Lead nurturing is an important step in your sales process and you must know the tricks of the business in order to do it efficiently. Lead nurturing is more than just limited to sending out emails updating the leads on your email lists about your product and services. There are thousands of companies sending thousands of emails per day and your potential consumer doesn’t have the time to go through them all. You need to do it differently to get their attention.
According to a study by CMO.com, 42 percent of buyers say they get irritated when their content isn’t personalized. Consumers of the present B2C world are used to personalized content and recommendations while the B2B world is still mostly stuck in the world of generic, one-size-fits-all email blasts.
B2B sales characteristically involve a much longer sales cycle, so even if your emails are able to capture a good amount of leads, they may not be ready for the purchase decision for several months or longer. Handing off the leads to sales that are not prepared to buy isn’t a good option, but neither is passively waiting and hoping the leads will come to you when they’re ready to purchase. That’s why you need lead nurturing. It helps you proactively engage the leads and gradually guide them towards a buying decision. Here are a few suggestions to help enhance your approach to lead nurturing using Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Divide your leads into segments
Dividing the leads into different segments based on specific demographics, firmographics or other data makes a lot of sense. It helps you understand your distinct customer groups so you can develop more precise approaches to marketing to them. This lets you use your marketing resources more efficiently. With Dynamics 365, this process becomes a lot easier. You can track your leads throughout the sales process. You can move customers through the sales process, from lead to close, with the process bar. The process bar highlights the stage you’re in so you know where you are in the process, and shows you what to do next.
Make use of multiple channels for communication
Emails are not the only medium to connect with your leads. Reflect on each channel and how well it can be utilized for your product/target buyer segment and incorporate the prioritized channels into your lead nurturing processes.
Create relevant campaigns
The requirements of each of your customer are as unique as they are. Depending on that, some segments may require simple interactions involving emails and phone calls while others may require a much more comprehensive process involving several interactions and in-person follow-ups. Incorporate the prioritized channels for your segment into your buyer journey to make it more impactful and meaningful. You can create automated campaigns using an easy drag-and-drop interface within Microsoft Dynamics CRM for generalized messages. You can also create complex campaigns with unique paths that vary as your contacts interact with your messaging.
Update and integrate new insights
Your buyer’s journey is a two-way dialog and not just an opportunity for you to share how great your offering is. So, stop shooting promotional emails and use a blend of marketing landing pages, gated content, short surveys, open-ended email feedback requests, to learn more about the prospect, their interests, industry, role, challenges, and so on. Be sure to follow-up to requests, clarifications, feedback, and others in a timely manner. Dynamics 365 is the key to all of these processes and to do it all in an organized manner.
