Your leads are ineffective unless you know how to handle them. Today, I will outline four crucial steps to convert a lead that just discovered your business into a paying client within a week. With over a decade of experience in the marketing agency industry as a digital marketer, I've generated hundreds of thousands of leads for my top-ranked PR agency—just check out our $10 million award in the background. Additionally, I've created thousands of leads for our lead generation clients. This framework is universally applicable, regardless of your industry or how you're generating leads, whether it's through Facebook ads, cold emails, or direct mail.
However, before diving into the framework, it's essential to understand the lead journey and the customer's mindset as they navigate your process. Mastering this aspect will significantly enhance your marketing skills and boost your long-term revenue. Let's begin at the top of the funnel, also known as the awareness stage.
Since people don’t yet know who you are, your current advertisements are reaching a cold audience. These individuals are not familiar with you and are not actively searching for your services. Typically, the people you are targeting with these ads match a general profile of your ideal customer or ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
The audience exposed to your ads can be categorized into three distinct groups. Pay close attention to these segments and review this section if you need to better understand them.
### Group One: Unqualified Leads
The first group consists of prospects who are not a suitable match for your offer. They are not qualified, they aren’t looking for your services, and they don’t need what you’re offering. Sadly, this group will make up about half of your audience.
### Group Two: Potential Leads
The second group, which is the next largest, includes individuals who are a good fit for your offer. They are qualified leads who could benefit from your product or service. However, they do not currently have a need for it.
By understanding these segments, you can better tailor your lead generation strategies and improve your advertising effectiveness.
They're not experiencing any discomfort and aren't actively seeking solutions. This group usually makes up about 30 to 40% of the audience you're targeting to create awareness.
Now let's talk about the third segment, which is the most lucrative: the money bucket. These prospects urgently need your offer and are already aware of their need. They're experiencing issues that your service can resolve, and they might even be actively searching for a provider like you. This segment generally represents a smaller portion of your audience, typically around 10%. Out of this 10%, only about 2 to 3% will turn into qualified leads.
When you're prospecting or running top-of-funnel ads or cold email campaigns, your objective is not to inundate them with details or push your main offer too hard. Remember, these individuals don't yet know who you are or trust you, making them highly unlikely to make a commitment at this stage. In this video, I will show you how to effectively guide them from a cold lead to a qualified one.
Transform potential clients into individuals eager to engage in business with you. The initial step is to encourage those in categories two and three to show their interest by simply raising their hand and saying, "Yes, Jay, I am interested in what you are offering." This should be as effortless as raising a hand. Once they express interest, it’s your responsibility to nurture that lead and convert them from a cold lead into a hot prospect ready to purchase immediately. Achieve this by following a four-step framework known as NRAM (n r m).
Before delving into the details of this framework, it's essential to understand how to conceptualize and implement it within your business. Each step in the framework escalates in both complexity and cost. By the time you reach step four, it might not be relevant to your current situation. The objective is to reach a stage where you can execute all four steps, but it's crucial not to attempt to implement every step from the outset.
Implementing multiple strategies simultaneously can lead to mistakes and skipped steps. Instead, I recommend executing step one, followed by step two, then step three, and finally step four. This method will significantly boost your conversion rates from cold leads to sales without any need to alter your offer or your sales calls. Simply by applying steps one and two, you can expect a 50-70% increase in conversions from cold leads to warm leads. Today's focus is on transforming cold leads into warm leads. Now, let's dive into the framework.
Step one is your easiest and most impactful action—your nurture sequence. This is an automated email series that prospects receive after showing interest or opting in. The nurture sequence should be activated whenever a cold lead shows interest in your offer, whether through an opt-in page, a Facebook lead form, or responding positively to one of your cold emails. This nurturing process takes place within your CRM system.
If you don't have a CRM, you can opt for a free email marketing tool like MailChimp. However, I strongly suggest using Go High Level, which you can access for $50 through my agency account linked in the description below.
So, what should you include in your nurture sequence? How many emails should you send? After a decade of crafting marketing emails, here’s my advice for your nurture sequence: view these emails as opportunities to build a relationship and gain the trust of your leads. Achieve this through storytelling and social proof.
People generally dislike being marketed to, but they enjoy being entertained, and everyone loves a good story. Your primary goal when writing these emails should be to tell a compelling story and link that narrative to a specific pain point that the lead might have or to a piece of social proof that establishes your credibility and authority. I highly recommend incorporating stories from your personal life, your business journey, or client transformations. This approach will make your prospects feel like they know you, which is crucial for building trust.
To build trust with your leads, aim to send between 5 to 15 emails over a 30-day period. This means you'll be sending an email approximately every 2 to 3 days. The goal is to keep your brand at the forefront of their minds during the nurturing phase. Think of these 30 days as your dedicated time to focus on converting each lead to the next stage of your sales funnel. Once this 30-day period ends, reduce the frequency to one email per week. However, never completely stop emailing your potential leads. Even if they don’t need your services now, they might be looking for a solution in 3, 5, or 6 months. When that time comes, you want your emails to be the ones they remember.
Here are some tips for your nurture sequence: If you have valuable resources like templates, mini-courses, or videos that solve a part of your lead's problem, offer these in your emails for free. These high-quality resources can significantly enhance your nurturing efforts and lead to higher conversion rates.
Step Two: Make sure to remove leads from your nurture sequence once they complete the desired action, such as booking a call or making a purchase. At this stage, transition them into a booking call sequence or a purchase sequence. If you’re seeking examples of effective nurture sequence emails, I’m happy to share the exact sequence I use for my lead generation program. Simply leave a comment with "I love emails," like this video, and subscribe to the channel. I’ll then send you the emails I use to sell my course.
Now, let's move on to step two in the four-step framework. This is the second most crucial action you can take to convert your cold leads, though it will require a small investment. Step two involves omnipresent retargeting ads. If you're unfamiliar with retargeting ads, you might be missing a vital aspect of modern marketing.
Retargeting ads are paid advertisements that can be displayed on platforms like Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and many others. These ads specifically target individuals who have already shown interest in your offerings. Unlike Top of Funnel (TOA) ads, which can be expensive and often result in low-quality leads, retargeting ads are more cost-effective and have a higher conversion rate.
The primary objective of retargeting ads is to nurture your lead by helping them get to know you better, addressing any objections they might have, and building trust and authority. For instance, if a cold lead has opted into your funnel but hasn't yet scheduled a call, it means they are interested but perhaps hesitant to commit to a lengthy sales call right away.
That's where retargeting ads come into play. These ads will follow your lead across various platforms, ensuring that when they are casually scrolling through their Instagram feed, they will encounter your ad. This ad might showcase a significant transformation achieved by a client similar to them who purchased your offer, thereby increasing the likelihood that your lead will take the next step.
Here are some strategies for crafting effective retargeting ads. Your retargeting campaigns should prominently feature your most compelling testimonials and case studies. By showcasing a range of testimonials and case studies, you increase the likelihood that one will resonate with your potential lead. When prospects see individuals or businesses similar to theirs achieving success with your product or service, it builds credibility and social proof, making them more inclined to take action on your offer.
Similar to a nurture sequence, you should continue showing these retargeting ads until the lead performs your desired action, whether that's scheduling a call or making a purchase. To set up a retargeting ad, you will need to navigate to the audience section of your ads manager. If you are new to running ads, this brief guide won't cover everything you need to know about setting up retargeting ads. Therefore, I highly recommend enrolling in a comprehensive course to learn about setting up tracking codes, building target audiences, launching pixels, and managing effective ad campaigns. In fact, I am in the process of releasing a detailed ads course that will cover all these aspects and more.
I will soon be sharing exclusive insights within my Insider community. If you want personalized guidance, make sure to join promptly before the price increases. Launching ads on every platform simultaneously isn't practical, so here are my prioritized recommendations. Start with Meta ads to capture leads on Facebook and Instagram, where most users spend their time. Next, utilize the Google Display Network for banner and box ads, which are affordable and easy to set up. Following that, initiate a targeted campaign using YouTube ads via Google Ads Manager. Once these are in place, consider the final three platforms. Although they work well, they are less critical. Use LinkedIn InMail ads, not static or video ads, specifically for retargeting purposes.
The advertisements you encounter in your LinkedIn messages, marked as sponsored, are incredibly cost-effective to run. These ads yield excellent conversion rates. On the other hand, while TikTok and Twitter ads can be beneficial, they should be launched with minimal ad spend as they don't convert as efficiently.
If you already have numerous leads and are looking to retarget them, you can easily set up these ads. Platforms like Fiverr offer services where professionals can handle everything from pixel setup to audience building for under $100. This way, you won't need to become an expert in paid ads to run effective retargeting campaigns. These efforts are guaranteed to be profitable.
For those concerned about budget constraints, this method stands out as an affordable way to nurture and maximize the potential of your leads. If you're interested in seeing my retargeting ads and learning about what's working for me, simply go through my lead generation funnel by clicking on the link.
If you check out the landing page below and opt-in for my lead magnet, you'll receive all of my nurture emails and retargeting ads for 30 days. This might just be the ultimate marketing hack in the entire video. I love learning from marketers who are more skilled than me, and there's no better way to do that than by subscribing to their content and observing their strategies.
Alright, we're halfway through the framework. If you’re finding this valuable, give a shout-out and show your appreciation by hitting the like button and turning on the bell notification on my channel, so you won’t miss out on more videos like this.
Steps three and four are primarily for businesses that already have solid systems in place. If you’re already generating leads and have a sales team, you can now leverage other people’s time. Step three involves adding appointment setting. Think about the value of a qualified lead to you. You can calculate this quickly by knowing your customer's lifetime value and your closing percentage. So, go ahead and calculate those numbers. For instance, if a customer is worth…
If a client is likely to generate $10,000 for your business over their lifetime, and you close 20% of qualified leads, it means that one out of every five qualified leads will result in a sale worth $10,000. To calculate the value of a qualified lead, you would multiply $10,000 by 0.2, which equals $2,000. So, what is the value of acquiring a cold lead who is qualified—meaning they need your product, have the budget, and are interested in your offer? The key question is, how valuable is it to transition them from unscheduled to scheduled with your sales team?
In our company, we have determined that the value is substantial—worth thousands of dollars. Therefore, we have chosen to invest in hiring personnel within the United States to personally call and follow up with these qualified leads that haven't yet scheduled a call. Earlier steps taught you how to build rapport with a lead in an automated manner, and while these methods are effective, quick, and cost-efficient, they don't replace the need for personal interaction.
Despite the advancements in AI, nothing can truly replace the value of genuine human connection. I've tested numerous solutions, and I assure you, AI just isn't there yet. If you have the resources—whether time or money—it's crucial to personally nurture relationships with every qualified lead that enters your pipeline. This doesn't mean you should reach out to every random person without a credible online presence. However, if a lead appears with a well-established business generating six figures, and their website and offer are solid, then you must treat them as a prime opportunity.
Assign such leads to an opportunity pipeline and engage with them as you would with any hot lead. While your closing team is busy converting hot leads into paying customers, your appointment setting team should focus on getting qualified cold leads to book calls with your closers. This way, you can maintain a robust opportunity pipeline in your CRM for the sales team. Additionally, it’s wise to have a separate pipeline in your CRM platform, such as GoHighLevel, specifically for your appointment setters. If you aren't using GoHighLevel yet, it's time to start.
To elevate your business to the next level, click the link in the description and sign up for my Go High Level service for just $49. To streamline this process, you can use automation tools like Zapier and Go High Level to automatically add leads to your sales pipeline and assign them to an appointment setter. Remember to update their status in the pipeline or mark them as complete once they take the desired action, such as booking a call.
Initially, your appointment setter should be in regular contact with leads via phone calls and texts during the first week of interest. Following this, they should reach out once or twice a week for the next month. A crucial tip: if possible, use an iPhone for communication as it has a significantly higher conversion rate compared to automated texts that appear as green messages with disclaimers. Personal interaction is key; your appointment setter doesn't need to be exceptional, just friendly and capable of building a relationship with the lead. They should engage in small talk, asking about pets or where the lead lives, to create a personal connection.
By focusing on these strategies, you can improve your lead conversion rates and effectively grow your business.
Remember to always be polite and courteous. It's significantly easier for a lead to ignore or cancel an automated sequence compared to canceling on a human with whom they're actively building a positive relationship. Just a heads-up: when I mention "appointment setter," it’s synonymous with SDR and BDR, which stand for Sales Development Representative and Business Development Representative, respectively.
Now, let's move on to the final step in our four-step framework. Step four is essentially the finishing touch; it only impacts about 5 to 10%, but since 95% of businesses overlook it, implementing this step will make you stand out and truly impress your leads. Step four is all about multi-channel marketing.
Have you ever come across the book "The Game" by Neil Strauss? It's an intriguing read on social interactions and picking up women, which I read back in college. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. It's both entertaining and educational, especially when it comes to understanding sales techniques.
One effective approach that he advocates involves using a specific tactic to accelerate the process of getting women interested. He would take his date to several different places during their first date. This method, known as changing venues, makes the women feel like they have known him for a longer time and more intimately. The same principle can be applied to closing deals with your leads. Instead of changing physical locations, you'll be switching digital platforms.
If you initially reach out via email, which is common practice, make sure to quickly add a phone call and a text message—introducing another channel, another digital venue. However, since this is a standard practice, it won't necessarily set you apart from the competition. To differentiate yourself, incorporate additional channels into your lead engagement strategy. Identify the social media platform where your lead is most active and engage with them there. You can even ask them on their intake form which platform they prefer. If their choice is LinkedIn, connect with them there, endorse their skills, and interact with their recent posts. If they favor Instagram, make sure to engage with them on that platform as well.
Engage with their latest posts and send them a personalized message. This approach will make you come across not just as a salesperson, but as a friend and someone they genuinely connect with. One marketing channel often overlooked but incredibly easy to integrate is Direct Mail. With the help of automation tools like Zapier, we send handwritten cards to every qualified lead that enters our pipeline. Each card is personalized and tailored to the specific lead, arriving in a neatly handwritten envelope and signed by the appointment setter they've been in contact with. This strategy has been extremely effective for us, providing a return on investment that's 50 times the cost of sending each card. While I won't detail the exact setup of this automation and the tools involved in this video, you can find all the information in my course linked below. Those are the four steps, but I also want to share some valuable tips to help you close that sale successfully.
When it's time to close a deal and you have a lead that's shown interest in your offer and has the financial capability, it's a strategic move to send them a physical gift. Numerous services can help you send personalized business gifts quickly and affordably. One such tool we previously used is Evabot, which integrates seamlessly with Zapier and is quite cost-effective. Note that this isn't an affiliate link.
The most impactful gifts are those that are highly personalized. For instance, we now send out custom OT PR boxes that I personally design. These boxes are hand-packed, and we include special items based on the recipient's interests—like a dog toy if they have a pet or branded gear if they're social media influencers. We handle the shipping ourselves to ensure everything is perfect.
Implement this gifting process and follow up promptly once the lead receives the gift. You'll be amazed at how quickly they might pull out their credit card, ready to finalize the purchase.
Before this final tip, please remember to like this video and subscribe.
Subscribe to this channel, and you'll also gain access to 8 million free leads and my complimentary course, which is linked below. If you're interested, just click the link and provide your details. Join a thriving community of over 9,000 entrepreneurs—you’re going to love it!
Here's a final tip that has significantly boosted our closing strategy. After implementing it, every member of our team noticed a substantial increase in their closing rates. We’ve now made it a standard practice: using incentives to expedite deal closures. As a business owner, it's crucial to identify what your clients genuinely desire but can't typically afford, then leverage that to close deals quickly and create a sense of urgency.
For example, in our agency, we offer this incentive: if you sign up for a 3-month plan, we will fly you to our headquarters in St. Pete for an interview and dinner with the founders. However, to take advantage of this offer, you must sign up within the next 3 days. This strategy has helped us secure deals much faster.
Incredibly well, and the highlight is the opportunity to connect with some of our top clients, fostering personal relationships that will extend their commitment to our services at AG. A quick caution on utilizing incentives: avoid using discounts as they can devalue your offerings, making your leads feel like you're desperate for their business. It's crucial to maintain your leverage by offering something genuinely appealing that they truly desire. If you found this video valuable, make sure to check out my latest video on creating an effective cold email strategy for 2024. Click on the thumbnail visible on this screen and I’ll catch you in the next video. Thanks for watching, Le Genj.
