Raise your hand if you’ve never attended a webinar or read a marketing email claiming to increase your lead-conversion rate. I’m quite certain that if I sent out a league of drones right now, none of them would send me footage of a single hand raised. I bet you wouldn’t if I asked whether any of the ideas you’ve been presented with actually worked, either. It’s because for the majority of us, they don’t. Why? Because people go online to consume content, not lead magnets. And few of us are willing to do what it takes to vet the hundreds of connections we’ve acquired, attempt to build relationships with them, and then somehow move those relationships offline in order to do business.
So why are so many of us buying into this concept?
It’s because it’s in our DNA to try the seemingly easiest solution first. Thus, I went on a research spree to find out what works for real-life, successful business people in terms of getting and converting new leads.
Spoiler alert: No one said anything about funnels.
In fact, they ALL emphasized something most of us know but sometimes forget when distracted by so many lead-conversion experts: Picking up the phone and calling current and past clients, i.e., using a back-to-basics approach.
First dates typically don’t end in marriage proposals (Vegas excluded).
Most are familiar with the concept of relationship selling, where essentially, you court your prospects and work to establish trust, thereby forming a connection that converts into sales and turns your customers into your advocates. And while this works, it’s not immediate, so we skip this step and start purchasing leads, upgrading to paid social media accounts, and blasting out marketing emails.
While these tactics have their place, unless you’re a big name, willing to come up with a social media campaign based on strategy, or a well-known retailer—your conversion rate is going to be about one percent—at best. Moreover, when I worked at my first advertising agency in the early 2000s (when ads were mainly created for print, radio, or TV a la Mad Men), we touted that a consumer had to be exposed to a marketing message 17 times before s/he even became aware of it. Today, the number is almost triple that.
The good news is—if you’ve ever had a client, you’ve established a relationship. Now it’s time to follow up with that person or persons. Check in and see how they’re doing. Don’t be the one-and-done salesperson. Instead, be transparent and ask if they have any referrals they can send you. This is a great way to increase your current customers’ CLV,* especially if you work in a referral-reliant industry.
It’s a numbers game.
I recently watched a webinar put on by Todd Duncan, author of High Trust Selling, who said that he never deviated from the following business model: Calling upon the same 10 real estate agents every week and asking for two referrals.
This equated to 20 conversations a week (80 per month), which led to a 25-percent conversion rate, and as long as 90 percent closed/funded—180 loans a year. Todd worked in the mortgage industry, but his method could easily be used by any type of sales professional, which leads me to a simple 10-minute exercise I had to do as part of a 45-page marketing plan in grad school that you can do right now…called mind-mapping (some real Ivy League stuff, I know):
- Draw a circle with your name in it.
- Draw a line from that circle to a new circle and write in the name of either someone you know who can refer clients to you or the name of a current/past client.
- Draw lines from those circles out to circles of people they’re associated with whom you’d like to be associated with as well.
- Use the call feature of your phone (ha!) and start making calls.
- Add any new leads from these calls to your mind-map.
How to break the ice.
I once did a survey among salespeople asking what their biggest challenge was: the majority said “following up with clients.” And while part of the reason had to do with making time for it, many simply had a fear that they’d be bothering the person—especially if they’d already left a message for the person and never got a call back.
I get it. Even though I had no motive other than to ask what contributed to his success, when I called Sean Hennessy, VP/Central States Sales Manager for Ameris Bank, I told him I was nervous. And he said something that became my mantra for when I need to make any future nerve-wrecking phone calls:
Don’t be nervous. When you peel back the layers, people are people.
(And yet, we attempt to appeal to them using marketing manipulators, as if other people are of a different species.)
Still, it helps to have a few scripts handy.
If you haven’t kept in touch with past clients or referral partners, consider harvesting from the “I Goofed Reconnect” letter introduced by Scott Hudspeth, author of The Millionaire Loan Officer:
I goofed and didn’t stay in touch with you. In an effort to reestablish a relationship, I thought I’d call and see how everything’s going…what’s changed since we last spoke.
Or, another reason to say you’re calling—suggested by our very own CEO—is to ask your client for feedback on what it was that caused them to hire you. If they hired you right away, ask why. If it took them a while, ask why.
Then as Judith Jones-Cone—owner of the 326,000 square-foot Lexus dealership in San Diego, CA—says in her interview with The Wow Factor, let the conversation/transaction simply unfold organically.
Because people are people…and just want to be treated that way.
Oh, the places they go…
Another thing I’ve heard over and over from top-producers is to go where your prospective clients go. And this doesn’t mean just a place (even though, never have I ever not been asked, “So what do you do?” when standing in a two-hour line at Disneyland). Karen Bates, co-founder of Military Home Loans, says to also think of professionals your ideal client already trusts and reach out to them, too. Moreover, take into account the season of life your demographic is in and contemplate the places they go and the people they see.
Better yet, join live, in-person networking groups. (Notice I didn’t say “attend networking events,” which often are more of an office-escape—where we end up having lunch with our own coworkers or others in our field.) Being part of a biweekly, weekly, or even monthly networking group allows you to build relationships with people in different fields who want to support you. The best networking groups are structured, meet at the same time and place, and have members who rarely miss a meeting.
Of course, not all networking groups are created equal. Some are free. And some have membership fees. In either case, you’ll want to audit a meeting prior to making any commitments to ensure it suits your goals and has like-minded members. If you attend one where the facilitators or members are jumping in your face, trying to sell you—i.e., are more focused on themselves than on you—then walk away. Ideally, you want to look into groups that position themselves as mastermind groups, have a coaching component, and require you to participate (e.g., do 10-minute showcases, one-on-one exercises, etc.).
Oftentimes what happens is group members either discover someone in the group knows of or would make a great bench partner, referral, or client. And then that person tells two people…and they tell two people…
Get some real air time.
Yes, Zoom is more convenient and has introduced breakout rooms to allow you to network or do exercises with other attendees, but once the facilitator has ended the meeting, that’s it. If you wanted to network further with someone, you’ve been cut off. Even if you both said you’d like to meet up for coffee, the likelihood of that actually happening is less than if you were both standing in the same room. The novelty quickly wears off. Plus, if someone isn’t located near you, it’s even more difficult.
By all means join if you find a well-structured, local online networking group. But since we’re focusing on how to bring in business sooner rather than later, face-to-face wins the race.
I want it now!
In 2020, we did a summit where we interviewed 21 “legacy-driven leaders.” Every single one of them mentioned having a service-oriented mindset. Since then, every webinar and article I’ve read regarding selling has had a similar theme. However, I’ve always sensed that those genuinely interested in cultivating a recession-proof customer base still struggle with—How do I make money in the interim (while I’m working on nurturing and forming long-term customer relationships)?
Try using a hybrid sales model. Combine back-to-basics approaches with live, in-person networking. And use your online presence as a way to build awareness by providing thought-provoking, interesting content and to allow interested prospects to verify you’re an authority in your field. Because. You. Are.
*Customer Lifetime Value
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