5 Simple Strategies to Follow Up with Leads & Smash Your Sales Goals

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Saleman smilling at a client

You just came back from your last conference and those leads are piling up!  It’s a good problem to have, especially if you followed our tips for getting leads. You know you need to follow up with leads after an event (unlike 80% of marketers) so that you can kickstart your sales, but aren’t sure where to begin. 

The best follow up actually starts before you hit an event because planning ahead keeps you from scrambling to keep up.

But even if you’re playing catch up, there are some smart strategies to follow up with leads after an event quickly and efficiently in order to smash those sales goals. Here’s what we recommend!

1- Create a System

By creating a system, we mean, figure out every step along the way from lead to client, and then develop workflows to streamline everything. A system gives you a path to follow that is easy to repeat time after time. This roadmap helps you identify what’s next and allows you to take that step on schedule.

A CRM is Your Secret Weapon

A CRM like Dubsado, Hubspot, or Active Campaign can help you with this. Most CRMs these days have free trials and entry-level options that make them accessible to businesses of all sizes. They’ll help you manage your clients, keep track of contacts and contracts, and automate, well everything. Why is this important for following up with leads? It gets them in your system and starts the nurturing process without a whole lot of extra work on your end.

Task Management Systems

So what happens once you bring a client on board? How do you keep track of projects and communications? That’s where a task management app like Trello or Asana comes in. You may need this internally only, or you may need it to communicate with clients. Simple can be good here!

Screenshot of a Trello Board

A follow-up system that includes CRM and task management apps is important for following up with leads.

The best part? If you’re using a photo booth app like Onebooth to capture leads, your leads are already digitized and ready to import into your CRM. And, you can tag and segment them based on where and when you connected.

Onebooth is an iPad photo booth software. With it, you can drive traffic to your booth at a trade show, let people have lasting memories of the event and the interaction with your brand but also capture leads!

2- Vet Your Leads First!

When you’re at trade shows or expos, you’ll have some leads so hot that they sign up on-site, or it’s only a matter of time. You’ll also have some freebie seekers who are just kicking the tires. Everyone else falls in between with varying degrees. 

Before you launch your email sequences and full automation processes, spend some quality time vetting your leads after the event to determine how likely they are to make a purchase.

Focus on the Hottest Leads First

These people are a good fit for your brand and service, and they are on the verge of making a decision. These folks should get a phone call and email follow up, and may not even need to go through your nurturing system.

The Middle Tier is Next

Your next priority is to follow up with leads who are possibly a good fit, but maybe they aren’t quite ready to sign on the dotted line. If you have the bandwidth, set up a personal outreach, but in the interim, be sure to get them into some personalized automations.

Tire Kickers are Last

Finally, the last tier is made up of the tire kickers, people you didn’t have time to connect with, and/or people who are a marginal fit at best. You can definitely add them to your outreach because you never know who will turn into a buyer. However, don’t spend a ton of personal one-on-one time before starting to nurture these folks with automations.

3- Use Email Sequences to Nurture Your Leads

Email sequences should be one of your top priorities! Maybe your CRM allows you to create email sequences, or maybe you need email marketing software like MailerLite or ConvertKit. The bottom line is that email sequences are one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal for following up with leads.

There are tons of formulas out there, but the number 1 rule for email marketing sequences is don’t be boring! Here’s how:

  • Inject personality where you can when you can
  • Use lots of white space to make it easy to read
  • Use personalization tags, so each email speaks to your lead by name. (You can also use the place you met them as a tag!)
  • Avoid the same old marketing copy in favor of punchy, engaging text

If you’re not a copywriter or writing cleverly isn’t in your wheelhouse, don’t worry. It’s far better to be clear (and typo-free) than clever.

Your emails don’t have to win awards. What they should do is keep your buyers’ attention.

Pro tip: Since your first email will have the highest open rate, make sure it packs a punch.

4- Don’t Lose Sight of the Personal Touch

Systems are incredible and the best possible way to follow up with your leads, and turn them into customers.

But don’t forget the art of the personal touch. We touched on this a bit in the email sequences section with personalization, but to spell it out here: people respond better when you can create a genuine connection with them.

By creating a relationship and offering some value, even if your leads aren’t ready to dive in right away, they will remember you when they are ready. Better yet, they’ll want to work with you.

So how do you employ a personal touch?

Maybe it means a personal email that follows up on something you talked about at the event. Or perhaps it means picking up the phone. Just be sure to log those interactions in your CRM.

Personal touch can’t—and shouldn’t—replace your automations, and the opposite is also true. However, using both strategies to complement each other can make your close rate even higher!

5- Track everything!

Each time you have any kind of follow up interaction with a lead, be sure to make a note of it in your CRM. That way, you can refer back to your notes next time you connect with them so that you’re not rehashing conversations or repeating details you’ve already discussed.

The Bottom Line

You simply must follow up with your leads after an event. 80% of the time no one follows up, which means that companies are leaving money on the table! Be sure to stand out by reaching out, connecting, and ultimately, making that sale.

And, if you’re looking for creative ways to capture leads at your next event, check out a free trial of Onebooth so you can kickstart your next campaign! It’s the perfect tool to capture new leads and drive traffic to your stand!

Here are all the key points summarized in an infographic, don’t hesitate to share it!

5 strategies to follow up with leads

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