2 Practical ways to close more business through contact scoring
The renowned philosopher Francis Bacon was the originator of the famous saying ‘Knowledge is Power’ and although he created that nugget of wisdom in the late 1500’s its meaning has never been more appropriate than in today’s busy 2016 world!
Bacon was an influential scientist at that time and has been classed as one of the leaders in the way in which science evolved to be based upon facts and a methodical approach rather than just a gut feel as to what is right.
It might be 500 + years on from Bacon’s time but the saying is still used and it is still very relevant in today’s modern world!
Knowing WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY are the 5 key questions EVERY successful sales person knows to use and the uber successful business people are the ones who obtain this information through the minimal amount of effort!
The business owners with a competitive edge are the ones who are taking heed of Bacon’s advice. They are the ones who are using simple but powerful systems to ensure they have the right knowledge and the skills to use that knowledge to optimize results! Here are 2 ways in which you can use InTouch and our new Contact and Lead scoring tool to gain more knowledge and ultimately, to close more business!
Set up scoring to measure your hottest prospects
We are all busy running around doing the tasks we need to do our jobs effectively but there is one job that can never wait! That is bringing new business in. If you don’t bring enough new customers in, in time your business will cease to exist, it’s that simple!
Finding time to do this can be difficult and it’s especially difficult if you don’t have a plan or strategy to nurture the prospects who have expressed an interest in your service before but who haven’t yet bought. These might be people who have signed up to receive your blog or who have phoned you up for a quote but for whatever reason didn’t buy at the time! Whoever they are, you need to continue to market your business to them and then measure their level of interest so that when they are ready to buy, your ready to do business with them! How James how!
By simply setting up some contact ‘scoring rules’ you can focus on the other tasks you have and then be notified when a prospect has risen to the top of your list!
So for example, if a prospect clicks on one of your key service emails then give that a score of 200 points! If they complete a form to download a new guide you have produced then give that a score of 200 points! If they then reply to an SMS message you send as a further follow up then give that a score of 100 points!
In this case, that contact would get a score of 500 points and if they were the only prospect to do this they would go to the top of your list! The prospect who only clicks on the email would only get a score of 200 points and so would get a score but not as high a score as the contact above!
Once you have set up your contact scoring rules, InTouch will show you every time you login which contact is at the top of the list and therefore WHO is engaging with your marketing campaigns!
You can set the time period that this is important for you based on what you offer as a business. For example if you offer a seasonal service you might want to do this over just 30 days whilst if your sales cycle takes longer to complete then maybe make this 90 days!
Whatever you offer, by simply putting in some simple scores you will be able to measure which of your prospects are engaging in your marketing and then take action to bring those ‘hot’ prospects over the line!
This knowledge gives you real power and also saves a huge amount of time as you’re working on the prospects who are showing an interest rather than just anyone within your prospect list!
Implement campaigns for the 2 and 3 stars!
As a result of implementing some contact scoring rules, you may notice that some of your prospects aren’t engaging as you may like with your campaigns.
InTouch will allow you to filter all of the prospects who are at the bottom of your list or who are maybe engaging in some ways but not as well as others!
So it means you might have to do something different with this group in order to get them onside! So just filter these prospects (the 3 stars and under group) and click to add them into an Automated campaign which maybe asks more about them or which has a very catchy call to action. I sometimes use campaigns such as ‘What all of your other competitors are doing’ which provides a link to a form or document which shows what others in their industry are doing.
By measuring this link, I am able to see they are still interested in hearing from us and more importantly it helps move them up my list to become hotter prospects!
Implementing a campaign for these ‘lukewarm’ prospects which is focused on trying to convince them about you or what you offer can be targeted and can allow them to move up your list ready for you to do business with!
We all know that 80% of our business is done with 20% of those we work with but the clever businesses will implement campaigns and scoring to ensure those who aren’t yet ready to buy are moved through the funnel so
So Lead Scoring is all about giving you the knowledge to then go and bring these prospects over the line! Knowing what they have done and what they have shown an interest in gives you the insight and power to then tailor your approach to get them to become customers!
It is all about letting systems do the hard work whilst your doing other things but then being prompted when your hottest prospects are ready to do business!
Why don’t you start making use of Lead/Contact scoring next week and start on the path to close more business!
