The Importance of Lead Capture
By: Erin Dalzell
Vice President of Sales, InTouch
I was chatting with a friend about his business and I asked him why he used Facebook so much even though he didn’t like it. His answer hit me hard, “Because that’s where my customers are.”
Are you where your customers are? Most of your potential customers have a smart phone, text regularly and are frequently on Facebook. Not only that, but we have learned that given a choice between something complicated and something simple, people will pick the simple action; “if it’s hard, they won’t do it.” Ask yourself which is an easier way to enter a contest: filling out a form and putting it in a lead box or texting your name to a number? Or finding a club on Facebook and then having to find their number and calling versus quickly entering your email and clicking “I’m interested”?
If you are not where your customers are and are not easy to contact, they simply will not reach out. Unfortunately, by sticking with the “tried & true” methods (e.g. lead boxes), many clubs are difficult to reach. This mobile revolution has taught us that people will gladly share information if it is fun and easy. So why aren’t you making it easy?
I’d like to focus on three ways you need to be “there” for your customers:
- Website
- SMS/Inbound Mobile Marketing
Website
When you look at your website, is your customer “one click away” from reaching you? And once they do fill out their information, are you 100% confident that the lead is captured and followed up with? I heard from an owner of a club who found out that they had 600 leads from their website just sitting in an email inbox and had never been followed up with! If each of those leads cost $50 to get, that club just wasted $30,000!
Facebook
Facebook has over 850 million users. That’s not a typo. EVERY one of your potential customers is on Facebook, which is why you have a Facebook page. But are you passive with it, waiting for leads to come to you? Or are you active, like the top clubs, and answering questions, posting advice and updates? Like your website, is it quick and easy for people to contact you or send you their contact information?
When people give you their information they want to know what happens next, so make sure you are sending an automatic response indicating you will contact them within 24 hours. Then don’t forget to actually contact them!
Inbound Mobile Marketing
Did you know that every day 5.81 billion text messages are sent in the US? Also consider that shows like American Idol have trained people to “Text in to WIN.” You are missing out on a lot of leads if you are not utilizing inbound mobile marketing to gather leads.
In the past clubs would use lead boxes in local business. However, those leads were not that valuable for several reasons:
- difficult to collect
- can’t read the handwriting
- many businesses won’t allow them
Inbound Mobile Marketing has none of these problems:
- people prefer texting
- contact information is correct
- easy to advertise
A mall kiosk is another great use of Inbound Mobile Marketing. Two years ago, clubs would struggle to 1) get people to enter their contest and 2) fill out the form legibly.
Now picture today’s club, with a simple banner that reads, “Text in to WIN a free membership.” When people visit the kiosk, all they are asked to do is text in their name to win. No form, no friction, no problem!
Conclusion
To be successful you must do three key things:
- Be where your customers are and make it easy for them to reach out
- Make sure that every lead is captured in a centralized location
- Ensure that each lead gets contacted both automatically and on a follow up schedule
It sounds like a lot to do, but if you have centralized system that works for you (automatic lead capture, auto-responders, automatic follow up), you will find that with the same team you have now, you can take it to the next level! Let InTouch Follow-up help you get there!
Erin Dalzell, VP Sales, InTouch Follow-up
A VFP Salesfusion Strategic Partner
edalzell@intouchfollowup.com
