After posting my recent blog entry on Data Masons, I received several interesting comments and questions from clients. Virtually all of them thought it was obvious what the next step should be to close the leads who indicated their purchase timeframe would be less than 3 months–namely, assign those leads to internal telemarketers to follow up on, and hopefully pass to experienced salespeople for a live demo or a closing call.
However, there was one question that didn’t get asked, which I thought important to discuss: “What do we do with the leads that indicate somewhat less urgency, but are important leads nonetheless–those ‘mid-stage’ sales leads with a purchase timeframe between 3 and 12 months?”
This question didn’t get asked for the simple reason that it’s much easier to market to people in the early and later stages of the purchase cycle, and that’s where most marketers spend virtually all of their time and energy. Early-stage leads require more informational content (white papers, ebooks) that elaborate on their specific need(s). Late-stage leads require more product-focused information (brochures, demo videos). It’s what to do with leads in the middle stage that gets a little hazy.
A first step in answering this question is to understand the unstated implication of those prospects categorizing themselves in the 3-12 month purchase timeframe; people who are, in many cases, about to “review alternatives,” and conduct additional research. In other words, they are almost, or at the point of, assessing not only your company, but your competition, and are still looking for content that can help answer additional questions they have about filling their specific need(s). Therefore, it’s imperative that your content continues to get in front of these leads, consistently.
A second step for a Dynamics ISV, like Data Masons, that strategically uses various types of content to attract sales leads, should be to nurture these mid-stage leads aggressively. This is where the importance of having a marketing automation system really comes into play. Mid-stage leads need to be nurtured and marketed to more aggressively than early and late-stage leads, because they’re almost at the point where prospects will be narrowing down their choice of vendors to research.
Two effective methods for nurturing mid-stage leads:
- Promote case studies that highlight issues your prospects’ peers had, and how they used your company and solutions to resolve those issues. The more specific and in-depth you can get with these case studies, the better.
- Promote content that directly compares your company and solutions with those of your competitors. While this approach may seem risky, we have found often that it is exactly what is needed to influence a specific lead that is in mid-stage to move toward your company.
Whatever your final approach, it is critical not to leave these mid-stage leads unattended to. Make sure you circle back and continue the conversation you started with them online. Eventually a higher percentage than you might imagine will end up in your camp versus your competition’s—perhaps 25% or more, based on industry data. The key is impactful nurturing.
