If Your Leads Aren’t Buying, Read This

Attracting leads into your sales funnel is a long and arduous process; companies spend a fortune on email, LinkedIn, telesales, hundreds of blog posts, podcasts, PR, guest posting and many other resource-sapping activities.

When you get leads into your sales funnel, engaging with your content and visiting your site, it’s incredibly frustrating if they don’t convert into sales. Loss aversion plays a role in time wasting on poor leads, focus on high-quality leads.

This is discouraging for any seller. It feels like you’ve done all the hard work except that final step that pushes them over the line. Businesses which find themselves in this position need to look for solutions to the following questions:

• How can we prompt the lead to buy?
• When do we pass these leads onto the sales team?
• Which leads should we focus on?

One interesting way your team can answer these questions is by using real-time data to look for changes in the lead’s circumstances that could point to a sales opportunity.

It works because when things are going smoothly, leads may not feel the need to change anything about how they do business. However, when they face challenges, they may be more willing to accept new solutions.

By quickly spotting when leads are facing a new test, you can offer your product at the moment when they are most likely to buy. Here are six examples of how sales teams could use changes in the circumstances of a lead to their advantage.

When a Lead Improves its Financial Strength

Businesses that are growing revenues may want to use their resources to expand or strengthen their position in the market. This could provide an opportunity for companies that can help them achieve their goals.

For example, an estate agent renting out prime commercial dining space in central London could use real-time data to spot businesses in the catering sector that are growing and are likely to be amenable to opening new venues.

When a Lead Issues a Profit Warning

Businesses that find themselves in sudden financial difficulty can also be opportunities for companies that offer the right products.

If a lead has just issued a profit warning, it may be looking to cut costs. This could provide an opportunity for utility brokers to offer the company a cheaper deal on their water or energy.

Alternatively, if the company is still in a strong financial position despite the profit warning, it may be on the lookout for other ways to improve sales and restore profitability.

Marketing firms with proven track records of building sales could use this as an opportunity to offer their services.

When a Lead Hires a New Director

New directors often have their own ideas that they want to implement when they start a new role. This could provide ample opportunities to companies offering new solutions. Sales teams with information on the new director could look at their history to see the types of changes they are likely to make.

Another way a new director could point to an opportunity is if someone at your company has worked with them before. If the partnership was successful, the director may be open to restarting the relationship at the new company.

When a Lead Enters a New Market

When a company enters a new market, there are likely to be plenty of opportunities for businesses to provide solutions that can help them get set up. Real estate agents, energy brokers and recruitment consultancies are just some of the businesses that could offer their services to expanding companies.

Consultants that specialise in a market will benefit from approaching new entrants: if a consultancy that works on boutique hotel branding can see that a large hotelier is opening a boutique hotel this is an excellent time to approach the business and offer its services.

When a Lead is Struggling with Liquidity

Cash flow problems can be a major challenge – businesses that are suddenly struggling with liquidity are likely to be open to solutions that can help them increase the amount of cash they have at hand.

Lenders could offer the business a short-term cash loan backed by the company’s assets to help them get out of trouble. Suppliers that lease equipment, provide invoice financing or restructuring will benefit from visibility on struggling companies.

When a Lead Has Just Suffered a Bad Debt

Bad debt is a fact of life for many businesses. Unfortunately, they often don’t have the resources to deal with it. Real-time data allows collection agencies, credit insurers or short-term lenders to offer their services when a business has just suffered a bad debt.

Approaching a business at the right time is critical – when businesses are in the middle of a bad situation, they are more likely to be amenable to future solutions.

Red Flag Alert Provides Real-Time Data Businesses Can Use to Nurture Leads

To take advantage of these changes in circumstance, sales teams need a way to find out when opportunities occur. Red Flag Alert provides rich data updated in real time that sales teams can use to find and nurture leads.

• Red Flag Alert’s data is updated over 100,000 times every day, using information from ten leading sources – if there is a change of circumstances in a UK business, Red Flag Alert will provide that information the same day.
• Data is incredibly rich, including information on 900,000 cases of bad debt, 1.2 million updated SIC codes and 7 industry-specific health ratings.
• Using the Red Flag Alert API, sales teams can integrate the data within their existing CRM, making it easy for reps to get started using the information.
• Sales teams can set up alerts that will notify them the moment there is a change. This ensures sales teams are in a good position to offer their services at the right time.

To learn how Red Flag Alert’s B2B prospector tool can help your business grow, get started with a free trial.