

"Hey, (insert name), how is it going? I watched your keynote at (insert event here), and it was amazing! My team actually uses the (insert method here) method, but we also have issues with (insert specific issue here). If you have any other content you've written about that particular issue, I would love to read it. Also, we wrote an entire blog over some of the software issues you brought up in your speech. Check them out when you get a chance and see if you've tried those fixes.

I took the time to actually communicate with that lead on a personal level. I watched the keynote. I read their blog posts. And I learned who they are as a person. That's the power of targeting. Not only does targeting leads give you more valuable leads, but it gives you more time to spend with each one. SJ Innovation only holds onto about 400 leads at a time for a reason. That's how many we can handle.

I set aside a few hours at the end of each day to write emails to each of my clients personally, straight from the CEO. Of course, I don't only use email. I use InMail, social media, and all of the other great communication methods out there. In fact, I send SMS messages to a few of my clients that seem to like them.

The method of delivery doesn't really matter. What matters is that you make it informal and personal. And that you follow it up. Guess what? That lead didn't convert. We're still in contact with each other. And we will be until they say no.

I had one Fortune 500 company that I sent emails to for over two years. I sent them a total of 41 emails before they converted. But there's the important thing; they converted.

Final Thoughts

We live in an age of marketing excess. It's easy to send automated campaigns to every lead. And it's easy to drop leads when they don't respond. But once you start doing that, you're entering a never-ending cycle. Take the time out of your day to reach out to leads on a personal level. Don't just give up when they don't reply or don't give you a yes. Wait until they say no. If they don't, there's a good chance they're still interested. You just have to be willing to chase them until they finally convert.