Why Your Internet Leads Aren't Converting Capturing leads online isn't super difficult today, but turning those leads into sales is another game altogether.
By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
It's 2016. If your business or the company you work for doesn't have a website yet, that's a big problem. Even if it was 2001 it would be inexcusable to not have a website. Assuming you've got a website, it is vital to your success to learn the most common mistakes made when handling Internet leads so that you don't make them. Prospects that hit your website should be filling your pipeline and creating new sales. Every lead that you don't get is a lost sale and lost revenue. Today I want to give you three big mistakes to avoid with internet leads:
1. You forget internet leads still need to be sold.
If you have a home business with internet leads you have to learn about selling. Selling can be done in person, in an email, over the phone, texting, letters -- I can sell anyone, anywhere, if I understand that I'm selling and not just taking an order. Too many people on the internet think they'll run an ad, get a lead, respond to it and everything is going to be fine. We live in a huge universe of leads and opportunities but people still need to be sold.
Even when I go to the grocery store I need to be sold to pick up those extra products. If I'm not sure, I'm leaving it there. If I'm uncertain, I'm not going to pull the trigger. How do I make a decision to buy? To be sold I have to be reassured and convinced that this is the right decision at the right time. How do you do that communicating with a lead through emails? Never underestimate this idea that you have to sell.
If you get a lead it's because they didn't order. They wouldn't be a lead if they had hit your "order" button and checked out, they'd be a customer. Your lead has done their research and they are in a funnel or pipeline from showing interest, but they could have shown interest in two or three other products from other companies at the same time. It's like a first date -- you still have to make a good impression. How do you make a good impression? With speed, abundant information and follow-up that demonstrates transparency to build trust.
People seldom buy the first time they hit your website. Once you get their information it will take about eight efforts just to get back in contact with them. Once you do get in front of them or get them on the phone, you still will have to follow up. Before you do the follow up you still must do the selling.
Related: How to Maximize Your Online Sales Leads
2. You assume the wrong person is the decision maker.
Are you talking to the right people? You assume a person is the decision maker and they aren't. It's very tricky. It's important to view an internet lead as more than just one lead. All I know is that I have someone doing something for someone -- somewhere in their environment is an interest for your product or service. An internet lead can be a gateway to a bigger opportunity.
Maybe a person was given directions to go find something. How often does your company do that? "Hey go find this or that? Shop a few companies." This person was only given one project but maybe there are four or five other projects. You need to find that out and to do so you need to find out who is the decision maker and who the influencers are. Companies that have 100 to 500 employees have up to seven decision makers. Don't assume that the person who sent you the lead is the buyer.
Recently, I bought my wife a product on the internet. She was the decision maker. I was the one doing the work. She gave me the task and I was giving her the information. So I had to go through this information before I gave it to her. When she got in communication with the people it went in a completely different direction and she bought a completely different product than the one I researched upfront. I felt like I wasted all my time but the truth is I didn't -- I produced a lead, I showed interest and the company did a great job of finding out who was really interested and asked permission to contact her directly.
Work to learn who else will influence the decision, who else might influence the purchase and who could change the direction of this or influence it in some way. Just because someone tells you they are the decision maker it doesn't make it true.
Related: 3 Steps to Qualify a Sales Lead
3. You rely on just one form of communication.
Too many people rely on email after email after email. I have a guy who only communicates with me by Facebook messenger. I don't even look at it anymore. I know another gentleman who only communicates with me on direct messages on Twitter. I almost never check my direct messages on Twitter. The point is this -- don't rely on one form of communication.
You never want to have only one weapon. It will kill the lead. If all you do is email and they end up in the guy's junk folder, it will look like you never followed up. Don't be lazy. Use them all -- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, phone calls, email, personal visits, Snap Chat and more. Dominate by using variety. The benefit of using multiple lines of communication must never be underestimated.
Related: How Airbnb and Dropbox Achieved Tremendous Growth With Referral Marketing
Capturing leads online isn't super difficult today, but turning those leads into sales is another game altogether. Don't rely on just one form of communication, don't assume the lead is the actual decision maker and don't forget that the lead still needs to be sold. The internet is an entirely different game than face-to-face sales, but the principles of selling remain the same. The web gives us huge opportunity to increase company revenue, but you have to know what you're doing. Get on Cardone University today -- the number one sales training platform in the world—and I will increase your revenue, help you expand your business, and get you hitting the wildest sales goals you can imagine.
