Leads Not Converting to Paid Customers? Key Strategies to Increase Conversions

Introduction

You have created an ideal customer profile, the people or the leads who are the right fit for your product or service. The leads who have matched the buyer persona and customer profile are your qualified leads. But it’s not the ultimate goal. 

Finding prospects and pitching them your product or service is half a step done. The ultimate goal of every sales development representative is to convert those leads into customers. The success of your sales efforts reflects in the lead conversion ratio. Based on the number of leads you contact, the lead conversion ratio is how many leads convert into customers. 

The lead conversion ratio is crucial in bridging the gap between successful and less adequate sales reps. You must be equipped with questions like how to convert leads, why they aren’t converting, or what the strategies are to convert leads!

The article will discuss why your leads aren’t converting and the strategies to improve your lead conversion ratio.

Why Arent Your Leads Converting?

Before looking for a solution, it’s essential to ascertain the reasons for the unconversion of leads. Let’s discuss the reasons hampering the lead conversion ratio growth!

Unqualified leads

You can’t pitch your product or service to every random lead expressing interest. Checking if he has a buying intent is essential. Those leads who intend to buy from you,  and are likely to become customers are known as qualified leads.

But how to qualify leads?

As a sales rep, you must create an ideal customer profile. An ideal customer profile allows you to match your leads with the profile’s criteria like needs, budget, demography, etc. The leads matching the ideal customer profile become qualified leads. It is these people who will generate maximum benefit from your product or service.



Inadequate Information

To engage the leads in the last step of the funnel, you need to provide them with enough information about your product or service. Sometimes, sales reps only focus on reaching out to the leads but fail to create value for them. To improve the lead conversion ratio, you must provide enough information, including features, benefits, and offers regarding your product or service.

For example, if you are a SaaS company, you should reach out and ask if the clients have any questions. SaaS companies should always offer free demos and trials, especially for enterprise-grade accounts. Additionally, it is a good idea to send the lead information about the product or service, such as what to expect or how to use it most effectively.


Sales Forecast

Delayed Responses to Inquiries from Leads

Data reveals that contacting your qualified leads before your competitors (Preferably in less than 5 minutes) surges sales by 35%-50%. It’s called turnaround time. Once you mark a lead as qualified, it is crucial to reach and pitch your product or service within 5-10 minutes. It also leads to hyper-personalization when you reach out in a quick time. 


Reaching Every Lead with a Similar Strategy

As a sales rep, you need to be flexible with every lead you intend to convert. Every ideal prospect has different demography, preferences, buyer persona, etc. So, reaching out and pitching your product to different leads need different strategies. Nurturing the leads with one approach leads to fewer conversions.

Segment your leads adhering to their preferences, needs, and persona and adopt a different sales strategy catering to their needs. For example, a sales strategy targeting finance B2B business will not work for a consulting lead.


No Follow-Up

Your ideal prospects will only convert when there is a follow-up. After reaching out and pitching your product or service, you need to follow up with an email, call, or in-person meeting to ascertain if the lead is going down the funnel.

Sales reps make the mistake of not following up with the leads, which leads to a diminished lead conversion ratio. Make a follow-up email for your B2B lead and send it twice a week to engage the lead into a conversion.


Proven Strategies to Improve Lead Conversion Ratio

The lead conversion ratio has to grow if you intend to drive revenue and profits. After determining your target audience, the next step is to invoke their desire and convert them into long-term customers.

Let’s discuss some of the strategies to convert maximum leads!


Quality Over Quantity

For a better lead conversion ratio, you need quality leads. Acquiring more leads doesn’t mean more conversions because if your leads are not qualified and don’t fit your ideal customer profile, your sales efforts will be in vain. 

Instead of capturing more leads, filter them into your standard buyer persona. Then, you only have to focus on leads showing a buying intent. Conduct thorough research on these leads, study their intention and interaction with your platform, check their last sales activities, and establish contact with them. Pitching your product or service to businesses down the funnel and on the verge of buying will increase your Lead Conversion Rate. 

To convert qualified leads, you can use the Lead Scoring Method to reach out to quality leads. Under this model, you assign points to different leads based on their actions, like taking a webinar, clicking a link, etc. Using the point system, you can determine where a lead is in the sales cycle. In general, a lead is more qualified if it has more points.


A/B Testing

A/B testing means testing different strategies and sales pitches to reach out to leads to embark upon the best strategy driving maximum conversions. One sales pitch does not apply to every kind of audience. You need to engage with the leads catering to their needs and preferences. 

Every ideal prospect requires a different approach. As a sales rep, A/B testing allows you to communicate with leads through various channels and pitches to ascertain the best strategy. When you find the most effective strategy, consistently using it leads to a High Lead Conversion Ratio. 


Use Multiple Communication Channels

You can capture leads on different platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. You can also reach out to them via in-person meetings, emails, or calls. Different types of audiences require different communication channels. For example, Reaching out to the sales rep of your B2B business prospect on LinkedIn and pitching your software. Writing a cold email to a founder asking for a discovery or sales call can also lead to conversions. It allows you to leverage the power of communication channels.

Find out why your leads aren't converting

Regular Follow-Up

Once you have reached out to a prospect, regular follow-ups with him via calls, emails, etc., are crucial for conversions. Follow-ups are mandatory for sales reps to check if the lead is going down the sales funnel and is interested in buying the product or service. In the follow-up emails, provide them with valuable information about your product to increase their desire.

(Pro tip: Address at least one pain point of your prospect in each follow-up email. More on this in the next strategy below)

Furthermore, it would help if you gave them demo calls providing the launch of new products, offering lucrative offers, etc., to keep them engaged and make them realize your urgency in fulfilling their needs. The sense of urgency will eventually lead to conversions. 


Mention Benefits, Not Features

Many sales reps make the mistake of mentioning the features of their products while pitching them to potential clients. They specify the features completely ignoring how their product will solve their prospect’s pain points. To improve the lead conversion ratio, you need to engage the leads and gain their trust. 

While pitching your product or service, you must include emotional appeal by targeting the product’s benefits. You must try to align those benefits with emotional appeal. Emotional appeal generates a sense of emotions like confidence, fear of missing out, etc., which makes the conversion process easy.

For example, you show how your product will increase your lead’s productivity by 10x, driving up its bottom-line revenue.





Showcasing Happy Customers’ Testimonials

In today’s digitalized world, more than 72% of people make their decision based on reviews and testimonials. Customer testimonials can be used for building trust and developing connections with new leads. Aside from customers, employee testimonials also play a significant role. A video testimonial by employees can provide an inclusive insight into your business’ operations, thus reinforcing trust and credibility among your clientele. Adding reviews and testimonials to the most viewed pages such as the home page, pricing, blogs, feature page, etc can help with lead conversion. 


Wrapping it Up!

The article reveals that a sales rep needs to avoid common mistakes and follow structured strategies to convert leads and eventually improve the lead conversion ratio. Finding qualified leads is crucial in conversion, so you must focus on filtering out your leads through different criteria before pitching your product or service. 

The strategies exhibit that finding qualified leads to follow up via emails and calls is a process an SDR can follow to convert leads into long-term customers. To convert leads, you need to determine the stage they are in. The lead conversion ratio helps you address critical points in your sales efforts and optimize the process to bring maximum conversions.

Improve your lead conversion ratio by 10x using SmartReach. It automates the process of reaching prospects through cold emails. Make your emails hyper-personalized, engaging with headlines and calls to action through SmartReach’s automation platform. It allows SDRs to qualify leads, and automate the product pitch and follow-up emails to close maximum conversions. 


Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Q. What is the importance of follow-ups?

Follow-ups with leads after pitching a product or service helps to determine their buying stage. Moreover, follow-ups are mandatory for sales reps to check if the lead is going down the sales funnel and is still interested in buying the product or service. Follow-up emails usually provide valuable information and new updates regarding the product or service to keep leads engaged. 

Q. Does a similar lead conversion strategy work for different audiences?

No. You must design different lead conversion strategies catering to a particular lead group’s needs, preferences, etc. Adhering to a lead’s needs keeps him engaged in the sales cycle. As an SDR, you must nurture leads with varied pitching strategies and address their pain points. 

Q. What are the popular communication channels for SDRs?

Some popular and effective channels to reach out to leads are email, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, voice calls, etc. 



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