Leads are the lifeblood of any home service business, and most companies know how to generate them. The problem with leads (yes, there is one) is that up to 95 percent of qualified prospects on your website aren’t ready to speak to a sales rep yet, but 70 percent will eventually buy from you or one of your competitors.
Chances are if your business is ignoring home services leads that aren’t ready to buy right away, you’re leaving money on the table. Most home service businesses focus solely on lead generation—and that’s where they’re missing out. They want more people to visit their website and check out their landing pages, but they fail to realize that not everyone will be interested in buying their services. To guide potential home services leads down your sales funnel and convert them, you’ll need to go the extra mile with lead nurturing.
In other words, if you’re only focusing your marketing efforts on leads who are ready to buy, it’s time to adjust your strategy. You need to engage with prospects and leads throughout the buying cycle, including those who aren’t ready to buy just yet. So, how can you get more out of every lead you’ve captured?
Lead nurturing is the process of engaging, supporting, and building meaningful relationships with prospects by providing them with useful information at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
If you’ve been working on your lead generation strategy, then you already know that not all of your leads are sales-ready. Even though they might be interested in your services, they probably have some questions they need answered before making a decision. That’s where lead nurturing can help plug those leaks in your sales funnel.
Compared to just a few years ago, when email drip campaigns were all it took to nurture leads, customers today rely on online searches (including company reviews), blogs, and social media to make buying decisions. By giving your prospects the information they need to make an informed decision, you’re building meaningful relationships, fostering trust, and guiding those prospects further down the sales funnel.
Remember: Lead nurturing isn’t about openly selling or marketing to prospects. It’s about caring for the leads you already have. Your main goal is to solidify your home services business as an authority in your industry. This way, you’ll position your business as a source of information that prospects can rely on throughout the buying cycle. Then, when it’s time to make a purchase, you’ll be the one they turn to.
Believe it or not, 65 percent of marketers don’t nurture their leads. That’s a lot of missed opportunities, from potential repeat customers to missed revenue. At the end of the day, you don’t want your marketing efforts to go to waste—you want to get the most out of every single lead you’ve captured. That’s why you need a powerful, effective, and strategic lead nurturing campaign.
If you’re having second thoughts about allocating your marketing dollars to lead nurturing, we’ve got you covered. Here’s how your business can benefit from the power of lead nurturing:
There are two main questions our clients ask us about lead generation: “How do I generate more leads?” and “How do I convert those leads?” With more and more businesses using inbound marketing strategies for lead generation, the power of lead nurturing has become clear. Chances are, only a small percentage of your leads will be ready to purchase your services, leaving the majority of your leads on the table. So, what’s the next step?
Lead nurturing campaigns help you build relationships with prospects—from their first interaction to their decision to hire you—so you can maximize your conversions. Lead nurturing campaigns are meant to communicate with each lead on an individual level, so you’ll need to put in the effort to offer the solutions your leads are seeking. By answering their questions and relating to their needs, you can lay the groundwork to increase your sales and long-term relationships. Here’s how to get started.
Sure, a one-size-fits-all approach to content marketing might work for SEO, but it’s not going to get the job done here. Strategically nurturing your leads with engaging, compelling, targeted content can make a dramatic impact on your bottom line.
But how can you create targeted content? And who should you be targeting? Start by identifying your company’s unique buyer personas so you can tailor your content appropriately. For example, if you’re a landscaper, you already know that your target audience is homeowners, but do you know what their specific needs and interests are? What about the typical background of your ideal customer? To captivate your best leads, you’ll need to figure out who they are.
After identifying individual buyer personas, you can create targeted content to nurture each persona based on their specific interests, goals, and objectives. To make the most of your marketing efforts, you’ll also want a marketing automation platform so you can easily identify, segment, and target each persona as you perfect your lead nurturing strategy.
Maybe you’re used to sending email follow-ups to nurture leads, but you’re not getting the results you want anymore. Today, successful lead nurturing requires so much more than a run-of-the-mill email drip campaign—it requires venturing across multiple channels and using more complex tactics.
The best lead nurturing strategies typically involve a combination of the following:
Say you’re an HVAC contractor. You’re trying to sell AC repair, maintenance services, heating pump replacements, and thermostat installations. Your buyer’s journey for every service is going to look different. Research suggests that, on average, prospects receive 10 marketing touches from the time they enter your sales funnel to the time they convert.
It’s rare for any prospect to convert at the first or second touches, so you’ll need to be persistent. To stay at the top of your leads’ minds, you’ll need to deliver content that guides your leads through the buyer’s journey—no matter what service they’re interested in.
To do this, you’ll need content that addresses their questions, concerns, and pain points. In addition to traditional email nurturing, consider how you can leverage different types of content (white papers, Facebook posts, text messages, etc.) to nurture those home services leads into customers.
Of course, it’s not enough to just post content and hope for the best. The quality of your marketing touches matters. Make sure you’re only sending useful, valuable content to your prospects. Your content should solve their problems, answer their questions, and show them why your services are worth buying. Sending useful, high-quality information that addresses their pain points will help build trust and credibility, which can help reduce the number of touches you’ll need.
The benefits of timely follow-up are clear. In a 2017 test of 433 companies, only 7 percent of those companies responded within 5 minutes after a form submission. Meanwhile, a jaw-dropping 50 percent didn’t respond within 5 business days. Plus, according to a 2011 study, businesses who attempt to reach home services leads within 1 hour are 7x more likely to have meaningful conversations than businesses who wait longer.
Despite these statistics, most businesses aren’t reaching out to their leads quickly enough. To step out in front of the competition, make sure your phone calls and emails are timely so you can convert home service leads. Think about it this way: The probability of converting a lead into a sale is exponentially higher when you contact that lead immediately after a web conversion.
Email marketing is still one of the most effective tools for nurturing home services leads—and personalization can help you take your email campaigns to the next level. According to Accenture, 41 percent % of consumers have switched businesses due to poor personalization.
So, the more specifically targeted your emails, the better. Based on how individual users engage with specific emails and websites, you can create personalized emails that address their behavior. For example, if a user spends time looking at kitchen renovation services on your home remodeling website, you can send an email providing more information on those specific services.
When you upgrade your email personalization with behavior-triggered emails, you’ll be able to reach the right people at the right time. When you’re there when they need you, you’ll be one step closer to closing the sale.
Tired of sacrificing time on unqualified home services leads who aren’t ever going to buy your services? Try lead scoring. Essentially, lead scoring involves ranking your leads using a scale that shows the perceived value of each lead to your business.
Our clients tell us that lead scoring helps maximize their revenue, making the most of their marketing efforts, and saves them precious time and money. You can start scoring leads with a marketing automation platform. All you need to do is assign numeric values to specific browsing behaviors or conversion events.
Lead scoring will show you whether each lead is worth nurturing down the sales funnel. This way, you’ll get a better idea of which home services leads will buy from you so you’re not leaving any money on the table.
A successful digital marketing strategy is only one piece of the puzzle. To really win at lead nurturing, you’ll need to align your marketing and sales. Once you align your sales and marketing, you’ll enjoy better conversion rates, improved customer retention rates, and more sales.
Because there are so many moving parts involved, sales and marketing play important roles in lead nurturing. From identifying different points in the buyer’s journey to scoring leads, each team should play a part in the process of nurturing leads. Even if you choose to outsource marketing, your sales team can still contribute to your strategy.
Ultimately, every phase of the buyer’s journey offers new opportunities to build relationships with your leads. From the instant they learn about your company to the moment they decide whether to buy your product, you need to be ready with a powerful lead nurturing strategy.
To stand out from the crowd and stay at the top of your leads’ minds, you’ll need to build purposeful relationships with leads while positioning your business as an authority. Once you plug the leaks in your sales funnel, you won’t have to worry about leaving money on the table. Whether you’re kicking off your lead nurturing campaign or perfecting your strategy, our team is here to help if you have any questions.
