Leads are important to the success of any business since leads become potential sales.

Oftentimes new leads need to be nurtured or educated until they are ready to make a purchase from a company. Nurturing leads is important because it helps to create a foundation for a strong relationship and make your brand stand out when the lead is ready to become a customer.

Nurturing leads isn’t always easy.

But there are some techniques businesses can take that will help turn new leads into loyal customers.

Understand who needs to be reached

Looking for leads in the wrong places is a futile waste of time.

Part of cultivating new leads and nurturing them is to know where and how to find them. Be sure to know which people at which companies are the right decision makers and focus on cultivating a relationship with those people.

This is where The Customer Journey map becomes especially relevant.

Collaboration between marketing and sales departments

Nurturing leads is a collaborative effort.

It is essential that the marketing and sales team work together in an effort to foster relationships with new leads.

Timing is everything and it is important that the lead reaches the sales department at the right time and that they are given the appropriate content that will help them make an informed decision about their purchase.

Score leads

Lead scoring occurs by assigning numeric values to specific leads.

This system helps the sales and marketing teams to rank leads by their qualities. Again, this process should be a collaborative effort between the sales and marketing teams. Each team should come to the table with ideas of what makes a quality, sales-ready lead.

A good example of a scoring system ranks the budget, authority, need, timetable, activity and demographics of leads.

The factors can be individualized to meet any company’s needs and priorities.

Establish a process

Finding the right prospects and having them find you is a systematic process.

Leads need to know, like and trust a company in order to want to do business with them. In order to accomplish these three goals, a strong marketing strategy needs to be in place.

The marketing strategy should include emails as well as other content marketing material.

Then exhibit industry expertise and knowledge in an effort to gain their trust. In order to truly nurture a lead, it is imperative that the lead stays interested and informed.

Monitor progress

Watch for signs of progress. Be cognizant of what leads click on and what they download from your website.

Be sure to make records of how they interact with the company as well. By monitoring these processes you will be able to discern which products they are interested in and when they are ready to buy.

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